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The RICS must be more open and transparent, industry figures have said ahead of a report into its future due out this spring.

Former civil servant Michael Bichard is currently leading an independent review into the group which could result in major changes at the 134-year old institution.

It follows the resignation of former chief executive Sean Tompkins last September along with president Kathleen Fontana, governing council chair Chris Brookes and management board chair Paul Marcuse.

Their departures followed the publication of a damning report by Alison Levitt QC which found that four members of the RICS governing council had been unfairly dismissed after raising concerns about a critical financial report.

Ahead of Bichard鈥檚 review, Gleeds chairman Richard Steer said a key failing of the institution under Tompkins was its 鈥渋ntrospection and secrecy鈥�.

The RICS needs not only a change of approach but a 鈥渕ajor shift in internal culture鈥� if it wanted to be 鈥漵een as more relevant contributors to the creation of the built environment worldwide by a much larger audience,鈥� he added.

Steer said: 鈥淗aving now been exposed to such public scrutiny and opprobrium in recent months, I do support the idea that there is the prioritisation of an enhanced public facing element of the RICS going forward. It needs to be seen as much more open and inclusive.鈥�

Stephen Hill, director of property consultancy C20 Futureplanners, also called for the RICS to become an institution focused on the public interest.

Hill is acting as the spokeperson of an influential group of property experts including former RICS president Louise Brooke-Smith which is calling for more accountability at the institution.

The group, which also includes the chief executive of developer Igloo, wants a new independent body to be set up allowing the institution鈥檚 140,000 members to hold its leadership to account. 

Many members see Tompkins as having focused too much on commercial interests during his 11-year tenure and allowing the interests of members and the public to take a back seat.

The challenge for Bichard, according to Hill, is how the RICS can reconcile its commercial interests with the public interest in a way that 鈥渋sn鈥檛 just window dressing鈥�.

> Read more: Five things you should know about the RICS鈥� external reviewer

He said: 鈥淭he question is how would you bring the definition and the thinking about the public interest absolutely into the heart of everything that we do and the heart of the business of the institution.鈥�

He added: 鈥淚t is about a cultural change and how do we bring the question of what is the public interest in any particular situation, that becomes part of the everyday conversation of what it is to be a professional, your relationship with your client and your relationship with the public.

鈥淲e have to have a good story about what we鈥檙e doing, and if we don鈥檛 we鈥檙e really laying ourselves open to criticism.鈥�

Paul Roberts, managing director in of the Australian division of construction law firm Secretariat, said the RICS had been much more focused on the public interest before Tompkins took over in 2010.

Roberts said he was 鈥渆ntirely in favour鈥� of the RICS becoming a largely public interest focused body, adding: 鈥淚鈥檓 not in favour at all of the way the RICS has morphed in the last 10 or so years where it has effectively become a commercial operation.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 like that when I joined 30 years ago. It was run by the members, for the members and for the public.鈥�

Bichard was appointed to lead the review into the RICS in December last year with a six-month timetable for completion.

The institution said the review鈥檚 objectives are to 鈥渃reate clarity鈥� about the RICS鈥� purpose, to make proposals for the future to make the organisation a 鈥渂eacon for best practice鈥� in governance, transparency and accountability and to ensure that governance structures, culture and resources are 鈥渇it for today鈥� and relevant in the future.