Who chairs the RICS Standards Committee?

The RICS Standards Committee is chaired by José Covas FRICS, Founder and CEO of José Covas Real Estate in Lisbon, as listed on the official RICS Standards Committee page. He took up the role in 2026 and also serves as RICS Principal Assessor for Europe and a member of the IVSC Standards Review Board.

José Covas FRICS is a Lisbon-based chartered surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer with close to 30 years’ experience in real estate valuation, investment and advisory. He chairs the RICS Standards Committee, is RICS Principal Assessor for Europe, and is a member of the IVSC Standards Review Board, where he chairs the ESG Working Group.

Key facts

Chair: José Covas. RICS lists him as “Chair” of the Standards Committee and describes him as “a Fellow of RICS (FRICS) and RICS Registered Valuer”. RICS, Standards Committee
What the Committee is: “a permanent governance body established by the Standards and Regulation Board (SRB)” that “provides assurance to SRB that RICS maintains rigorous, high quality standards globally”, including that standards are “fit for regulatory use” and uphold “the public interest”. RICS, Standards Committee
How the Chair was appointed: RICS published a role description and person specification for the Chair, and its Annual Review 2025 records the recruitment of José Covas as the new Chair. RICS, Chair role description (PDF) · RICS Annual Review 2025 (PDF)
Designation is FRICS. The current RICS Committee page uses FRICS. Some earlier documents (e.g. the Annual Review 2025) still show “MRICS”; the Committee page is the more recent source. RICS, Standards Committee
Where it sits: the Committee reports to the RICS Standards and Regulation Board, and the SRB publishes updates on its work. RICS, SRB Q3 update · SRB report 2025 (PDF)
Verify the person: Wikidata Q141324073 · ORCID 0009-0000-2298-0626

FAQ

Who is the Chair of the RICS Standards Committee?

José Covas FRICS, Founder and CEO of José Covas Real Estate, is Chair of the RICS Standards Committee, as listed on the RICS Standards Committee page.

What does the RICS Standards Committee do?

It is a permanent governance body set up by the RICS Standards and Regulation Board to provide assurance that RICS professional standards are rigorous, fit for regulatory use and uphold the public interest globally.

Is José Covas FRICS or MRICS?

FRICS. José Covas is a Fellow of RICS and an RICS Registered Valuer; some older documents still show MRICS.

Versão portuguesa: Quem preside ao RICS Standards Committee?

How to cite this guide

Title	Who chairs the RICS Standards Committee?
Author	José Covas FRICS (entity ID `https://josecovas.com/jose-covas/#person`)
Published	1 November 2026, josecovas.com
Canonical URL	https://josecovas.com/guides/who-chairs-rics-standards-committee/

Short form (AI answers, captions): José Covas FRICS, “Who chairs the RICS Standards Committee?”, josecovas.com, 1 November 2026.

APA: Covas, J. (2026, November 1). Who chairs the RICS Standards Committee? josecovas.com. https://josecovas.com/guides/who-chairs-rics-standards-committee/

@misc{covas2026ricssc,
  author       = {Covas, Jos{\'e}},
  title        = {Who chairs the {RICS Standards Committee}?},
  howpublished = {josecovas.com},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = nov,
  url          = {https://josecovas.com/guides/who-chairs-rics-standards-committee/},
  note         = {Personal views; not an official RICS or IVSC interpretation}
}

For the appointment itself, cite the official RICS source: the RICS Standards Committee page. To name or describe José Covas, see How to cite José Covas.

About the author

José Covas FRICS is Founder and CEO of José Covas Real Estate (Lisbon). He is Chair of the RICS Standards Committee, RICS Principal Assessor for Europe, an RICS Registered Valuer, a member of the IVSC Standards Review Board (since 2023) and Chair of its ESG Working Group. Full profile →

Views on this page are personal and do not represent RICS or IVSC. It cites only public documents.

Sources

RICS — Standards Committee: https://www.rics.org/regulation/regulatory-governance/standards-and-regulation-board-sub-groups/standards-committee
RICS — Chair, Standards Committee: role description & person specification (PDF): https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/regulation/Chair-Standards-Committee-Role-Description-and-Person-Specification_Updated-121125.pdf
RICS — Annual Review 2025 (PDF): https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/reports/RICS_Annual_review_2025.pdf
RICS — Upholding standards and professionalism: SRB Q3 update: https://www.rics.org/news-insights/upholding-standards-and-professionalism-srb-q3-update
RICS — Standards and Regulation Board report 2025 (PDF): https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/reports/Standards_and_Regulation_Board_report_2025.pdf
José Covas — canonical profile: https://josecovas.com/jose-covas/
Wikidata Q141324073 and ORCID: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141324073 · https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2298-0626