RICS Sri Lanka Newsletter - 2022 - September - Issue 01

ROSS OADS E - NEWSLETTER Published by RICS Sri Lanka

05Why RICS Sri Lanka Newsletter? CONTENTS 06Message from the Honourable Chairman 07Message from the Honourable Secretary 09Message from the MPC Committee 10RICS Sri Lanka Executive Committee [2020 - 2022] 12Highlights of the Past Achievements 14Highlights of Conducted Events 17RICS News Updates 18Upcoming Events 19Article by Chartered Quantity Surveyor Shihaan Burah FRICS 20Article by Professor Chitra Weddikkara FRICS 24Article by Chartered Valuation Surveyor Ajith Fernando FRICS 02

RICS Sri Lanka e-Newsletter Editorial Board Professor Chitra Weddikkara FRICS Chartered Quantity Surveyor Shihaan Burah FRICS Chartered Valuation Surveyor D Prathapasinghe FRICS Chartered Quantity Surveyor Joe Fernando MRICS Chartered Valuation Surveyor P B Kalugalagedara FRICS Chartered Project Manager Hemantha Bandara MRICS Chartered Valuation Surveyor Wathsala Wickramanayake MRICS Disclaimer The contents of this e-newsletter are for general information purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in the published articles are those of authors and do not reflect official policy or position of RICS Sri Lanka. © 2022 RICS Sri Lanka. All rights reserved. 03

RICS SRI LANKA Unlocking the Future Potentials of Sri Lanka 04

ROSS Why RICS Sri Lanka OADS E-Newsletter? “CROSS ROADS” is the e-newsletter published bi-annually by RICS Sri Lanka. The main purpose of issuing this e-newsletter is to disseminate the information about the institution and its activities/ events as well as to update knowledge on contemporary real estate topics among the members, stakeholders, interested parties and the general public. This newsletter contains articles written by senior members of the institution, including the Honourable Chairman and Secretary of RICS - Sri Lanka, Executive Committee members and other veteran members, on timely important real estate related topics. Further, this newsletter publishes both local news as well as international news released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. This also highlights the details of successfully completed and ongoing business activities in various departments and sectors related to the surveying industry, for instance, Land Surveying, Property Valuation, Quantity Surveying, Project Management and related studies in Universities in Sri Lanka. This e-newsletter further showcases the records on continuing professional development (CPD) events organised by RICS Sri Lanka, for the benefit of members, non-members working in related fields, students, and other interested parties. The valuable information comes out from our monthly committee meetings and events such as annual general meetings are also shared through this newsletter. Another important aim is to convey the benefits of the RICS qualification and to promote RICS memberships among potential future members who are showing required competencies in related fields as well as to maintain the attained distinctive level among other professions in Sri Lanka. We believe that the “CROSS ROADS” newsletter, expanding and strengthening the links with all related institutions; commercial banks, financial institutions, real estate developers, brokers, industrial enterprises, academia, students, etc. will ultimately offer a platform to exchange knowledge and experience. Editorial Board 05 © Wathsala Wickramanayake

Message from the Honourable Chairman Chartered Quantity Surveyor Shihaan Burah FRICS Honourable Chairman RICS Sri Lanka It is with great pleasure I send this message as the Chairman of the RICS Sri Lanka for the e-newsletter, “CROSS ROADS” readers. I believe that during this pandemic situation, this is the best mode of communication of the news, events and updates of the RICS Sri Lanka activities not only to our RICS Sri Lanka members, but also to the members who are living abroad. If we go back to history, RICS Sri Lanka was registered under the company’s act No 17 of 1982 in the year 2003 which is almost 19 years ago. Today we have 293 members in RICS Sri Lanka. RICS Globally has more than 111,500 members in more than 142 countries. RICS is the only Institution that is recognized globally and it boasts of being the GOLD STANDARDS ensuring all its members to follow a code of practice, regulations, ethics, transparency, and the result, the end user receives the highest service standards with confidence. Today, I am proud to say that RICS Sri Lanka with the assistance of RICS APAC has reached some of our universities and have accredited Real Estate and Construction sector courses thereby maintaining internationally required standards. This in turn has given our younger generation an opportunity to obtain the prestigious and world renowned Royal Charter Status and become RICS qualified professionals. This paves pathway to young RICS members to improve their demand in the job market both locally as well as internationally. As the end result of this admired achievement, the employers of local and global companies get the opportunity to integrate these qualified and competent members in their organisations which will be one of the key corner stones to contribute to the development of the real estate and construction industry. As I believe, in a fast-developing country like Sri Lanka, the need for qualified experts with a globally accepted qualification such as RICS is a must to support the nation’s growth. In one way, it reduces Sri Lanka being over-dependent on foreign expertise. As a result, outflow of our foreign currency can be mitigated/reduced to a greater extent and it offers our Sri Lankan real estate professionals a better opportunity to serve our mother land not only by contributing the knowledge to the local Real Estate industry, but also by being able to obtain more foreign jobs and assist our economy with foreign exchange. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all RICS Sri Lanka Executive Committee members and all stakeholders for their continuous and valuable support extended towards us contributing in compiling, providing articles, editing, proof reading this e-newsletter. I wish you all a very successful future ahead! 06

