UAD 3.6 Readiness Checklist: 20 Things to Do Before You Submit

The UAD 3.6 mandate is November 2, 2026. If you've been putting off getting ready, you're not alone, and there's still time. This UAD 3.6 readiness checklist is the list we'd hand an appraiser who has one week and a full schedule. It's 20 steps, in order. Some take five minutes. A couple take an afternoon. Do them before your first redesigned URAR order arrives, not while it's due tomorrow.

Key takeaways

• Talk to your clients first. Your format depends on their lender's plans.
• Build one full practice report, including the zip, before any live order.
• Learn the rules that ask for "0" or "none." They're the most common surprise.
• Set up your firm profile, sketch and photo habits once, so every report starts right.
• Keep your old software and archive until your 2.6 work and retention period are covered.

Step 1: Confirm the dates that apply to you

Read the joint GSE UAD Redesign Timeline. The mandate is November 2, 2026, and it's based on the UCDP submission date, not your effective date. Some lenders have a one-time exception that lets them submit UAD 2.6 until May 19, 2027. UAD 2.6 retires June 28, 2027. Every date is explained in the UAD 3.6 deadline timeline.

Step 2: Email every client

Send each AMC and direct lender the same three questions: Will you order UAD 3.6 starting November 2, or are you under a policy exception? Does your portal accept the UAD 3.6 zip? Do you have requirements beyond the GSE rules? Save the replies in a folder. You'll need them when orders start mixing.

Step 3: Check that your software builds the whole package

The deliverable is a zip, not a PDF. Per Appendix B-1 it holds one MISMO 3.6 XML file, one matching first-generation PDF and a folder named Images, all under 60 MB. Ask your software how it builds that zip and whether it validates the XML against the GSE schema each time. If it only makes a PDF, you're not ready.

Step 4: Confirm which property types your software supports

Support for condos, 2–4 units, manufactured homes and co-ops varies by vendor. List the property types you take most often and check each one. If something isn't supported yet, decline those orders or keep a second tool for them until it is.

Step 5: Keep your old software for now

Don't cancel your UAD 2.6 program on November 1. Lenders with an exception may still order 1004s, and revisions to 2.6 reports are accepted until June 27, 2027. Plan to run both for a few months.

Step 6: Export your archive

Whatever you do with your old program, export your past reports while you still have the license. Most desktop programs can export MISMO 2.6 XML. Those files are your comps history and your USPAP workfiles. The guide to switching appraisal software without losing your comps walks through it.

Note: USPAP's Record Keeping Rule requires you to keep each workfile at least five years after preparation, or at least two years after final disposition of any judicial proceeding in which you testified, whichever period ends later. A retired format doesn't change that.

Step 7: Download the GSE documents

From the Fannie Mae UAD page or the Freddie Mac UAD page, get Appendix C-1 (the URAR layout with field IDs), Appendix F-1 (the URAR Reference Guide) and Appendix D-1 (sample reports). Put them in one folder on your desktop.

Step 8: Read F-1 for your most common property

You don't need all of F-1 at once. If you mostly do detached single-family, read Site, Dwelling Exterior, Unit Interior, Market and Sales Comparison Approach. That covers most of your workday. Mark the fields that differ from how you handled the 1004.

Step 9: Read one GSE sample report end to end

Open the Appendix D-1 sample closest to your typical work. Read it the way an underwriter would. Then put a recent 1004 of yours next to it and compare, section by section. For the map from old to new, see the redesigned URAR vs. the Form 1004.

Step 10: Update your firm profile

Your license, supervisor credentials if you're a trainee, E&O and contact details fill every report. Check expiration dates. Rule UAD1526, for example, is Fatal if a supervisory appraiser's state credentials are missing. Get it right once in your software's firm profile and every new report starts clean.

Step 11: Rework your comment library

Your canned comments were written for 1004 addenda. Under UAD 3.6, many belong in specific structured fields: site influences, component condition, defects, market commentary. Go through your library and map each one to its new home. Delete the ones that the structure now answers.

Step 12: Learn the "even if 0" fields

Twenty-nine rules in Appendix H-1 say "even if the value is 0." The nonstandard finished area fields, above and below grade, and the ADU count are the common ones. On a 1004 you'd leave them blank. On the redesigned URAR, blank fails. The compliance rules guide lists the ones that bite most.

Step 13: Check your sketch and measurement workflow

When you include a sketch, the report must state the measurement standard: ANSI, AMS or Other (rule UAD1677, Fatal). ANSI declarations go in Sketch Commentary. Finished area splits into standard and nonstandard, above and below grade. Make sure your sketch tool feeds those numbers into the report. Details in ANSI Z765 and GLA under UAD 3.6.

Step 14: Set up your photo routine

Photos are checked by category in the XML. Rule UAD1274 is Fatal if the required subject photos are missing, and UAD1275 is Fatal if a comp has no photo. Shoot in a consistent order in the field and label photos by category as you place them, so the right ones land in the right slots.

Step 15: Plan your market data

The Market section asks for active listings, pending sales, closed sales over a stated period, median days on market, list and sale price ranges, demand and supply, and a price trend analysis with its sources. Decide where each number will come from in your MLS and how you'll document the search criteria. Rule UAD1657 is a Warning if you don't name the price trend source.

Step 16: Prepare for structured defects

Defects, damages and deficiencies are reported item by item, with a cost to repair where you have one. Start noting them that way in the field. "Water stain, hall ceiling, approx. 2 sq ft, source unknown" is easier to enter than a paragraph written from memory three days later.

Step 17: Build one practice report, start to finish

Pick a house you've already appraised. Rebuild it as a redesigned URAR in your new software: every section, every photo, the sketch, the comps, the reconciliation. Clear every Fatal and Warning finding. Then build the zip. Time yourself so you know how long a real one will take.

Step 18: Open the zip and look

Unzip your practice package. Is there one XML, one PDF and a folder called Images? Do the photos open? Does the PDF match what you entered? Is it under 60 MB? MISMO 3.6 XML explained shows what you should see inside.

Step 19: Test delivery with a friendly client

Ask one AMC or lender you work with often to accept your practice package through their portal, or to tell you how they want UAD 3.6 delivered. Find out now whether their upload takes a zip, not on a rush order.

Step 20: Block extra time for your first five reports

Your first few UAD 3.6 reports will take longer than a 1004 did. Build that into your schedule and your turn-time promises for the first weeks of November. Speed comes back once the structure becomes habit.

Tip: Keep a running list of every finding you hit on your first five reports. That list becomes your personal checklist, and it'll be shorter than this one.

How Carat fits this checklist

Carat was built for most of these steps. It builds the redesigned URAR for 1–4 unit, condo and PUD properties, writes MISMO 3.6 XML validated against the GSE schema on every build, and packages the UCDP-ready zip (steps 3 and 18). Its AI-powered readiness checks run hundreds of the H-1 rules while you work, with each finding linked to the field (steps 12 and 17). The ANSI Z765 sketch fills GLA automatically (step 13). Photos are placed by UAD category (step 14). License and E&O exhibits come from your firm profile (step 10). And it imports your ClickFORMS or MISMO 2.6 archive into a searchable comps history (step 6).

It doesn't submit to UCDP or sign for you. You sign. It's always your report. Pricing is $99 a month per appraiser, unlimited reports.

For the bigger picture behind this list, read the complete UAD 3.6 guide. When you're ready, create an Carat account and start on Step 17.