Workfiles & Appraisal Review
~10 min read · Keep the 5-year/2-year workfile and know what Standards 3/4 ask of a reviewer.
Two housekeeping regimes close the USPAP domain: the workfile you must build and keep (five years, or two after final court testimony, whichever is longer), and Standards 3/4 governing how one appraiser reviews another's work without becoming an advocate or a vandal.
The workfile
For every appraisal or review, the appraiser prepares a workfile BEFORE issuing the report, containing: the client's identity and intended users, true copies of all written reports, and all data, information, and documentation necessary to support the opinions — or references to where it exists. Retention: five years after preparation, or two years after final disposition of any judicial proceeding in which the appraiser testified — whichever expires last. The appraiser must have custody or access arrangements; losing the file to an employer's server without access is a violation.
- Built before the report issues; supports every opinion
- 5 years, or 2 years past final testimony — whichever is LONGER
- Custody or arranged access; true report copies included
Appraisal review (Standards 3 & 4)
Appraisal review develops an opinion about the quality of another appraiser's work — Standard 3 governs developing that review opinion, Standard 4 its reporting (mirroring the 1/2 split). The reviewer identifies the work under review, its scope, and applies peer-level judgment as of the work's own effective date and market context — hindsight is not the test. A reviewer may additionally develop their own opinion of value, but that portion is itself an appraisal, subject to Standards 1/2 and the reviewer's competency in that market.
- Review = opinion of QUALITY of another's work
- Std 3 develop / Std 4 report — the familiar split
- Judge against the work's date and context, not hindsight
- Reviewer's own value opinion = an appraisal with full obligations
Certifications and signatures
Every report and review carries a signed certification: impartiality, no undisclosed interests, personal inspection status, significant assistance identified by name. Signing appraisers take responsibility for the whole; a trainee's significant contribution is named. False certification is the profession's perjury.
Worked example
In 2026 a lender asks an appraiser to review a 2023 appraisal that used three comps now known (in 2026) to have been followed by a market slide, and to 'trash it so we can deny the claim — and by the way, what value would YOU put on it?' The reviewer testified about an unrelated 2019 appraisal in a case that ended in March 2026. Sort the duties and the file clocks.
The review: judged AS OF 2023 with 2023 data — the later slide is hindsight and proves nothing about the original's quality; 'trash it' is a predetermined conclusion, which the Ethics Rule bars in reviews exactly as in appraisals (the reviewer forms whatever opinion the evidence supports). The value request: giving his own 2026 (or retrospective 2023) opinion converts that portion into an appraisal — Standards 1/2, competency, and its own scope apply. The 2019 file: the clock is five years from preparation (2024) OR two years past final disposition (March 2026 + 2 = March 2028) — whichever is LONGER: the file must survive to 2028. Reviews judge fairly, opinions stay independent, and litigation stretches retention.
Common exam pitfalls
Reviewing with hindsight data.
The work is judged against what was knowable at ITS effective date — later market moves are not errors.
Running the workfile clock only five years.
It's five years OR two past final testimony, whichever is LONGER — litigation extends the file's life.
Slipping an informal value into a review.
A reviewer's value opinion is an appraisal — full Standards 1/2 and competency attach the moment it's offered.
File it before you sign it, keep it five-or-two-whichever-longer, and review the work as its own day saw it.
Recap
- Workfile: pre-report, complete support, true copies
- Retention: 5 years or 2 past final testimony — the longer
- Custody or arranged access is mandatory
- Std 3/4: develop and report review opinions — quality, not hindsight
- Reviewer's own value = a full appraisal
- Signed certifications name inspections and significant assistance
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