Note for Appraisers
Every sample appraisal available for download from the web contains s statement about AD compliance. Typically there is a pre-printed question "AD's complied with" to which the invariable answer is simply , "Yes." Have you thought about the can of worms this cavalier statement can open?
The law says that when people choose to speak they must do so wisely. When you answer "Yes" to that question you are in effect guaranteeing that there are no existing AD requirements that have not been met - that all recurring inspections and checks have been timely made. Are you willing to issue that guarantee based on someone else's word? Shouldn't the question on the appraisal form be "Do the aircraft records reflect complete AD compliance?" Or did you dive into the books and spend several hours generating an AD list for the aircraft you're appraising and then sit down and go through the logbooks to verify compliance? Probably you did the former and that is quite simply, dangerous. If you generated your own list how confident are you that you didn't miss some obscure requirement on an appliance? Did you read each of the 200 plus appliance AD's to see if they apply? Did you personally check the hundreds of service bulletins filled with thousands of product serial numbers?
Every appraiser knows that you can't simply rely on "blue-book" values to accurately establish an aircraft value. Nor can you think that all automobiles of the same make and year should be priced evenly or establish real estate values on square footage alone. Nor should you rely on generic AD lists because every aircraft is unique. AD's are no longer the simple little maintenance notes written by one mechanic for another, instead they are complex legal documents written by lawyers with the help of engineering experts and reviewed by panels of other lawyers and specialists. Frequently they incorporate by reference lengthy and complex service documents issued by the manufacturer of the affected item. Why the FAA continues to charge the poor mechanic with the responsibility of interpreting these sometimes complex and confusing legal documents is a mystery, but that's how the system presently works.
My advice to appraisers is to quit guaranteeing the work of others or, better yet, obtain a really good AD list from ADR and use that to verify compliance. Attach the AD Search report to your appraisal so readers will know you reviewed the records accurately and completely and did not just rely on someone else's possibly self-serving information.