Some appraisers have mistakenly relied on book value alone or guesswork. When this happens, their clients stand to lose.

How can the public be assured of accuracy and competency in machinery & equipment appraisals?

Our Code of Ethics & Competency Program

NEBB has developed this Appraiser Awareness Program exclusively for its designees. Aimed at preserving public trust by protecting the public from unsubstantiated or questionable machinery and equipment appraisals, NEBB’s Code of Ethics seal serves to alert the public to the documentation we feel is necessary to prove that an appraiser is competent. NEBB’s seal equates to a substantiated, accurate, and irrefutable appraisal. It is NEBB’s seal of a machinery & equipment appraisal that will withstand scrutiny.

1. Ethical Obligations – CMEAs uphold the ethics and reporting of USPAP
2. Advocacy Only for the Appraisal – CMEAs are advocates of the appraisal, not of any person or entity
3. Certification – CMEAs undergo extensive training and testing to earn the professional certification credential of CMEA (Certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser)
4. Defensible Appraisal – A Certified Appraisal by a Certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser (CMEA) is backed by ethics, reporting, and substantiation. A CMEA’s defensible appraisal will withstand scrutiny.

NEBB Institute guards the public against an unpleasant and costly experience. That’s why a CMEA professional designation is the perfect avenue to improve professional competence when assigning value to tangible assets. A CMEA knows what the equipment is worth!

1. An appraiser must not misrepresent their role when providing valuation services outside of appraisal practice.
2. An appraiser must perform assignments ethically and competently following USPAP and any supplemental standards agreed to by the appraiser in accepting the job.
3. An appraiser must not engage in criminal conduct.
4. An appraiser must perform assignments without partiality. They must have objectivity and independence without accommodation of personal interest.
5. In appraisal practice, an appraiser must not perform as an advocate for any party or issue.
6. An appraiser must not accept an assignment that includes reporting a predetermined opinion or conclusion.
7. An appraiser must not communicate assignment results misleadingly or fraudulently.
8. An appraiser must not use or communicate a misleading or fraudulent report or knowingly permit an employee or other person to share deceptive or fraudulent information.
9. An appraiser must not use or rely on unsupported conclusions relating to characteristics such as race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, family status, age, receipt of public assistance income, handicap, or a supported conclusion that homogeneity of such characteristics is necessary to maximize value.
10. Paying undisclosed fees, commissions, or things of value in procuring an assignment is unethical.
11. It is unethical for an appraiser to accept compensation for performing an assignment when it is contingent upon the following:
    1. the reporting of a predetermined result;
    2. a direction in assignment results that favors the cause of a client;
    3. the amount of a value opinion;
    4. the attainment of a stipulated result; or
    5. The occurrence of a subsequent event directly related to the appraiser’s opinions and specific to the assignment’s purpose.
12. It is unethical for an appraiser to advertise for or solicit assignments in a false, misleading, or exaggerated manner.
13. An appraiser must protect the confidential nature of the appraiser-client relationship.
14. An appraiser must act in good faith about the legitimate interest of the client and the use of confidential information in the communication of assignment results.
15. An appraiser must know and comply with all confidentiality and privacy laws and regulations applicable to an assignment.
16. An appraiser must not disclose confidential information or assignment results prepared for a client to anyone other than the client and persons specifically authorized by the client; state enforcement agencies and such third parties as may be charged by due process of law; or a duly licensed professional peer review committee except when such disclosure to a committee would violate applicable law or regulation.
17. It is unethical for a member of a duly authorized professional peer review committee to disclose confidential information presented to the committee.
18. An appraiser must prepare a work file for each appraisal. The file must include the name of the client and the identity, by name or type, of any other intended users; true copies of any written reports documented in any media; summaries of any oral reports or testimony, or a transcript of testimony, including the appraiser’s signed and dated certification; and all other data, information, and documentation necessary to support the appraiser’s opinions and conclusions and to show compliance with this rule and all different applicable standards, or references to the location(s) of such other documentation.
19. An appraiser must retain the work file for at least five (5) years after preparation or at least two (2) years after the final disposition of any judicial proceeding in which testimony was given, whichever period expires last, and have custody of their work file, or make appropriate work file retention, access and retrieval arrangements with the party having control of the work file.
20. An appraiser must disclose the lack of knowledge and experience to the client before accepting the assignment, take all necessary steps appropriate to complete the work competently, and describe the lack of knowledge and experience and the actions taken to complete the task competently in the report.
21. The appraiser must disclose any interest in any item(s) to appraise.
22. An appraiser will not mislead the public by advertising or conducting machinery and equipment appraisals utilizing the professional credential of CMEA (Certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser) when they have not upheld the mission, membership, and ethics of NEBB Institute.
23. An appraiser must sign the Certification of value in the report.
24. An appraiser will not affix the signature of another without consent.
25. An appraiser will not willfully or knowingly violate the requirements of the record-keeping rule or any other required ethics as mandated by USPAP.
26. The appraiser certifies that they have not appraised or had any other involvement within the past three years with the property appraised unless prominently disclosed to the client before acceptance of the engagement.
27. The appraiser must disclose that they paid a fee or commission or gave a thing of value in procuring an assignment. The disclosure will be on the Certification page.
28. The appraiser must include a signed Engagement Agreement within the Appraisal Report.