South African Institute of Valuers (SAIV)

The South African Institute of Valuers (SAIV) was founded in 1909 as the national society of professional real estate valuers. SAIV is a voluntary professional organisation that promotes the common interests of valuers and represents more than half of the registered valuers in South Africa.

Registered name

South African Institute of Valuers (SAIV)

Type

Voluntary professional organisation (property valuation)

Fields funded

Property valuation qualifications, from second year and postgraduate

Website

saiv.org.za

Email

gmassist@saiv.org.za

Phone

012 348 2757

What valuers do

A valuer is a skilled professional who determines the value of immovable property. Individuals, companies, banks, all three spheres of government and statutory bodies rely on valuers’ expertise when they buy, sell or expropriate property, settle deceased estates, grant mortgage bonds, levy municipal rates, insure or invest, set rentals and negotiate leases and servitudes.

Because property values are never static, valuers must continuously research economic trends and often predict future trends. Valuers work on residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural properties.

SAIV and the regulator

SAIV works alongside the South African Council for the Property Valuers Profession (SACPVP), the statutory body that regulates valuers under the Property Valuers Profession Act of 2000. To practise legally, a valuer must register with SACPVP. Aspiring valuers complete an academic qualification in property valuation, register as candidate valuers while studying, and gain practical experience before registering as professional associated valuers or professional valuers.

SAIV connects members through its network and runs webinars and seminars on market developments, which members praise as a practical form of continuing education.

The SAIV bursary

SAIV’s bursary helps students already studying towards a property valuation qualification to finish and register. Awards run one year at a time and are paid directly to the institution, based on need and the institution’s fee quotation. Applicants must have completed first year, including three valuation-related first-year subjects, be SAIV student members, and hold no other bursary. SAIV branches review applications before its national education committee grants provisional approval in November and finalises awards in January after examination results.

Applications for 2027 close on 31 October 2026, SAIV’s standard closing date. No work-back applies, and bursars must reapply each year.

How to research SAIV

Confirm your career path with SACPVP before choosing a qualification, as SAIV advises, and register as a candidate valuer early. Student membership is free for unemployed full-time students.

See the SAIBPP bursary for first-year property students.