Message from the Honourable Secretary Chartered Valuation Surveyor D Prathapasinghe FRICS Honourable Secretary RICS Sri Lanka It is my great pleasure to address you at the inauguration of the RICS Sri Lanka e-Newsletter “ CROSS ROADS” which has been a most awaiting dream, and it has now become a reality. We, RICS Sri Lanka, represent the members of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors based in UK having over 120,000 members and students globally from different professional disciplines in the industry of Built Environment. The RICS since its inception over 150 years ago, has earned a global recognition being a mark of property professionalism worldwide by setting highest standards of excellence and integrity in the field of land, property, infrastructure and construction. Further, RICS offers an unparalleled quality assurance to the market through its unique regulations for members who are bound by its rigorous ethical standards with continued monitoring and evaluations. We expect that this Newsletter take us with a new step forward in our effort to strengthen the RICS footprint in Sri Lanka by further promoting its global standards in the Property Market which in turn will be elevated to a new height on par with global Standards. Further, this will pave way for high presence of RICS members in the country standards, improve quality of real estate products, increase confidence level of investors leading attract more FDIs in real estate, produce quality professional for global market giving passport for global travel for our younger generations. 07

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Message from MPC Committee We are pleased to launch the first issue of the e-Newsletter, “CROSS ROADS”. We hope that this will reach RICS members and all other interested parties proving this as a useful mode of communication. The covid 19 Pandemic has compelled us to change many of our normal activities. Communication is one of the main activities that had got affected. Amidst of such situation, until the planned physical meetings and a get together become a reality, it had been decided to develop this e-Newsletter to keep the members updated while making this an educational forum. The regularity of this e-Newsletter will depend on the support from all RICS members, in the form of news items, articles, useful links, photographs, etc. which could be published in upcoming issues and we look forward to receive your contribution in future. This is one of the activities proposed by the Honourable Chairman of RICS Sri Lanka. In future, you shall see many more activities from the committee, such as TV interviews, newspaper articles, etc. The MPC committee wishes to thank all those who helped in bringing this issue to life in spite of all the current difficulties. Specially thank goes to those who submitted papers and articles for this publication. Additionally, we highly appreciate the contribution made by Lecturer Hashini Wickremasinghe, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, representing the Young Future Professionals’ Forum (YFPF) for designing and organising the content of this e- Newsletter. Moreover, we must thank Chartered Valuation Surveyor Wathsala Wickramanayake MRICS for her nicely captured photographs that made the contents more attractive. The MPC Committee Chartered Quantity Surveyor Joe Fernando MRICS Chartered Quantity Surveyor Shihaan Burah FRICS Chartered Valuation Surveyor D Prathapasinghe FRICS Chartered Valuation Surveyor Sunil Fernando FRICS Associate Member P Hettiarachchi AssocRICS Chartered Project Manager Hemantha Bandara MRICS Chartered Valuation Surveyor Wathsala Wickramanayake MRICS 09

