NZIV Member Alert #3 -
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
25 March 2020
The New Zealand Institute of Valuers (NZIV) Council has been seeking clarity on behalf of Members as to whether or not valuation is an essential service.
The current guidelines suggest essential services include “Banks, insurers and other financial institutions, including any entity that contracts or provides services to them (eg secure money delivery services)”.
However, it is unclear as to whether this is intended to extend to valuations for financial purposes. What is very clear, is that our Members cannot continue on with business as usual, they should stay home and self isolate.
Getting clarity around this is not easy at this time, however, we will communicate with you when further information comes to hand.
Our best advice would be that in the extremely unlikely event that a Bank or Institution requires a valuation at this time you should consider doing this without leaving your home and/or you should have express delegation from that 'essential service'.
In the meantime, we reiterate the position we have advocated in our earlier communications:
- Follow Government Guidelines - including lock-down restrictions.
- Maintain the Health & Safety Policies you will be operating under
- Valuation Guidelines. To assist Members further in this regard, the Standards Board has developed the following guidance on:
Finally, I wanted to say that this will be a difficult and uncertain time for many of us. If you're confused about your obligations and the above guidance does not help, do make contact, but our reply may not be immediate.
Stay safe, kia kaha
Jeff Alexander
President
New Zealand Institute of Valuers
