Preliminary report (pré-rapport)

The pré-rapport (preliminary report) is the provisional version of the report in an expertise judiciaire (court-ordered expert appraisal). In it the expert sets out what was seen, the documents received, the method envisaged and the figure reached, then sends it to the parties, leaving them a period in which to respond by dires (a party’s written observations to the expert). Only after receiving and examining those observations does the expert write the final report, filed with the court registry. The preliminary report is thus the moment when the adversarial principle is fully exercised on the substance of the valuation.

The French Code of Civil Procedure does not require it under that name, but most judgments appointing an expert ask for a summary document before the report, and article 276 organises the time allowed for the parties to respond. In practice, a valuation report filed without a preliminary report exposes itself to criticism.

Where the rule comes from

Article 276 of the French Code of Civil Procedure provides that the expert may set the parties a time limit for submitting their observations or requests, after which the expert is not bound to take them into account, and that the expert must state in the opinion what was done with the observations submitted. This mechanism presupposes that the parties know the proposed conclusions: that is the purpose of the preliminary report. Article 16 requires the judge, and by extension the expert, to ensure that the adversarial principle is observed. The Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (the French property valuation charter, Title II, chapter 10) sets out the expected content of valuation documents.

In a valuation report

The preliminary report already contains the essentials: restatement of the instruction, chronology of the operations, description of the property after the visit, list of documents, market analysis, references adopted with their source, method, calculation and provisional conclusion. It states clearly the time allowed for observations, generally three to six weeks depending on complexity, and reminds the parties that observations must be in writing. The final report takes up the preliminary report, inserts the observations and the answers to them, and amends or confirms the conclusion. The parties can thus see what has changed and why.

Example

In an appraisal ordered to fix the eviction compensation of a florist’s shop, the expert sends a preliminary report concluding at €148,000, including €120,000 for the value of the business calculated at 60 % of turnover. The landlord files observations arguing that relocation is possible to vacant premises 200 metres away; the tenant replies that those premises have no street frontage. The expert visits the proposed premises, confirms the absence of a shop window and the difference in footfall, maintains the replacement compensation and explains this in the final report, adjusting the business disruption to €9,500 in the light of the additional accounts received.

Not to be confused with

The progress report, which reports to the judge on the state of the operations without any conclusion, and the note to the parties, sent during the operations to request documents or fix a meeting.