Third Edition Of Code Of Practice Introduced

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published the third edition of its Code of Practice in relation to service charges in commercial property.

Published following a consultation period, the new version of the code is designed to improve standards and promote best practice, uniformity and transparency across the board.

It has also been created to ensure the timely issue of budgets and year-end certificates, as well as reduce the potential causes of disputes.

According to RICS, an industry summit highlighted that while the first two editions of the code set a market for standards in terms of commercial property management, there was scope to provide greater clarity on key issues.

These included service charge accounting, sinking funds and fees.

Expert Opinion

The publication of this new code is a welcome step which should bring benefits across the commercial property sector. <br/> <br/>"The most affected are likely to be managing agents, who will have to provide more transparency on service charges, as well as legal advisers offering advice on contract clauses related to service charges or sinking funds. <br/> <br/>"However, it is worth bearing in mind that some aspects will also directly affect landlords and tenants, so it is worth anyone who is impacted by commercial property management issues to ensure they have taken note of what the changes made to the code mean to them." Danny Revitt - Partner