The LPA shall establish criteria for determining the minimum qualifications of appraisers. Appraiser qualifications shall be consistent with the level of difficulty of the appraisal assignment. As standard procedure, instead of establishing its own qualifications of appraisers, the LPA may elect to use fee appraisers approved by TxDOT.

Appraisal assignments to fee appraisers on projects where there is federal aid in right of way and/or construction of the project may only be made to individuals that are licensed as certified residential or certified general appraisers by the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board. The appraisal assignment must fall within the scope of practice permitted under the appraiser’s licensure level. TxDOT ROW Program Office maintains a roster of Department Certified Appraisers, and the roster is available in the ROW PD office. In addition, the TxDOT list of approved fee appraisers contains the certification/license information for each appraiser and may be used by the LPA for reference and verification.

No appraiser or review appraiser shall have any interest, direct or indirect, in the real property being appraised for the LPA that would lead to a conflict with the preparation or review of the appraisal. Compensation for making an appraisal shall not be based on the amount of the valuation.