No short cuts

When the Polish version of the Real Estate Agency & Brokerage Standards (REABS) was published, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) compiled its own list of unethical practices on the commercial property market. This concerned the activities of agents, tenants and lessors. RICS' aim was to initiate a debate on the quality of the Polish commercial property market. The REABS document, on the other hand, is designed to help establish in common practice the best rules and standards for doing business and consequently improve the quality of the services offered to clients. It seems that there is still a great deal of work to do. According to the RICS, the commercial property sector is by no means free of deliberate attempts to mislead clients and business partners. This is confirmed, for example, by the penalties that continue to be imposed by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). "The property market in Poland, particularly during economic downturns,