Standards and Procedures of Professional Appraisal Practice as taken from the AMEA website.

The Association of Machinery and Equipment Appraisers (AMEA) recognizes the importance of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).  All members are required to become familiar with and adhere to the USPAP standards. Within certain segments of the appraisal process, AMEA has additional standards.

The following sets forth the minimum prerequisites for developing an appraisal opinion and writing an appraisal report.  All members are expected to adhere to the following:

A.) A written engagement letter, contract, or purchase order, prior to commencement of the appraisal assignment, which clearly describes the appraisal fee, appraisal location, and the assignment's scope and nature.

B) A clearly written report furnished to the client containing the following:
  1.  Confirmation of request, including name of the individual requesting appraisal report.
  2. A clear understanding of the purpose of the appraisal assignment, subsequently defining that purpose and the identification of the “Intended Use” and “Intended User” of the report.
  3. Location of machinery and equipment or assets appraised, company name or division and address of facility(ies).
  4. Name of the individual who personally inspected the machinery and equipment, the date that the items were viewed and the date the appraisal report was prepared.
  5. A disclosure to the client of his or her degree of expertise and experience. This should include a statement of the appraiser’s qualifications including and not limited to:
    1. Knowledge and training,
    2. Familiarity with and knowledge of the machinery and equipment,
    3. Years in business,
    4. Membership status, i.e. currently a member of AMEA and that he or she is an “Accredited Machinery and Equipment Appraiser” (AEA) or a “Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser” (CEA) and any other associations that he or she belongs to, such as a state or local Chambers of Commerce.
  6.  A disclosure to the client that determination of value are understood to be the opinion of the appraiser and his or her opinion cannot be interpreted as a guarantee of value.
  7. A statement of the objectives and methodology of the appraisal including a statement in the report indicating a clear definition of the selected evaluation approach and a justification of his or her opinion of value.  This justification should state:  support for authoritative opinions of value, the information considered, the appraisal procedures followed, and the reasoning that supports the analyses which may include ‘highest and best use analysis’, opinions, personal observations, analyses, and conclusions and valuations as reported in the appraisal.  Where appropriate; state when new and used equipment dealers have been consulted for comparable prices; and when catalogs, trade publications and results of comparative auction sales have been utilized.
  8. A statement regarding the type of appraisal presented:  summary, self-contained, or restricted use appraisal.  Typically an appraisal of machinery and equipment is a summary report but may be any of the three.
  9. A statement of any assumptions or limiting factors that may affect the appraisal,preferably grouped together this statement discloses any apparent or known extraordinary conditions and indicate any impact on value.
10.A statement of the Scope of Work: Typically the Scope of Work identifies the Type and Extent of Research and Analysis used to prepare a credible appraisal assignment. (Sample VI) 11a.  A statement that fees for the appraisal are not contingent upon values reported. 11b. A statement in the appraisal report indicating the appraiser and/or any  officer of his company’s present or future interest in the machinery and equipment. (Code of Ethics Letter C)
  1. A clear description of each asset appraised, listing significant value characteristics which may include; but are not limited to,   asset type, size, or capacity, serial number, age, accessories, or tooling.  Each item should be identified, either with an asset number or machinery number used by the client, or a numerical sequence assigned each asset by the appraiser.  This allows the intended user a clear understanding of that, which has been appraised.
  2. A value of each item or group of items appraised and a total dollar value of all assets appraised.  Where appropriate:  a total value for a group of assets with each individual major item listed, or a total value for a group of assets without necessarily listing each individual asset.
  3. The effective date: the date at which the value opinion in an appraisal applies, which may or may not be the day of inspection, the date of the market conditions that provide the context for the value opinion.
  4. A signed and sealed certification page.
  5.   A signed and sealed certificate of value page.

                        C.)        A permanent record must be kept for at least five (5) years after preparation or at AMEA Standards least two (2) years after final disposition or any judicial proceeding in which testimony was given.  The permanent record will contain both a copy of the appraisal furnished to the client and any substantiating data used in arriving at the opinion of value.