Definition

In an APC context, a stakeholder is any individual, group, or organisation with an interest in, or influence over, a project or professional instruction. Establishing stakeholder status means determining whether a party is the instructing client, a third-party beneficiary, a statutory consultee, or simply an interested member of the public — because each category carries different duties and communication obligations. The RICS Rules of Conduct (effective 2 February 2022) require members to act in the client's best interests whilst having due regard to the public interest and third parties.

Why this matters for Client Care

  • At Level 2 you must identify and categorise the stakeholders on a project you have worked on, and explain how you managed communication with each.
  • Misidentifying a stakeholder — for example, treating a lender as the only client when there is also a borrower with separate interests — can lead to conflicts of interest and negligence claims.
  • Third parties who rely on a surveyor's report may be owed a duty of care even without a direct contractual relationship.
  • Statutory consultees have formal procedural rights that cannot be ignored without legal consequences.
  • Early, accurate stakeholder mapping is a foundation of effective project governance and reduced dispute risk.

Key principles

Mapping stakeholders by category

A practical stakeholder map separates parties into four broad categories: primary stakeholders (direct contractual or financial interest — the instructing client, funder, or purchaser); secondary stakeholders (significant but indirect interest — adjoining owners, tenants, or lenders); regulatory and statutory stakeholders (legal authority over the project — planning authorities, building control, the HSE); and interested parties (local residents and amenity societies with influence but no formal rights).

Establishing decision-making authority

Not all stakeholders have authority to give instructions or make decisions. The surveyor must establish at the outset who can instruct scope changes, approve additional fees, or accept the final deliverable. In a development project this may be the employer's representative rather than the legal owner. Confirming this in the appointment documentation avoids disputes about whether instructions were properly authorised.

Managing competing interests

Where stakeholder interests conflict, the surveyor must be transparent about their obligations. The RICS Conflicts of Interest global professional statement (1st edition, 2017) requires members to identify and disclose actual or potential conflicts, obtain informed consent, or decline the instruction if the conflict cannot be managed. Acting for multiple parties with conflicting interests without disclosure is a serious regulatory breach.

Communication planning

Once stakeholders are identified, a proportionate communication plan should be agreed. Primary stakeholders receive direct, regular reporting; regulatory stakeholders are engaged through formal submission processes. Over-communicating to the wrong stakeholder — for example, sharing confidential information with a tenant — can be as damaging as under-communicating.

Relevant RICS guidance and legislation

  • RICS Rules of Conduct (effective 2 February 2022) — requires members to act in the client's best interests whilst considering the public interest and third parties affected by their advice.
  • RICS Conflicts of Interest global professional statement (1st edition, 2017, effective 1 January 2018) — sets out how to identify and manage actual, potential, and perceived conflicts arising from stakeholder relationships.
  • Data Protection Act 2018 / UK GDPR — governs what information may be shared with which stakeholders and on what legal basis.
  • Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 — assigns specific duties to duty holders on construction projects, making stakeholder role clarity a legal requirement.

Ethics and Rules of Conduct angle

The duty to act in the client's best interests (Rule 5) must be balanced against the obligation to behave with integrity and in the public interest (Rules 1 and 3). A surveyor who identifies a conflict between stakeholders must manage it transparently, decline that stakeholder relationship, or, in serious cases, decline the instruction entirely. Failing to identify stakeholders at all is itself a competence failure, because it means the surveyor has not mapped the full risk landscape of their instruction.

APC-style Q&As

Q (Level 1)What is a stakeholder in the context of a surveying instruction?

Any individual, group, or organisation with an interest in, or influence over, the instruction or project — including the instructing client, funders, statutory bodies, adjoining owners, tenants, and, in some cases, the general public.

Q (Level 1)What is the difference between a primary and a secondary stakeholder?

A primary stakeholder has a direct contractual or financial interest — for example, the instructing client or a development funder. A secondary stakeholder has a significant but indirect interest — for example, an adjoining owner affected by proposed construction works or a tenant whose occupation will be disrupted.

Q (Level 2)On a mixed-use development project, who might the stakeholders be and how would you prioritise communication with them?

Stakeholders might include the developer, the funder, the head lessee, residential and commercial tenants, the local planning authority, building control, statutory undertakers, and neighbouring owners. I would prioritise direct reporting to the developer and funder, formal liaison with planning and building control through the submission process, and notifications to tenants and neighbours at key programme milestones.

Q (Level 2)How would you establish who has authority to give instructions on behalf of a corporate client?

I would ask at the outset who is authorised to approve scope changes, fee variations, and the final deliverable, and confirm this in the appointment letter. Where a project involves multiple departments, I would ask for a single named point of contact to prevent disputes about whether instructions were properly sanctioned.

Q (Level 3)You are appointed to advise a developer on a site purchase. You later discover that an adjacent landowner has an unregistered access right over the site that, if valid, would materially affect its value. What do you do?

(example) I would advise my developer client immediately in writing, explain the potential significance of the claimed access right, and recommend that solicitors investigate its legal status before exchange. I would not communicate directly with the adjacent landowner without my client's authority. I would document my advice and the client's response, and if the access right is confirmed and materially affects value, consider whether my original valuation advice requires revision.