RICS Sri Lanka Executive Committee [2020-2022] RICS Executive Committee Member Position Chartered Quantity Surveyor Shihaan Burah FRICS Hon. Chairman Chartered Valuation Surveyor Ajith Fernando FRICS Hon. Senior Vice Chairman Chartered Valuation Surveyor D Prathapasinghe FRICS Hon. Secretary Chartered Quantity Surveyor Laith Akmeemana MRICS Hon. Treasure Chartered Valuation Surveyor Sunil Fernando FRICS Hon. Immediate Past Chairman Professor Chitra Weddikkara FRICS Committee Member Chartered Valuation Surveyor P B Kalugalagedara FRICS Committee Member Chartered Valuation Surveyor P P T Mohideen FRICS Committee Member Associate Member P Hettiarachchi AssocRICS Committee Member Chartered Quantity Surveyor Joe Fernando MRICS Committee Member Chartered Quantity Surveyor Sarojini Karunarathne Committee Member Chartered Project Manager Hemantha Bandara MRICS Committee Member Chartered Land Surveyor S D P I Dampegama FRICS Committee Member Chartered Valuation Surveyor Wathsala Wickramanayake MRICS Committee Member Committee Member Dr. Prathap Kaluthanthri MRICS 10

Newly Appointed Executive Committee Members Chartered Land Surveyor S D P I Dampegama FRICS Chief Senior Consultant Surveying/ Satellite Positioning/ Geodesy Chartered Valuation Surveyor Wathsala Wickramanayake MRICS Director Prathap Chartered Valuation and Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. Dr. Prathap Kaluthanthri MRICS Senior Lecturer Department of Estate Management and Valuation University of Sri Jayewardenepura Thanking Note to Chartered Valuation Surveyor Tharaka Weragoda FRICS We thank Chartered Valuation Surveyor Tharaka Weragoda FRICS for his valuable contribution given to the MPC committee at the initial stages. We are sorry to hear that he could not continue until the end due to personal reasons. We wish you all the best for your future endeavours! 11

Highlights of the Past Achievements Re-established the local body RICS as ‘RICS Sri Lanka’ which was Sri Lanka previously named as RICS Sri Sri Lankan Lanka Leadership Forum. APC Assessors RICS Sri Lanka made a request and got the consent New RICS sector pathways Inclusive from the RICS APAC to carry such as Facility Management, Executive out the APC assessments of Committee the Sri Lankan candidates by Land Surveying and Project Sri Lankan APC assessors. Management are now included RICS and IQSSL Reciprocity Agreement Reciprocity between RICS and IQSSL has and represented at the Agreement been agreed for Chartered Executive Committee level in Quantity Surveyors and is expected to be signed RICS Sri Lanka. officially by both the Institutions in 2022. CPD A number of CPD sessions were conducted with the presence of both local and international resource persons. Further, joint CPDs were conducted with the collaboration the RICS APAC. 12

With great pleasure, we would like to share RICS Sri Lanka's achievements within the main body of RICS – APAC (Asian Pacific). Cross Launched the “Cross Roads Roads”, the first ever e- Newsletter by RICS Sri ICREMV Lanka. Collaborative RICS Sri Lanka contributed as a collaborative partner in organizing Partner the International Conference on Advisory Appointed the Advisory Panel Real Estate Management and Panel with the Past RICS Sri Lanka Chairmen to obtain their Valuation (ICREMV) organized by YFPF experience, expertise and the University of Sri guidance to elevate the RICS Jayewardenepura. Sri Lanka to the next level. Young Future Professionals Forum 150th RICS (YFPF) was established and members Anniversary were appointed representing diverse Celebration sector pathways, aiming at giving the younger generation an opportunity to gain experience by working with executive committee and senior members of RICS Sri Lanka. The 150th RICS Anniversary celebration was held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo. It was graced with the presence of the Past President of RICS-UK, Dr. Louise Smith as Chief Guest and then Minister Eran Wickramaratne as the Guest of Honor. 13

Highlights of Conducted Events Topics: Topic:  Risk and Uncertainty of Real Estate Valuation and  2020 and Beyond: Sharing Our Built Environment Investment Analysis under the Present Crisis  Investment Appraisal amidst Uncertainty Date: 11th of September 2020 Date: 24th of July 2020 Topic: Topic:  The Life: Past, Present and Future through the  Framework for Real Estate Investment Trusts Change Management (REITs) in Sri Lanka Date: 26th of October 2020 Date: 12th of February 2021 14

