A practical guide for working appraisers

UAD 3.6: what it is, when it lands, what actually changes

The biggest change to residential appraisal reporting since the modern URAR. Here is the whole picture — dates, forms, measurement, exhibits, delivery — in plain language.

What UAD 3.6 is

The Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) version 3.6 is the redesigned appraisal data standard published jointly by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of their UAD and Forms Redesign initiative. It replaces the UAD 2.6 standard that has underpinned the familiar forms library — the 1004 URAR, 2055 exterior, 1073 condo, 1025 small residential income, and their siblings — since 2011.

The core shift is from form-first to data-first. Under UAD 3.6 the appraiser produces a structured dataset; the report the reader sees — the redesigned Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR) — is generated from that data. Delivery to the GSEs is a MISMO v3.6 XML document validated against the official GSE UAD 3.6 schema, accompanied by the rendered PDF and categorized exhibit images.

MISMO v3.6 is the mortgage industry's general data reference model; UAD 3.6 is the GSEs' appraisal-specific specification built on it — a constrained subset with appraisal enumerations (condition and quality ratings, adjustment types, exhibit categories), conditionality rules, and a validation schema. One dynamic URAR, whose sections adapt to the property type and assignment, replaces the fixed forms.

Measured axis — to the mandate

The timeline

  1. September 2025Limited production

    Early-adopter lenders began submitting UAD 3.6 appraisals to the GSEs in controlled volume, proving out the end-to-end pipeline.

  2. January 26, 2026Broad production

    UAD 3.6 submission opened to all lenders. From this date, both formats run in parallel: lenders and their appraisers may deliver UAD 3.6 or the legacy format.

  3. November 2, 2026Required use

    UAD 3.6 becomes the required format for new GSE appraisal submissions. Legacy-format (UAD 2.6 / 1004-era) lender deliveries are no longer accepted after this date.

The practical read: the parallel-running window is the transition period. An appraiser who waits until the mandate to touch UAD 3.6 will be learning a new report structure, a new measurement discipline, and new software under deadline pressure — during the busiest re-tooling cycle the profession has seen in a decade.

What actually changes for appraisers

1. One dynamic URAR replaces the forms library

The 1004, 2055, 1073, and 1025 are retired as separate forms. The redesigned URAR is property-type agnostic and assignment-aware: sections appear, expand, or collapse based on what the assignment actually is. The concepts you know — subject, site, improvements, sales comparison, reconciliation, certification — all survive; the fixed form numbers do not.

2. Structured data replaces free-form fields

Far more of the report becomes discrete, enumerated data: utilities, heating and cooling systems, room counts by level, adjustment lines typed by category, exhibit images categorized by kind. That is what makes automated review possible on the lender side — and it is why "fill out the PDF and export" tooling cannot simply be patched into compliance.

3. ANSI measurement becomes a declared fact

ANSI Z765 has been required by Fannie Mae for single-family GLA since April 2022, but under UAD 3.6 the measurement standard is an explicit machine-readable declaration in the delivery. Above-grade and below-grade area are structurally separate: GLA is above-grade finished area only, and basement area — finished or not — lives on its own lines. Software that lets a finished basement inflate GLA produces a report that contradicts its own data.

4. Floor plans move from nice-to-have toward expected

The UAD 3.6 dataset carries an explicit sketch exists indicator, a measurement-standard declaration tied to it, and categorized floor-plan and improvement-sketch exhibits. GSE policy expects a floor plan for interior-inspection assignments. Exterior-only assignments are not held to the same expectation — but the data structure now records the answer either way.

5. Delivery is XML, and the XML is validated

The deliverable is a MISMO 3.6 XML document that must validate against the GSE schema — element order, enumerations, conditionality rules and all — packaged with the rendered PDF and the exhibit images. The XML also identifies the software that produced it, by name and version, in a dedicated valuation-software block. Submissions that fail schema validation bounce before a human ever reads them.

6. Time adjustments and market support get sharper scrutiny

With adjustments delivered as typed data lines, market-conditions (time) adjustments and their support are trivially visible to automated review. The era of an unexplained round-number time adjustment — or none at all in a visibly moving market — is closing. Documented, index-checked derivations are the defensible posture.

Honest FAQ

What is UAD 3.6 in one sentence?

It is the GSEs' redesigned appraisal data standard: instead of filling a fixed form like the 1004, the appraiser produces a structured dataset (delivered as MISMO 3.6 XML) from which the new URAR is generated.

