Article by Nathan Pippin, SRA

Nationally, the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) establishes the minimum qualification requirements for real estate appraisers. These minimum standards are updated periodically to ensure the profession keeps pace with market demands, technological advancements, regulatory needs, and workforce trends. When the AQB revises its requirements, state legislatures and appraiser regulatory agencies (such as the North Carolina Appraisal Board) are required to implement those minimums. Importantly, states retain the authority to impose additional requirements beyond the AQB-prescribed standards.

After a multi-year review aimed at modernizing the Criteria, reducing unnecessary barriers to entry, and improving clarity, the AQB released a 128-page First Exposure Draft on December 4, 2025. Click here to view the exposure draft. At a high level, the exposure draft proposes the following changes:

Reorganization of the Criteria

• Revises the overall format for clarity and to better reflect how applicants move through the credentialing process.

Revisions to qualifying education

• Removes college-course and college-degree requirements.
• Eliminates elective qualifying education.
• Replaces electives with a Market Data Analytics Applications and Case Studies module within the Required Core Curriculum.

Revisions to examination requirements

• Clarifies that licensed and certified applicants may sit for the examination upon completion of qualifying education, rather than after satisfying experience requirements.
• Removes the two-year testing window that previously required applicants to test within two years of eligibility.

Revisions to experience requirements

• Clarifies that licensed and certified applicants may accumulate experience before, during, and after completing qualifying education.
• Reduces the Certified Residential minimum experience requirement from 12 months to 9 months (Licensed Residential remains 6 months; Certified General remains 18 months).
• Expands acceptable experience to include mass/ad valorem appraisal, confidential or specialized valuation environments, and work performed under International Valuation Standards (IVS).
• Clarifies PAREA, practicum, and log-based experience pathways, including how experience from multiple pathways may be combined.

Revisions to continuing education

• Affirms that trainee appraisers are not required to complete continuing education.

Supervisory appraiser provisions

• Clarifies the three-trainee supervision limit and reinforces supervisory appraiser responsibilities.

Guide Notes

• Retires Guide Notes 4 and 10, which address practicum programs and college-level substitution pathways.
• Introduces Guide Note 12, which provides guidance on experience-log documentation.

In addition to the First Exposure Draft, the AQB also released two concept papers: one exploring a skills-based experience pathway and another examining an examination-only pathway. While neither concept paper is part of the exposure draft itself, both were released concurrently to invite public feedback and discussion. Click here to view the skills-based pathway concept paper, and click here to view the examination-only pathway concept paper.

While some of the proposals and concepts may appear counterintuitive at first glance, the AQB has provided background information and supporting rationale for each. We encourage all appraisal professionals to review the proposals with the same objectivity applied to appraisal assignments—carefully weighing the information, applying critical thinking, and arriving at supportable conclusions. The AQB invites feedback, which may be submitted to [email protected].

Why this matters in North Carolina

If adopted, these proposed AQB changes would establish the national minimum standards that the North Carolina Appraisal Board would be required to implement. While North Carolina would retain the authority to impose requirements beyond the AQB minimums, the exposure draft could materially affect how individuals enter the profession, progress from trainee to licensure, and accumulate qualifying education and experience within the state. For practicing appraisers, supervisors, educators, and firms that train or employ trainees, these proposals may influence workforce development, supervision obligations, and long-term appraisal capacity across North Carolina’s diverse markets. Early engagement in the exposure process provides an opportunity to help ensure that any final Criteria adopted are workable, defensible, and aligned with both national objectives and the practical realities of appraisal practice in North Carolina.