Topic: Topic:  New Frontiers of Risk: Taking Stock of a Fast-  Can We Value an Impact on Environment in Monetary Terms? Changing Situation Date: 12th of February 2021 Presented by:  Professor Roger Flanagan - MSc, PhD, DSc, PPCIOB, FRICS, FICE, University of Reading, UK Date: 03rd of June 2021 Topic: Topic:  Greening the Iron Triangle: Revamping the Lessons  Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) - Application and Learned Process for a Sustainable Project Delivery Challenges Date: 29th of October 2021 Date: 25th of February 2022 15

150th RICS Anniversary Celebration Highlights 16

RICS News Updates Rules of Conduct The RICS Rules of Conduct RICS Redbook have recently been updated to help the global profession The latest edition of RICS respond to new risks and Valuation – Global Standards opportunities. ('Red Book Global The new Rules replace the Standards') is effective from previous version which had 31st January 2022, the same been in place for members date as the latest edition of and firms since 2007. IVS becomes effective. Several changes have been Click here for further details. introduced to bring the ethical standards into a clear framework. The new Rules of Conduct came into effect on 02nd of February 2022. Click here for further details.  Click Here for more RICS news and insights 17

Planned Events Pathway Topic Quantity Surveying and Dispute resolution / Project Management Contract Administration Automated Valuation Modelling and Valuation their application in the local market Quantity Surveying Carbon Footprint Quantity Surveying Sustainable Construction Process & Technology 18

CARBON FOOTPRINT “ It would be the Making Carbon Calculation ideal time to implement a Mandatory Requirement all regulations in relation to carbon By Chartered Quantity Surveyor Shihaan Burah FRICS footprint calculation Carbon footprint calculation in this era is an essential and try reducing all requirement, as we all can see the changes that are taking carbon emissions” place in the weather patterns, geographical and climate effects that have contributed to so many past and present 19 disasters all over the world. Human activities are one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions. These are emitted from fossil fuel usage in electricity and other byproducts of manufacturing and have led to increase in the earth's temperature. The major effects of such practices mainly consist of climate changes, such as extreme precipitation and acidification and warming of oceans. Climate change has been occurring since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 1820s. Due to humans' heavy reliance on fossil fuels, energy usage, and constant deforestation, the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is increasing. It makes reducing a greenhouse gas footprint harder to achieve. However, there are several ways to reduce one's greenhouse gas footprint (Wikipedia, Dec. 2020).  Choosing more energy-efficient eating habits  Using more energy efficient household appliances  Increase usage of fuel efficient cars,  Saving electricity  Using less carbon emitting construction materials  Implementing efficient construction methods In Sri Lanka, Real Estate and Construction development with new mega projects such as the Port City development and other planned/ongoing projects, it would be the ideal time to implement all regulations in relation to carbon footprint calculation and try reducing all carbon emissions that would be released otherwise to the environment. We RICS Sri Lanka as one of the leading and recognized Professional organisation should take the lead by hosting presentations, organizing CPD events to the decision makers of this country in order to make the carbon calculation a mandatory requirement before the construction approval is granted.

Future of the Globe and Responsibility of Quantity Surveying Profession as We Move to New Norm due to Covid 19 By Professor Chitra Weddikkara FRICS Authors Note Embodied carbon is also the carbon foot print of a given material. It looks at the level of The following is a collection of ideas, greenhouse gases being released throughout comments and extracts from various authors the supply chain of the material, and how this is and the internet to impress on our quantity contributing to overall emissions from the surveying fraternity in Sri Lanka the importance construction sector. The measurement for of reducing embodied carbon in our built embodied carbon runs throughout the entire life environment and the responsibility of our -cycle of the material and the building it is quantity surveying profession as well as other moved into; it’s a “cradle” to “grave” system. professionals in the Built environment. Embodied Carbon Lifecycle Introduction Sustainability and building compliance expert Embodied carbon is becoming more widely Andrew Sadler stated that “When it comes to accepted by developers and demanded by building a more sustainable community, the clients and there is a growing awareness and time has truly come for everyone to play their respect for this environmental assessment part. The latest topic on the agenda? Embodied According to research by the Royal Institution carbon.” It is therefore crucial to explore ways of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), embodied to minimize embodied carbon and priorities the carbon can account for up to 60 % of a assessments needed to judge it. There are a building’s whole life. few typical things one can expect from an embodied energy and carbon assessment. First What is embodied Carbon? of all, lock down the embodied carbon reductions. Consideration and assessment Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a stage needs to start as early as possible during building or infrastructure project before it the planning and design phases. becomes operational. It also refers to the CO2 Large proportion of about 40% of global primary produced maintaining the building and energy is consumed by buildings and in excess eventually demolishing it, transporting the of 30% CO2 emissions is contributed by them waste, and recycling. (Costa, Keane, Torrens, & Corry, 2013). An Very simply it is: estimate range of 5% to 30% of energy can be “Embodied carbon = quantity × carbon factor” potentially saved by systematic building (Wikipedia) management and Building performance bench marking. 20