Do I have to do anything before November 2, 2026?

For lender work delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, yes — from that date the GSEs require the UAD 3.6 format for new appraisal submissions, so your software has to produce a valid UAD 3.6 / MISMO 3.6 delivery. Non-lender work is governed by USPAP and your client's requirements, not by the UAD mandate.

Is the 1004 going away?

Yes. The redesigned URAR replaces the legacy forms library — 1004, 2055, 1073, 1025 and siblings — with one dynamic report whose sections adapt to the property and assignment. The underlying appraisal concepts remain; the fixed form numbers do not.

Is ANSI Z765 new with UAD 3.6?

No — Fannie Mae has required ANSI measurement for single-family GLA since April 2022. UAD 3.6 makes the standard an explicit declaration in the data and structurally separates above-grade GLA from below-grade area, so the discipline is enforced rather than assumed.

Do I need a floor plan on every report?

GSE policy expects a floor plan exhibit for interior-inspection assignments, and the dataset records whether a sketch exists either way. Exterior-only assignments do not carry the same expectation.

What is the difference between UAD 3.6 and MISMO 3.6?

MISMO v3.6 is the industry-wide data reference model; UAD 3.6 is the GSEs' appraisal-specific specification built on it, with its own enumerations, conditionality rules, and validation schema. A UAD 3.6 delivery is a MISMO 3.6 document that also satisfies the GSE appraisal spec.

Can I keep doing private, non-lender work the old way?

Yes. Estate, divorce, tax-appeal, pre-listing, and PMI-removal work is governed by USPAP and your client — there is no UAD requirement on it. Many appraisers will adopt the new structure and ANSI discipline across all work anyway, because it is stronger workfile practice.

Is AppraiserLogic approved by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?

No software is "approved" by the GSEs in a blanket sense, and we do not claim to be. AppraiserLogic generates UAD 3.6 deliveries validated against the official GSE schema, the product has been submitted to the Fannie Mae Technology Service Provider intake under this exact name, and GSE Compliance API verification is in progress. Private, non-lender work is fully served today — we would rather tell you the pipeline status plainly than imply a blessing that does not exist.

What happens to legacy-format submissions after the mandate?

The GSEs have stated UAD 3.6 becomes the required format for new appraisal submissions on November 2, 2026 — legacy-format lender deliveries will no longer be accepted through their pipelines after that date. That is why this transition is a software decision, not just a training decision.

How AppraiserLogic handles each of these

UAD 3.6 requirementWhat AppraiserLogic does
Dynamic URAR structureThe report editor is URAR-structured from the ground up — Subject, Contract, Neighborhood, Site, Improvements, Sales Comparison, Reconciliation, Certification — with the form type recorded per report, not bolted onto a legacy form filler.
Structured, typed dataUtilities, heating/cooling, room-by-level grids, C1–C6 / Q1–Q6 ratings, and adjustment lines typed by category (market conditions, GLA above and below grade, bath count, and more) map to the UAD enumerations directly.
ANSI Z765 measurementGLA is above-grade only; below-grade area and finish carry their own fields, their own grid line, and their own rate. County-sourced GLA that may include basement area is flagged for verification, and the measurement-standard declaration is emitted with the sketch data.
Floor plan exhibitsA built-in grid-snap sketcher draws multi-level plans with a live per-level ANSI area rollup — or upload any tool's output (CubiCasa, Apex, TOTAL Sketch; images, phone photos, or PDFs). Exhibits are categorized as the schema expects, and the sketch indicator is set truthfully.
Schema-valid XML deliveryEvery build validates against the official GSE UAD 3.6 schema. The delivery ZIP contains the XML, the form-ordered PDF, and categorized exhibit images with internally consistent file references — and the XML self-identifies as AppraiserLogic in the valuation-software block.
Supported time adjustmentsThe market-conditions rate can be derived from your comps by regression, then anchored against published ZIP-level home-value indexes — with the citation written into the report's basis text automatically.
Prior-service disclosureThe subject address is scanned against your own order history for the USPAP three-year prior-service disclosure, and the disclosure is carried into the delivery data.
Status, stated plainly: AppraiserLogic produces schema-validated UAD 3.6 / MISMO 3.6 delivery packages today and is in the Fannie Mae Technology Service Provider intake under this product name; GSE Compliance API verification is in progress. Private, non-lender assignments are fully served right now.

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