UAD 3.6 and the Redesigned URAR

UAD 3.6 is the updated Uniform Appraisal Dataset standard, and the redesigned URAR is the report built on it.

The platform is ready

Dwelling Blocks is ready for UAD 3.6. That does not mean you can start working in the new format today — the report types have to be enabled by a lender before any order in that format can reach you.

We do not require any new certification

There is no Dwelling Blocks certification, test, or qualification for UAD 3.6. Nothing to apply for, nothing to pay for, and nothing that gates you out of the new report types on our side.

What we do strongly suggest is that you understand the format before your first live order arrives. The GSEs have published training and reference material written for appraisers, and it is worth the time:

• New Uniform Residential Appraisal Report Training — the GSE-developed industry training on the new reports and dataset.
• Uniform Appraisal Dataset — the full resource page, including job aids on photo and image requirements, ANSI reporting, condition and quality rating definitions, and lessons learned from appraisers already working in 3.6.

Freddie Mac publishes the same material on its own Uniform Appraisal Dataset page.

Check your software first

The report has to come out of your report writer in the new format, which means your software must support UAD 3.6 and you must be on the version that does.

Fannie Mae publishes the list of appraisal software providers: UAD 3.6 integrated vendor list. Check that yours is on it, and speak to your provider about which version you need and when it will be available to you.

This is the single most common thing that stops an appraiser accepting a 3.6 order, and it is the one that takes longest to resolve. Sort it out before a live assignment is waiting.

When 3.6 orders start reaching you

The new report types are enabled by each lender, on their own account and on their own schedule. As soon as one of the lenders you work with turns them on, you will hear about it:

1. You receive an email and a task in the platform with the details — the same way you are notified about license and insurance reviews. Anything else the lender wants to pass on comes with it, and the fee for the new report type is set out for you to review.
2. Enable that report type if it is work you take. See Select Report Types You Work With. Nothing is enabled automatically — until you enable it, 3.6 orders will not be offered to you.

From there a 3.6 order reaches you and submits the same way any other assignment does.

There is nothing to set up before that happens, and no setting to switch on early. Until a lender you work with moves, you keep receiving orders in the formats you get today. Timing is each lender's own decision, so if you need a date for a particular one, ask them directly.

What changes once you accept a 3.6 order

The assignment works the way every other assignment does — accept, inspect, upload, submit. Three things are different in practice.

Confirm the report format on the assignment before you begin. The redesigned URAR covers what used to be separate forms, and the scope of the inspection now comes from the order rather than from a form number. Check the assignment details so you know which format was ordered before you go out.

More of the report is captured on site. The new dataset expects structured detail where the legacy forms accepted commentary in an addendum — photos, ANSI measurements, and condition ratings among them. A second visit to collect something you did not record is an expensive way to learn this, so review Fannie Mae's photo, ANSI and condition-rating job aids linked above before your first inspection rather than after it.

You upload a ZIP package, not a single file. This is the biggest practical change at submission.

Uploading a 3.6 report

A UAD 3.6 report is delivered as a ZIP folder containing the report data, the report itself, and its images:

report.zip
├── <report>.xml     MISMO v3.6 data file
├── <report>.pdf     PDF representation of the report
└── photos/          images and exhibits

Export the complete package from your report writer and upload that ZIP as it comes out — do not unpack it, and do not upload the XML on its own. A bare XML or an incomplete package comes back as a format error instead of reaching the GSE.

The upload screen on the assignment tells you what a 3.6 order expects and flags a package that does not look right, so you can correct it before submitting rather than after a rejection. Pre-checks and QC Review then run as they do on any other report.

If the upload is not behaving the way you expect, do not spend an afternoon on it — use Get Support and we will look at the file with you.

We know this is a big change

Moving to the new format is not a small adjustment. It is a new report type, new software from your report writer, and a real amount of work on your side before the first order is even placed.

We would rather help than leave you to it. If anything about the new format is not behaving the way you expect on Dwelling Blocks, use Get Support and we will take a look.