Federal Association of publicly appointed and sworn experts (BVS)

The mission statement defines the role of the BVS expert in society. Professionalism at the highest level, extraordinary demands on personal qualities and a clear demarcation on the market, among other things through public appointment and swearing in - these are clear signals and good prerequisites with which BVS and its members are optimally equipped for the future.

The Federal Association of Publicly Appointed and Sworn and Qualified Experts e.V. (BVS) has developed a mission statement which is binding for the association and its members. With this mission statement, BVS follows the suggestion of the EU Services Directive (2006/123/EC), which calls for codes of conduct to be drawn up for individual occupational groups.

The BVS mission statement serves to consistently ensure the highest quality in the professional practice of BVS experts and effective consumer protection.

The central objective of the BVS mission statement is to actively ensure the necessary trust on the part of state institutions, the judiciary, politics, public and private clients and the general public for the publicly appointed and sworn and equally qualified experts.

With this mission statement, the BVS members commit themselves to adhering to the highest professional quality standards and to ethical guidelines in their professional practice.

The BVS is a self-governing body of publicly appointed and sworn experts. Equally qualified experts experts can be admitted if they commit themselves to the BVS objectives.

BVS's external functions: The BVS ...

• ... with its regional associations and corporate associations for the state, the judiciary, politics, companies, consumers and the general public, is the point of contact for all expert questions in Europe as well as at federal, state and regional level.
• ... maintains contact with the appointing bodies. It is involved with its members in the relevant committees and is involved in setting standards for the exercise of the profession.

Functions of the BVS inwards:

• As an interdisciplinary association, BVS brings together particularly qualified experts from a wide range of fields to form a network based on a high level of competence.
• The BVS represents the interests of its members vis-à-vis politicians, legislators and the general public.
• The BVS offers its members a wide range of services to support them in successfully completing their professional tasks.
• The BVS conducts regular expert days for all experts in Germany. They serve the professional exchange and further development of the expert profession.
• The BVS organises and effectively promotes the further education and training of its members and contributes to ensuring the highest quality and professionalism of the BVS experts.
• The BVS actively promotes young scientists and is the technical contact for all prospective experts.

BVS experts are independent professionals committed to integrity. They have above-average qualifications in their respective fields. Expertise and sound practical experience. BVS experts present their specialized expert knowledge to society, The company is available to the authorities, the judiciary, politics as well as companies and private clients in a trusting and beneficial manner. BVS experts are of their capacity as experts and expert advisors with the clarification of complex facts.

• BVS experts play an important role as experts in resolving conflicts between private individuals and/or organisations.
• BVS experts evaluate, check and/or control complex facts in their function as experts, which require a high level of expertise and experience. Within this framework, they carry out evaluations, product, laboratory or vehicle inspections, among other things, in compliance with standards or legal regulations.
• BVS experts prepare qualified analyses, expert reports and forecasts on the basis of their high level of technical expertise. They are members of various expert committees.

The BVS experts make available their clear knowledge advantage, which they have due to their training and practical experience. The clients trust the BVS experts and rely on their competence and professional ethics. The BVS experts, for their part, justify this trust by adhering to the highest professional standards and committing themselves to the ethical standards of the BVS.

BVS experts provide services at the highest level within the scope of their professional activities. In this way they secure the trust of their clients and the general public.

They shall comply with professional guidelines which comply with the Code of Practice for Experts of EUROEXPERT, the European umbrella organisation for experts, and with the standards defined by the appointing bodies and their umbrella organisations.

BVS experts, in particular publicly appointed and sworn experts, guarantee special quality standards in their professional practice. They have been audited both personally and professionally by appointed bodies.

• Professional competence: BVS experts have above-average specialist knowledge and practical experience in their field.
• Continuous further training: BVS experts are constantly expanding their knowledge and skills in their area of expertise or order. They continuously acquire the latest scientific and technical knowledge as well as the corresponding market knowledge.
• conscientiousness: BVS experts carefully determine the basis of their technical assessments and justify the results in a comprehensible manner.
• Comprehensibility and transparency: BVS experts inform their clients and the general public about their performance and competence profile. Accuracy and comprehensibility are the highest standards when providing the SV service.

BVS experts are bound by special professional standards within the scope of their professional practice. They independently, impartially and autonomously assess the facts presented to them or ascertained by them. They commit themselves to secrecy and integrity.

• independence: BVS experts make technically substantiated findings independently of instructions from third parties. In the course of their professional duties, they do not enter into any obligations that could influence or falsify their assessments.
• impartiality: BVS experts make unbiased decisions within the scope of their professional activities without favouring or discriminating against certain persons or parties with their respective interests. They shall maintain strict neutrality in the preparation and drafting of their reports.
• Economic independence: BVS experts live in orderly economic conditions. They are neither economically dependent on their appointing body nor on their clients.
• personal responsibility: BVS experts personally vouch for the service provided.
• non-disclosure: BVS experts shall at no time disclose to third parties the knowledge gained in the performance of their duties without express authorisation.
• integrity: BVS experts behave with integrity. They act in accordance with recognised professional standards and in accordance with their professional ethics. They stand by their word and are reliable.

BVS experts refrain from all actions and statements that could damage the public perception of the profession of experts and their trustworthiness.

More than ever, the highly specialised work of experts is needed to solve problems as a result of the increasing complexity within society. BVS is aware of its responsibility with regard to these challenges. The aim of the BVS is ...

• ... to develop the expertise of all members at a high level. This will ensure that particularly qualified experts will continue to be available to consumers.
• ... to ensure the high quality and integrity of BVS experts in an effective and credible manner.
• ... to provide competence networks through a permanent exchange of experience in the various order areas and thus underline its lead in excellence.
• ... against the background of progressive European unification processes, to consistently enforce the high BVS quality standards combined with ethical self-commitment at European level.

The overriding objective is to continue to successfully represent the current and future interests of BVS experts while taking central public interest concerns into account.