is additionally prepared for the borrower. This arrangement can avoid the potential conflict of interest where the surveyor has as client both the lender and the borrower in the transaction. Because of the ethics and professional liability aspect, borrowers should note that the lender's survey is produced solely for the lender and the surveyor will not be liable for loss or omission to the borrower. Since reform of the RICS Red Book of valuation practice in recent years, the definition of a mortgage valuation has been deleted. It is now a market valuation which is the same definition given to the valuation in the RICS HomeBuyer Report. The Council of Mortgage Lenders recommends that buyers should not rely only on the mortgage valuation, but obtain a fuller survey for their own purposes. However, a fuller survey is rarely a condition of the loan. The borrower may prefer to select an independent surveyor to undertake the HomeBuyer Report or Building Survey. Mortgage valuation report A mortgage valuation is for the benefit of the lender. Its purpose is merely to confirm the property is worth the price paid, in order to protect the lender's interests. Invariably there is a disclaimer on the report that confirms that the surveyor has no responsibility to the borrower. This is a legally valid exclusion. RICS Home Surveys Under the reforms undertaken by RICS in the early 21st century to better regulate the provision of professional products to the general public, a sector that is usually unable to fully appreciate the consequences of inadequate specification of the required items to be surveyed and how they are reported, RICS produced a new range of consumer products with RICS branding. Three consumer products are now available - 1. RICS Condition Report 2. RICS HomeBuyer Report 3. RICS Building Survey These products have a consistent appearance over the range, with common typefaces and general format. The distinctions come in the detail that is subsequently provided. These are discussed below. RICS Condition Report This is short report that looks briefly at the property to report on the visual condition of nine external elements of construction, nine internal elements of construction, seven services supplied to the building, and three key components of the grounds in which the property is sited. The reports rates conditions from 1 - good, 2, - needing attention in the near future, 3 - needing attention now using