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The RICS has revealed a drive to expand both internationally and deeper into the UK regions in a bid to boost its profile and improve funding. The move comes as its construction faculty chairman, Michael Byng, vowed to take legal advice after the RICS found him guilty of professional misconduct. Steve Williams, president of the RICS, declined to comment on Byng鈥檚 case.

Williams unveiled a target to recruit 20,000 new members, mainly from overseas, in the next five years at the RICS quarterly Governing Council meeting on Tuesday this week.

A 拢3.3m surplus in the RICS coffers for the year ended 31 July 2005 was also revealed at the meeting. This was put down to better than expected performance of investments in 2004. Total reserves now stand at 拢26.4m.

The plan to attract more people to the RICS aims to tackle the 鈥渢ime bomb鈥� the body faces stemming from 10% of its members being aged over 65 and 90% of its funding coming from membership fees.

The Middle East and Africa will be the key growth areas targeted. Daniel Alcon, who runs the RICS in the Middle East from Dubai, said at the event: 鈥淭he Middle East is a magnet for property professionals around the world. There is no local regulation in the region so there is a real opportunity for the RICS to play a major role in setting standards, particularly in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.鈥�

There is no local regulation in the Middle East so there is a real opportunity for us to play a major role in setting standards

Daniel Alcon, RICS Middle East

Alcon plans to raise the institution鈥檚 regional status by attending conferences and exhibitions and he also has a series of radio interviews in the pipeline. He said the RICS had a couple of hundred members in the region, the vast majority of which are QSs.

RICS president Williams said a simultaneous focus would be directed at the second-tier cities of the UK. The 鈥渟ub-regional agenda鈥� would focus on 鈥渢hose cities below the Birminghams and Manchesters鈥�. The first step was a meeting held on Monday this week in Cardiff at which regional representatives met with the Governing Council.

The Council is also looking at ways to increase its commercial income to lessen its dependency on subscriptions. The RICS caused controversy among its members by raising the annual subscription by 32% in 2003.

A further initiative revealed at Tuesday鈥檚 meeting was a commission on disasters to help governments, charities, NGOs and vulnerable communities around the world deal with natural and man-made catastrophes. The RICS Presidential Commission on Disaster Management will promote best practice in preparing for the worst, dealing with the immediate aftermath of disasters and longer term recovery and rebuilding programmes.