Journal
Staff inspection vs the signing appraiser
Certified appraisals require a competent inspection. They do not always require the signing appraiser to stand in every room.
A certified fine art appraisal requires a competent inspection of the objects. It does not always require the signing appraiser to be the person in the doorway.
Staff can measure, photograph, and record condition from a stated method. The signing appraiser reviews that file, researches the market, writes the report, and signs the USPAP certification. The opinion is the signer.
Why practices work this way
Large collections and collections in more than one region are difficult if every tape measure belongs to one person. A directed staff visit is the inspection, delegated. Listing photographs treated as an inspection do not qualify.
When the signer should be on site
Small collections, matters likely to go to testimony, and clients who want the signer present are ordinary reasons to book that way. The rest of the rules do not move: hourly or flat, never a percentage of value; the correct definition for the purpose; no authentication; no probate administration.