Does the RICS AI standard apply to small firms and sole practitioners?

Yes — the RICS AI standard applies to regulated firms of every size. What that means for a sole practitioner or small surveying practice, and the honest minimum that satisfies it.

Short answer: yes. The RICS AI standard applies to all RICS members and RICS-regulated firms, in all jurisdictions — there is no small-firm exemption, no headcount threshold, and a sole practitioner using AI materially on instructions carries the same duties as a national practice.

The longer answer is more encouraging: the standard scales with impact, not size. A two-person firm's obligations are triggered by the same test — material impact on service delivery — and satisfied by the same records, which at small scale are genuinely small.

What the minimum looks like for a small practice

• A one-page standing statement covering why AI is the appropriate tool for the uses you make of it — doubling as the written appropriateness assessment and the spine of your policy.
• A systems register — four columns; the free template takes an hour including the arguments with yourself.
• A short risk register — perhaps six entries, RAG-rated, with a quarterly calendar slot to review them.
• A due-diligence letter per material tool — the six questions, sent once, answers filed.
• An AI paragraph in your terms plus a per-job notice — the six clauses and the advance notice.
• A habit of named output reviews — which, in a small firm, means your own name, written down, on the reliability call.

The small-firm advantages nobody mentions

Two things are easier at small scale. Visibility: you actually know every tool in use — no shadow-IT problem across five offices. And speed: policy, register and terms can change this week, not after a committee cycle. The genuine small-firm risk is different — it's continuity. Records living in one person's head satisfy nobody, including a future buyer of the practice, an incoming partner, or your PI insurer. Writing it down is what converts “I'm careful” into evidence.

I'm a sole practitioner who only uses ChatGPT for emails — does any of this apply?

The standard applies to you; how much of it activates depends on materiality. If drafting assistance is fully reviewed and doesn't materially affect delivery, the heavy duties may not trigger — but that's a conclusion worth recording, and the baseline-knowledge duty (understanding the tools' limits and data risks) applies to any professional use.

Is software overkill for a firm my size?

Spreadsheets and letters can satisfy the standard at small scale — genuinely. The case for software is time and continuity: the records generate themselves from decisions you record once, reviews get nudged, and everything survives you being on leave. From £20/month, it's priced for exactly this size of firm.

This article is general information, not legal or professional advice. ComplyQS is not affiliated with or endorsed by RICS.