What is USPAP?
USPAP, which you might hear pronounced like "YOOS-pap," is the
Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. USPAP is
published and maintained by the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) of
the Appraisal Foundation, a non-governmental entity charged by
Congress with promulgating appraisal standards.
USPAP is revised periodically, usually every year. It begins
with a list of Definitions, and a Preamble defining the mission. It
then declares a set of general Rules governing all disciplines of
appraisal practice: The Ethics Rule, the Competency Rule, the Scope
of Work Rule, the Jurisdictional Exception Rule, and the
Supplemental Standards Rule. It then sets forth 10 appraisal
Standards, each containing a number of Standards Rules. Each
Standard covers in detail the different tasks an appraiser might
perform in the course of developing and reporting an appraisal
("Real Property Appraisal Development"; "Real Property Appraisal
Reporting"; "Business Appraisal, Development"; etc.). It includes a
number of Statements on those 10 appraisal Standards, some retired,
which are used to clarify or supplement the Standards. It also
includes Advisory Opinions dealing with the application of the
USPAP in various scenarios, such as "When does USPAP apply in
valuation services?" and "Clarification of the client in a
federally related transaction," which describe real-life problems
and how they would be governed under the Rules and Standards of
USPAP.
Every appraiser is charged with knowing and following USPAP,
usually by operation of state law, and must complete Continuing
Education periodically to relearn the basics and become familiar
with new Advisory Opinions and annual changes to USPAP.