Embodied carbon means all the CO2 emitted in professor in architecture Philip Oldfield told The producing materials. It's estimated from the Fifth Estate Building Circulatory event held in energy used to extract and transport raw November 2020”. materials as well as emissions from Quantity Surveyors know the cost of every screw manufacturing processes. Embodied carbon and nail going into a building for the purpose of refers to the greenhouse gas emissions arising minimizing the use of expensive materials. If this from the manufacturing, transportation, same scrutiny was also applied to the embodied installation, maintenance, and disposal of carbon content of each building material, the building materials. Embodied carbon is a quantity surveyors will be able to calculate the significant percentage of global emissions and embodied carbon content in the building requires urgent action to address it. components. Recognizing the unique position of There is the potential to reduce the embodied quantity surveyors to simultaneously strip carbon by up to 20% without even increasing the embodied carbon and cost from a building, last costs. year researchers from UNSW, carried out jointly with Construction Company namely “Multiplex” Some points to keep in mind include: for Low Carbon Living and to see if it is possible to work out if embodied carbon could be inserted  Renovation and reuse developments into the value engineering process. typically save between 50% to 75%of the The report of “Oldfield states “that there’s no real embodied carbon emissions compared to reason why value engineering decisions, which the construction of an entirely new building are based on all the different building components to determine the total cost, shouldn’t also be  Be mindful when using carbon-intensive taking embodied carbon into account at the same materials, for example Aluminium, plastics time. The goal, according to Oldfield, was to and foam insulation discover if structural tweaks could reduce both costs and embodied carbon without forcing  Consider high-recycled content materials; architects to go back to the drawing board on especially with metals their designs. It has been found that Changes to the structure of the building can indeed cut both  Minimize all waste embodied carbon and costs simultaneously.  Opt for lower carbon alternatives, such as The research also compared the cost and embodied carbon performance of a building with wood structures over steel and concrete a simple concrete frame compared to four other similar buildings with different structural make up: Importance for the Quantity Surveying a flat concrete slab structure, a post-tensioned Profession concrete slab, a steel deck system and a mass “The dark horse of quantity surveying can timber structure. reduce embodied carbon and cost at the same The mass timber option was the most carbon time”. efficient system, seeing a 13% drop in embodied This was the discussion that was held at The carbon and a 5% reduction in capital costs. Fifth Estate’s Building Circulatory event on 24th The best preforming structure for cost was the November 2020. It’s was a huge challenge that flat slab, which slashed embodied carbon by 6 per involved architects, engineers, scientists, cent and costs by 15%. The report does, however, developers and, believe it or not, quantity point out that different building compositions may surveyors. Poppy Johnston 27th October 2020 impact on operational energy performance. Updated 07th December 2020.” While the total savings were modest, the “The quantity surveying discipline is researchers say that there’s value in optimization determining what goes into the building, they and rationalization of the design. are the right ones to be considering the carbon efficiency of a building, we need to bring them 21 to the front of the discussion,” UNSW associate

