The History of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
The Surveyors Club was formed as far back as 1792. However, the foundations of the current organisation started to properly take shape when 20 surveyors met at the Westminster Palace Hotel. Under the chairmanship of John Clutton, they appointed a sub-committee to draw up resolutions, by-laws, and regulations. This was done to establish a professional association to represent surveyors and the growing property profession.
This group, which had expanded to 49 members by 1868, met again at the Westminster Palace Hotel on 15 June that same year, to approve the resolutions and elect the first Council. John Clutton was elected the first president of the Institution of Surveyors. Offices were then leased at 12 Great George Street, London, which RICS still use as their headquarters today.
The requirement for such an organisation was driven by the rapid development and expansion of the industrialised world; as infrastructure, housing and transport links grew, so did the need for more stringent checks and balances.
In 1881 the association received a royal charter and was founded as the Institution of Surveyors, and then in 1947, it became The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. From a group of only 20 surveyors, RICS has grown to have over 134,000 members in over 150 countries.
Royal Charter & By-Laws
RICS is incorporated by Royal Charter, which sets out their overall objectives. The Royal Charter requires RICS to promote the usefulness of the profession for the advantage of the UK public and in other parts of the world.
In practice, the charter means that important changes to the RICS constitution – its by-laws – have to be ratified by the UK Government, through the Privy Council, even after they’ve been approved by a majority of RICS members voting at a general meeting.
The continued demand for royal charters, which may seem an antiquated concept, shows that they retain their cachet in the modern professional world as a “gold standard” of excellence and integrity.
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