The Mission of SVAI shall be to regulate acceptable professional appraisal standards and have all members adhere to a Code of Conduct of Appraisers involved in and writing evaluations on Specialty Vehicles.
HOW TO JOIN
The Specialty Vehicle Appraisal Institute of Alberta (also known as SVAI) is a non-profit association of specialty vehicle and collector vehicle appraisers who have joined together with the purpose of improving the level of professionalism within the industry. In collaboration with fellow appraisers, hobbyists and collectors and the insurance industry the association has developed best practices, code of ethics, inspection and report standards to which all members are expected to adhere.
We have also published guidelines to assist new and experienced appraisers. The goal is to improve the quality and accuracy of appraisal reports primarily for owners and insurance companies but also upon occasion, courts and various legal forums.
New members initially join SVAI as an associate member by filling out the application sheet on the SVAI website which will be forwarded to the SVAI treasurer. Depending on the time of year that the application is received, the membership fee ($225) will be pro-rated and an invoice will be sent to the new applicant. In addition to the membership fee a charge of $100 (required) will be added to the invoice for the SVAI Training Manual and SVAI Guidelines Manual.
New associate members are encouraged to complete the accreditation process within their first year. The SVAI accreditation process is a self-guided approach that requires reading the training manual, submitting a sample appraisal report and passing a knowledge test based on the training manual and the guidelines manual. The sample appraisal report is reviewed by the SVAI Accreditation Chair and assistant to determine whether or not the report content meets or exceeds our best practices. For more information please go to the Accreditation section on our website.
Becoming accredited confirms to all that your appraisal reports and methodology meets SVAI best practices.
When the new member application is received by the treasurer, the treasurer notifies the SVAI executive. When notified, the secretary assigns the next consecutive member number and updates the membership lists and sends the updated list out to all executive. (President, V. President, Secretary, Treasurer and Accreditation Chair.) The new member is initially designated as an associate member until accreditation is achieved. SVAI secretary sends out the following information to the new member: •SVAI website password for members section access to the SVAI web site. •SVAI current training manual and guidelines manual. •Note that the current training manual consists of mandatory requirements for report writing and includes the Code of Ethics for SVAI appraisers
The Guidelines manual includes many examples and relevant information for appraising collector and specialty vehicles. This includes guidance on valuations, condition ratings, report formats, types of appraisals and legal implications. The information supplied is hopefully helpful but not mandatory for appraisers to use.
New appraisers in particular would find this manual very useful. Information on how to become accredited, the accreditation review process and how to purchase the SVAI Accreditation manual is on the SVAI website under the Accreditation tab.
The accreditation manual includes a knowledge test and information relating to becoming accredited within SVAI.