The research by Oldfield concludes that The globalization of the construction business has “Efficiency is sustainable”, when one is able to only increased the need to make this meaningful use less materials in construction, one often see comparative analysis between countries, not least a triple-benefit of reduced embodied carbon, by international organisation such as the World reduced cost and greater available floor area for Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, rent – thus the main employers for quantity various regional development banks, non- surveyors are: specialist cost management/ governmental organisation and the United Nations quantity surveying consultancies working within (July 2021). Costs and Carbon Emissions the construction industry, construction and Consultation draft Carbon Emission engineering companies (consultants and Considerations, Appendix H – Carbon Emission contractors) will be benefitting in turn the Reporting Templates (Page 129). planet, as well as profit and the people. Sean Kelly, Member of the European Parliament, Conclusion advocates for the importance of building The above indicates that Quantity Surveyors as renovation and the reform of the Energy well as the other building professionals such as Performance of Buildings Directive. Architects, Engineers, Surveyors, Valuers, Pakistan's another step towards the Planners have a responsibility to sustain the decarbonisation of its built environment and its planet we live in and it is important for the socio-economic impact. For World Green Building educators and well as professional institutions to Week 2021, Pakistan GBC shares its story of get involved in educating their professionals in support for a national brick kilns initiative to aspects of embodied carbon in our building foot convert dated practices to new green technology prints if we are to have a sustainable future. that will accelerate positive environmental and Following are some efforts made by various socioeconomic impacts. countries and Coalitions to create a sustainable Indian Green Building Council members celebrate planet. #WGBW21 and the power of the Sustainable The RICS with the publication of ICMS Coalition Development Goals by creating a SDGs rug. Global Consistency in Presenting Construction Produced by Rangoli, at the G H Patel College of Life Cycle. As such, ICMS aims to provide global Engineering and Technology (in Gujarat, India), the consistency in classifying, defining, measuring, faculty of the college, and stakeholders from recording, analyzing, presenting and comparing Indian GBC's Baroda Chapter. entire life cycle costs and carbon emissions of construction projects and constructed assets at  Ireland – Re-Source: Reducing Embodied regional, state, national or international level. Carbon in Construction ICMS is a high-level classification system.  Palestine – The Role of Palestinian Standards “ Quantity Surveyors as well as the Institution in developing instructions and other building professionals such technical procedures for green buildings as Architects, Engineers, Surveyors, Valuers, Planners have a responsibility  Peru – Presentación del Código Técnico de to sustain the planet we live in and it is Construcción Sostenible important for educators and well as professional institutions to get involved  Poland – PLGBC Green Building Symposium in educating their professionals in the  Mauritius – webinar on #Building Resilience aspects of embodied carbon in our  Turkey – “Cradle Düsseldorf” Project, HPP building foot prints if we are to have a sustainable future.” Architects 22

RICS SRI LANKA Unlocking the Future Potentials of Sri Lanka 23

CPD the Live Wire of Professionalism By Chartered Valuation Surveyor Ajith Fernando FRICS As professionals in land, building and Effective CPD is the production of a structured construction, we provide services to our learning plan that every professional needs, clients who rely on us for professional which leads to increased and improved opinions based on which they make performance. financial decisions. Thus, we have a The key components of a structured learning professional obligation towards the client. programme are; As such, our professional standards 1. Appraisal become an important part of our 2. Planning professional lives. In order to achieve 3. Development and reflection the above, we should be well-equipped As mentioned, we should first assess our current with the followings; professional state, then identify our learning  Appropriate professional needs, set our learning objectives, find and qualification to demonstrate technical participate in suitable activities and finally reflect competence on our progress in professional development.  Sufficient knowledge, skill and As the initial step, it is essential to make a self understanding on the subject assessment in order to identify where we stand.  Compliance with the regulations This enables us to plan our future learning and governing the right to practice the development needs by assessing our personal profession and professional experience to date. It is often The Importance of CPDs said that there is no point in deciding where you In this scenario, Continuing should go, until you have established where you Professional Development (CPD) are now. becomes an essential part. After Similar to other areas in business, identifying identifying the importance of what you have already achieved (in this case in CPDs, various professional terms of skills and knowledge) can provide a institutions such as Royal sound basis for planning for the future via a well- Institution of Chartered planned CPD structure. Surveyors, Institute of Valuers Sri Appraisal Lanka, Institute of Quantity You can assess yourself in terms of strengths, Surveyors Sri Lanka have made weaknesses, opportunities and threats using CPD as a mandatory requirement following questions. making a minimum number of hours per year compulsory. To Strengths facilitate earning and completing required CPD hours, these What are your core skills? institutions conduct CPD What do you do well? programmes throughout the year. What technical skills and knowledge? In light of this situation, the Other transferable skills? purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of CPD Weaknesses programmes over and above the mere ticking of the minimum Where are your skills/knowledge lacking? hours of CPD compulsion for the What would you like to improve? year. 24

