Last month (29-30 May 2015), IPMS trustees met for the third physical meeting of the Coalition at the FIABCI World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The meeting, which took place over two days included a plenary session on the main FIABCI programme, followed by an all-day meeting on the Saturday.

The 66th FIABCI World Congress brought together professionals from around the world representing national real estate associations. More than 500 attendees joined for a week of events and conferences focused on developments in global real estate. As a member of the Coalition, FIABCI invited trustees to convene at the World Congress and to share the latest developments on IPMS with an international audience.

The IPMS Plenary session was a huge success. Some 200 delegates heard about the landmark standards from Ken Creighton (Chair of the IPMS Coalition and RICS trustee), Lisa Prats (Vice Chair and BOMA trustee), David Faulkner (APREA trustee) and Terry Dunkin (FIABCI trustee). The session looked at the need for international consistency in measurement and touched on the plans that Coalition organisations have to start implementing the new standards. A lively audience Q&A followed with representatives of more than one organisation taking the opportunity to express their desire to join the Coalition’s efforts – expect the IPMS Coalition to grow beyond the 64 organisations it is today as a result.

The following day saw the trustees come together to work through a full agenda which included an update from the expert committee that has been appointed to draft the IPMS; a discussion on the forthcoming publication of the IPMS Residential consultation; and updates on the roll-out of IPMS: Office Buildings within each organisations.

The meetings were hugely positive and continued to reflect the collegiate and focused nature of the Coalition’s work to date. New organisations including the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers and the Real Estate Syndicate of Lebanon were also able to participate in their first meeting since joining the Coalition this year.

Outside the Coalition’s meeting there was also clear interest in the standards amongst local practitioners in Kuala Lumpur, with a number of delegates highlighting the opportunity that IPMS can play, alongside domestic standards (Uniform Method of Measurement) in fostering a more international and consistent property market.

The Coalition is continuing to encourage other organisations to join the initiative and to play a part in making the idea of common measurement standards a reality across real estate markets worldwide.