FIG Working Week 2000, 21-26 May, Prague
Abstracts 



Czech Republic in 2000 - Property Appraisal

by Zbyněk Smejkal

Key words: Real estate, property appraisal, appraisers organisation, appraisers certification.


Abstract

1. History of property appraisal in Czech Republic

Before 1989, real estate appraisals in the Czechoslovak Republic were primarily carried out for tax purposes and for cases of civil litigation. The appraisals were solely made on the basis of state-issued price regulations; as there was no market environment, there was no such a thing as a 'market price'. The term 'personal possession' only applied to family houses, recreational cabins and cottages, and garages, whereas all other real estate was mostly owned by the state.

Only after 1989, when most property was returned to people through restitution and a large portion of formerly state-owned property was privatised, did real estate acquire specific owners. Trading with real estate commenced; real estate became the subject of liens in banks, and therefore it was necessary to determine its price, and also its market price. Thus the events of those years, apart from appraisement which followed valid price regulations (determination of the official price), brought about market appraisement.

2. Czech Association of Certified Property Appraisers

Since 1989, property appraisals have been carried out by two groups. The first, original group, active before 1989, is composed of experts appointed according to Act no. 36/67 Coll. concerning Experts and Interpreters. The second group was formed spontaneously in the nineties; this group includes appraisers working on the basis of Trading Licences. A prevailing portion of appraisers was recruited from the Experts.

There are approximately 4,600 experts active in the field of real estate appraisement. In order to be appointed an expert in this widest expert field according to the Act indicated, it is necessary to successfully complete postgraduate training at schools in Prague and in Brno. The experts mainly appraise real estate for the purpose of assessing tax base, i.e. for inheritance tax, gift tax, and real estate transfer tax.

Experts, who mainly focus on appraisement according to the administrative (official) price, are associated in the Chamber of Sworn Experts and in the Association of Experts and Appraisers.

Appraisers, who solely focus on appraisement of market prices, are grouped in the Czech Association of Certified Property Appraisers and in the Czech Chamber of Property Appraisers.

An important representative of these associations is the Czech Association of Certified Property Appraisers, which currently has approximately 250 members.

3. Appraisers Certification and EN 45 013

The certification of the appraisers of the Czech Association of Certified Property Appraisers takes place in one of the above two companies, the Bankovní institut a.s. (Banking Institute, Joint-Stock Co.). The Banking Institute is a company with Czech and foreign banks as major shareholders, which was established to provide further training, particularly to bank operatives. This company now certifies more than 15 various fields of activity.

The certification of the property appraisers according to EN 45 013 is exclusively intended for appraisers trained by the Banking Institute; it consists of a written part, where the applicant submits three appraisals and the price map of the town where he/she lives. After these materials are reviewed, an oral exam follows in about one month. If it is successfully passed, the applicant acquires the certificate.


Ing. Zbyněk Smejkal
President of the Czech Association of the Certified Property Appraisers
Týnská 21
110 00 Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel. + 420 2 2482 7144
Fax + 420 2 2482 6507
E-mail:
dsmejkal@a-consultplus.cz



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