Opportunities Different individuals perceive and process What are the opportunities available to you? experience in different ways and these differences May be emerging new specialisms, developments in comprise of unique learning styles. Being well-aware technology, moves towards quality assurance or of your preferred ways of learning is therefore assuming a management role.) essential to the quality of CPDs undertaken. Threats There are 4 major learning styles: Visual, Auditory, What obstacles do you face challenging your Read/Write and Kinesthetic which are commonly professional role? known as the VARK model. Each of these styles May be competition from other businesses, merger reflect what an individual may prefer in order to with other bodies, legislative changes, different skills gather and retain information optimally. required when running a small business, limited To gain the full benefit from any CPD activities opportunities for progression or threat of redundancy. undertaken, it is finally necessary to evaluate the Planning outcomes and to establish whether you have Following the completion of self assessment, you achieved your predetermined objectives. When should be able to identify gaps in your skills and reflecting on your activities, you should consider knowledge where you can set specific development whether you have experienced personal or business objectives. benefits from your efforts through the practical These objectives should contain a flavour or an application of what you have learnt. element of challenge, so that they carry you on to new Remarks grounds. However, it is also important to make sure It is vital for professionals to continue the learning that they are realistic and attainable. process every day of our professional lives. The day At this stage it is useful to set targets in terms of we stop this thinking that we know everything, we required levels of competence. When establishing will stand behind and others who live within the your objectives, you should also work within practical continuing professional development will overtake constraints which may influence methods of us. development. The factors you may wish to take into This will not only keep our reputation, it will also account include: safeguard the reputation of our profession and that What are the opportunities and support available for of the institution we are responsible for. learning? It is so important that we should work to earn a How much will it cost in terms of money, time, professional reputation in the society. True conflict with other commitments? professionals are the first to be considered for What added value will result - qualification, promotions, they are awarded valuable projects or promotion, new business? clients, and they are routinely successful in their Development and reflection career. The achievement of development objectives requires involvement in a wide range of learning “ Therefore, it is our prime duty to activities on a continuous basis. CPD may take keep up to challenges of quality, different forms of appropriate learning activities and skills, competence and behaviors may not need necessarily to be biased towards expected within the changing world and deliver what is expected from us as professionals to the society.“ 25

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Sri Lanka is very much saddened to hear the demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and may her soul rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with His Majesty King Charles III and the Royal Family at this time. 26

RICS Members Sri Lanka 293 qualified members; 05 RICS Valuation, Quantity Surveying, There are 22  MRICS - 241 regulated firms; Land Surveying, Facility sector pathways  FRICS - 32 Management, Project for MRICS/ FRICS  AssocRICS - 20 Click here to find and there are 13 firms. Management, Construction, sector pathways Click here to find members. Planning and Development, for AssocRICS Commercial Real Estate  Click here for further details on pathways Useful Links LionHeart: LionHeart is the independent charity for RICS professionals, past and present, and their families. Click here for more details. CPD Support Pack: This new benefit, included as part of your 2022 annual subscription is available to members and candidates till 31 December. Click here for more details. RICS Concessions: RICS offers a range of concessions on professional fee based on different criteria. If your professional situation for 2022 means that you are seeking a concession on your professional fee, click here for details. Notices The Issue 02 of “Cross Road” will be published in 2023 and the editorial board wishes to invite all the interested parties to submit papers, articles or any other original write-ups on relevant and contemporary topics on built environment to email address: [email protected]. It is requested to formally inform us any obituary notice and any special achievements of RICS members and their immediate family members via [email protected] to be circulated among RICS members. To update our member database and keep correspondence, the members, specially the recently qualified professionals are requested share name, membership number, and email address to [email protected]. 27

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