Our History

OUR HISTORY….

Establishment of British rule in the year 1815 brought changes in the pattern of land holding, land use and title to land, in the country. Payment in land for services rendered to the State, replaced with cash payments and Legislation was enacted during course of time, to regulate.

Registration of Lands Registration of Deeds and ‘Sannases’ Land Resumption Definition of Boundaries Land Partitioning

Sale and Lease of Crown Lands Kandyan Land Transfer Entail and Settlement Land Surveys Land Acquisition

A Local Government Board established on June 01st 1921 to attend the annual assessment of Government properties, assessment of immovable properties in urban areas and other land valuations.

Provisions for the post of Government Assessor and his staff were made under the Local Government Board and the post of Government Assessor being created in 1923, and The Government Assessor who was entrusted to be in charge of assessment of Crown Properties, Estate Duty valuations, Land Acquisition and valuation and assessment of local authorities for Local Taxes.

With the appointment of Government Assessor, the manner and the content of valuations underwent a change from that of Civil Service administrative valuation, to a professional valuation. With the increase of volume of work an Assistant Government Assessor was appointed in 1926.

Amalgamation of the Department with the General Treasury and creation of The Valuation Division of General Treasury and changing of the designation of the Government Assessor to that of Government Valuer – October 1, 1933.

Mr. J G Morley, F.S.I., was appointed as the Government Assessor / Valuer in-charge of The Valuation Division of General Treasury – in March 1932, and was succeeded by Mr. A G B Whittaker from 18 October, 1933.

By the year 1939 there were two organizations carrying out valuation work on behalf of the Government, namely the Valuation Division of the Treasury and the Local Government Valuers’ Department.

As a measure of retrenchment, in October 1939 amalgamated above two units and entrusted to be in-charge one officer. As a result, Capt. E G Eastman was appointed Chief Valuer and to be in-charge of new Department.

Work of the Department divided into ‘General Division’ and ‘Rating Division’, Two Divisions were set-up and each division functioned in charge of an Assistant Valuer.

Capt. E G Eastman, vacated the post of Chief Valuer on June 30, 1946 and Mr. C Steward Orr was appointed the Chief Valuer.

On resignation of Mr. Steward Orr, Mr. P H Wickremasinghe was appointed to the post on February 1, 1948, who became the first Sri Lankan to hold the post and, during his tenure ‘Diploma in Valuation’, started at the Ceylon Technical College in view of professionalism of the valuation field.

With introduction of ‘Wealth Tax’ by the Inland Revenue Department on the advice by Professor Caldow and also with taking over of Petrol Filling Stations under the Petroleum Corporation Act, created massive work load for the Department, where with increased staff from 83 in 1948 to 222 in 1967 helped in handling increased work load, successfully.

Appointment of Mr. D P P Abeyagunawardena to the post of Chief Valuer took placed in 1967 and, the Progress Control System of the Department was first introduced by him and Sinhala Medium Diploma in Valuation Course started at the Ceylon Technical College.

After the General Election of 1970, the Valuation department, which had been functioning under the Ministry of Lands, brought under the Ministry of Finance.

Mr. Abeyagunawardena retired from the post of Chief Valuer in 1971 and there after Mr. L O de Silva, Senior Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, entrusted to act as the Chief Valuer for a short time until the appointment of Mr. K S P D Fernando as Chief Valuer on August 1, 1974.

In 1974, the department stopped changing its office from place to place and the “Valuation House” established at No: 748, Maradana Road, Colombo 10, which became the Icon of Valuation Department.

B.Sc. Degree in Estate Management & Valuation, which is the professional course of study for valuers, started in 1972 at the University of Colombo and thereafter at The Vidyodaya University (now University of Sri Jayewardenepura), taking the field of valuation more-towards professionalism.

Institute of Valuers Act No: 23 conceded in the Parliament in 1975 and establishment of The Institute of Valuers of Sri Lanka took place in 1979. As the Institute of Valuers Of Sri Lanka came in to existence, professionals in the field of valuation became members of a dignified institution. Our predecessors, gone through a history of more than 85 years, have with their profound knowledge and expertise, left for us an esteem professional institution in the public sector maintaining traditions and high standards in valuation and estate management. Methodology built up with dedication, proper decorum and professionalism indicate to us how we could best conduct ourselves to provide services as professional valuers with dignity and of highest order, in order to reach professional perfection in a world governed by advanced technology.

Decentralization of work of the Department commenced with setting up of District Offices at Jaffna, Kalutara and Regional Offices at Badulla, Kandy originally, later expanding wings with setting up a district office at Batticaloa and regional offices at Matara, Kurunegala and Gampaha, latest advancement being setting up regional offices at Ratnapura and Anuradhapura in the year 2006.

During the tenure of Mr. B L Ariyatillake as the Chief Valuer from 1980 to 1991, introduction of a new Departmental Circular took place to enhance the Progress Control System, with the view of computerization of work of the department and, appointment of a committee took place in view of introducing a Service Minute for Sri Lanka Valuation Service.

The department handled the major share of valuations subjective to privatization of Government owned business enterprises, during Mr. Ariyatillake’s tenure, since 1988.

From 1991 to 1996 Mr. S N Wijepala held the office, as the Chief Valuer. His contribution to the department was eminent even as the Deputy Chief Valuer since 1983 and his major concerns were to establish a separate service for Valuers and to develop the Progress Control System further in order to achieve professional excellence.

Mr. H R De Silva took office as Chief Valuer in 1996 and continued till 2006 and during his tenure, The Service Minute of Sri Lanka Valuation Service was approved and implemented with effect from 01.01.1998.

The Chief Valuer post was elevated to the status of Director General. The total cadre of professional staff increased from 261 to 311, whilst the basic recruitment level to the department elevated to degree level and presently only the holders of B.Sc. (Special) Estate Management & Valuation are recruited to the department.

On the day 03rd April 2006, Mr. P W Senaratne, B.Sc. Hon Estate Management & Valuation, FRICS took office as the Chief Valuer, making the history becoming the first Sri Lankan qualified Chief Valuer, who has set-up a broad vision ‘VISION 2012’.

With the view of opening up new employment opportunities in the field of Valuation for the Estate Management & Valuation graduates, the approved professional cadre of the Department was increased from 311 to 438. Further with the motive of synchronizing the Valuation service with the advancements in Information & Communication Technology, established Local Area Networks in all regional offices as an initial step. Also in view of providing a better working environment for the staff, Head Office premise and Colombo based Skills Development Centre were modified to the modern standards deviating from traditional office. In view of Skills Development, three storied modern training centre was set-up in Kandy.

The Vision 2012 Co-operative Plan has been set out after having come to understand the problem in the present system of operation, through past experiences and case studies. This mass Co-operate Plan has been launched officially with effect from 01st January 2007 purposing effective and collective exercise for the period ending up on 31st December 2011, aiming following to achieve professional excellence par with global standards.