MORE than 100 participants have already registered for the 5th Annual Caribbean Valuation & Construction Conference which will take place at the Bay Gardens Conference Centre, next Wednesday and Thursday.
The Conference which is organised by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the International Property Tax Institute (IPTI) in co-operation with the Ministry of Physical Development, Housing and Urban Renewal and the Institute of Surveyors (St Lucia) will this year focus on the challenges and recent developments in valuation and construction.
It is the first time that such a major Conference is being held here. Previous Conferences were held in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago. Participants will learn and discuss with highly accredited experts all aspects relating to the adoption, innovation and best practices through interactive panel discussions, plenary sessions, and lectures, and networking opportunities.
Some of the topics this year will look at for example, “the need for valuation standards and local applications”, “the requirements for the soon to be established Eastern Caribbean Appraisal Institute”, “risk insurance in construction”, “using land data transactions and comparables”, “issues and trends in the Caribbean Real Estate Market”, “land surveying issues”, “writing reports and giving expert evidence”, and “alternative dispute resolution”. These are just a few of the subjects tabled for the two-day Conference.
The Conference will be of particular interest to valuation/building/quantity/land surveyors, engineers, architects, town planners, contractors, accountants, arbitrators, lawyers, senior bank officials/credit unions/financiers and land developers.
Both the RICS and IPTI are internationally recognised institutions with a large membership and expertise in both valuation/construction and property management worldwide. The local organising committee is being headed by Mr. Celsus Baptiste and includes ISSl President Rufinus Baptiste, Tedburt Theobalds, Winsbert Felix, Andre Mathurin, Clive Hippolyte, Kirstene Lambert and Lynn Holstein.
Experts and lecturers will be drawn from Saint Lucia, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Interested participants can register and get further details from the Institute of Surveyors (St. Lucia) website – www.isslu.com Members who attend will earn a total of 14 CPDs. Space is however limited and interested persons can also contact Celsus Baptiste at the earliest opportunity.