Resolving the battle of engineers and valuers on valuation

With Government Notice 91 of 31 July 2018, the Federa l Government issued the Coren-regulations for Engineering Appraisal/ Evaluation gazette authorising engineers to practise as valuers in engineering-related matters. ”Federal Legislation on Engineering Valuation” established engineers trained explicitly for the purpose as fit and capable to handle engineering valuation. One year later, however, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has accused COREN of crossing the professional lines into an area for which others have better competence and claims.

The NIESV allegation raises the issue of professional boundaries, ethical practice and competition for space amongst professions. It should interest all professional practice groups in the country. Resolution may involve legal and regulatory authorities as well as networking among professionals.

COREN was deliberate and purposive in their pursuit of empowerment of engineers to handle what it called engineering valuations. It commenced with a petition by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in March 1989 on the Report of the Consultative Assembly on the Reform of Companies Law. It got an amendment of Section 137 of CAM Decree No 1 of 1990.

The change was CAM Decree No 46 of 1991.

COREN says that Decree No 46 of 1991 “made for the inclusion of engineers in the definition of the valuer in Section 137”. It defines engineering appraisal/ valuation as “an art of entrenching the value of specific properties where professional engineering knowledge and judgement are essential. Such properties include mines, factories, buildings, plant and machinery, industrial plants, public utilities, engineering constructions etc.”

COREN proceeded further to get Babatunde Raji Fashola to sign and gazette three regulations on the subject. They are COREN Regulation for Engineering Appraisal/ Valuation No 98, Vol 105 of 31 July 2018, COREN Regulation for Engineering Economy No 99, Vol 105 of 1 August 2018 and COREN Regulation for Cost Engineering. COREN has sent the government gazettes to MDAS creating awareness and lobbying for briefs for its members.

NIESV then realised the danger. NIESV says the regulations “infringe on already existing law of Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board Nigeria Act, CAP E13 LFN (2007) and gazetted ESVARBON Regulations of 2014 which authorise only registered estate surveyors and valuers to value all properties and assets in Nigeria.” It charges that “The COREN Regulations are an inordinate and crass affront on our profession which shows, unfortunately, the ridiculous limit which the frontiers of engineering can be extended to in Nigeria; and only in Nigeria. The COREN Regulations, in a most flagrant manner never seen before in the history of this country usurped and conferred on engineers all the functions of valuers provided for under the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria Decree No 24 of 1975 now CAP E13 LFN 2007 and the gazetted regulations of 2014 made under it.”

NIESV is concerned that the engineers want to take over the jobs of over 10, 000 surveyors and valuers. They assert that both the Board and NIESV belong to the International Valuation Standards Council, which is the only world body responsible for setting valuation standards.

The actions of COREN and the allegations of the valuers over it are grave and significant. They would affect professional practice and represent a puzzle to regulators, project owners and managers.

On the face of it, engineers would seem to have taken advantage of attributes of their profession and similarity in valuation practice to extend the market for themselves. Surveyors and valuers would seem to have slept on their watch as the engineers pushed since the 1990s.

The valuers allege that COREN took advantage of the presence as Minister of Works of Babatunde Fashola, a non-engineer, to get their desire gazetted. They failed with the late Major General Mamman Kontagora, an engineer, as minister of works.

Professions coexist in the social space of work. They establish boundaries and jurisdictional control over a specified area. Various professions establish boundaries through training, codes of professional practice, law, networking and ethical codes. They erect barriers to entry. The contestation over fences is ultimately economical and concerns the right to earn based on accumulated knowledge and perceived limits.

Conflict and cooperation are integral to professional life. Professions seek market monopoly and social closure, establish autonomy and control over work, and exercise influence in politics and civil society. It is essential to observe the boundaries and for the professions to co-exist and co-operate rather than engage in conflictual relations.

It is not unusual to negotiate and construct boundaries among the professions. The world has witnessed hybridisation as the boundaries between professions overlap, particularly in the ICT era and its application to practice. In the UK, revised rules now allow barristers to give legal advice to clients and represent them in Courts, a privilege reserved previously to solicitors.

Both parties should meet and negotiate. Regulators such as those in the Ministry of Works or arbitrators should be engaged. Otherwise, they should test the matters in court for clarification and deepening the law on professional boundaries.