A figure without reasoning is not a valuation.

1. The property and the interest. Full address, real property description, title references, and precisely what interest is valued — fee simple, a fractional share, a life interest, a leasehold. Valuing the wrong interest is a complete answer to a report.

2. The valuation date. Stated explicitly, and where retrospective, identified as such with the reason it is that date. This is the element most often wrong on reports prepared for tax purposes.

3. The basis of value. Usually market value, defined. Where another basis applies — replacement cost, market rent — it is named and defined, because the number means nothing without it.

4. The comparable evidence and its analysis. The sales relied on, with enough detail to identify them, and the adjustments made between each and the subject. This is the substance of the report and the part a cross-examiner goes to first.

5. Assumptions and limiting conditions. What was assumed rather than verified — that approvals exist, that there is no contamination, that areas are as measured. Assumptions are not a weakness; undisclosed assumptions are.

6. The instructing party and the purpose. Who asked, and what for. This governs who may rely on the report, which is why a report addressed to one party is generally not available to another.

7. The extent of inspection. Internal, external, or desktop; what was and was not seen; the date attended. A report that does not disclose a limited inspection is a problem waiting to surface.

8. A named signatory. The valuer’s name, qualifications and registrations — not just a company name.

No stated valuation date, or the wrong one. For capital gains tax, SMSF reporting, date of death and duty, the date is fixed by law or by an instrument. A report dated to when the work was done rather than to the date the purpose requires answers a question nobody asked.

No comparable evidence. A conclusion with no sales behind it cannot be tested, so a reviewer cannot accept it. The ATO’s position is that a valuation must be objective and supported by appropriate evidence; “trust me” is not evidence.

A desktop assessment presented as a valuation. Desktop and kerbside assessments have legitimate uses, mainly in lending. Where market value has to be evidenced they are routinely rejected, and a report that obscures the extent of inspection is worse than one that discloses it plainly.

No named valuer, or a valuer without the relevant credential. Where the report matters, the party relying on it will look at who signed. If that person is not identifiable, or is not certified or registered where registration is required, the report fails before its contents are considered.

The requirements, with 28 primary sources

Is the valuation date the date your purpose requires? Not approximately — exactly. Check it against the provision, the instrument or the event.

Can you identify the comparable sales? If they are described so vaguely that you could not look them up, neither can a reviewer.

Does it say whether the valuer went inside? If the report is silent on the extent of inspection, assume it will be asked.

Is there a person’s name and their registration? And is that registration current, and unlimited for a property of this type?

Does it say who may rely on it? A report addressed to a lender or another party is generally not yours to use.

What must a property valuation report contain?

It should identify the property and the interest valued, state the valuation date and the basis of value, set out the comparable sales evidence relied on and how it was analysed, record the assumptions and limiting conditions, identify the instructing party and the purpose, describe the extent of inspection, and be signed by a named valuer with their qualifications and registrations stated. A figure without that reasoning is not a valuation and is routinely rejected.

Can I use a valuation that was addressed to someone else?

Usually not. A report identifies its instructing party and its purpose, and reliance is generally limited to that party for that purpose. This is why a bank valuation is not available for your tax return, and why a report obtained by one side in a dispute is not simply usable by the other. Where a third party needs to rely on a report, that has to be arranged with the valuer, not assumed.

How long is a valuation report valid?

A valuation is an opinion of value at a stated date rather than a document with a period of validity. It does not expire, but it also does not update. Lenders commonly treat a valuation as current for around three months; courts and revenue offices care about whether the date matches the one the law or the instrument specifies, not how recent the report is. For a retrospective purpose the age of the report is irrelevant.

Why does the report list so many assumptions?

Because a valuer verifies some things and assumes others, and the reader is entitled to know which is which. Typical assumptions are that improvements have the necessary approvals, that the land is free of contamination, and that areas are as measured or as shown on plans. Disclosed assumptions make a report testable. Undisclosed ones are what turn a valuation into a liability.