Complaints

Why this procedure exists

Cooper & Codex Ltd is a chartered surveying practice regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The RICS Rules of Conduct require every regulated firm to publish a complaints-handling procedure, to maintain a complaints log, and to provide access to an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider where a client is dissatisfied with the firm's own response.

This procedure tells you how to make a complaint, what we will do with it, and how to escalate it independently if you remain dissatisfied. It applies to any client, customer, or third party who believes they have been adversely affected by the firm's services or conduct.

We take complaints seriously. We will not dissuade you from making a complaint, from approaching our ADR provider, or from approaching RICS or any other regulator.

If your complaint is specifically about how we have handled your personal data, a separate route with its own timescales applies: please see our Privacy Notice.

Stage 1 — Tell us first

Please put your complaint in writing, so that we can investigate it properly and keep an accurate record. Send your complaint to:

complaints@cooperandcodex.co.uk

addressed to Hamish Cooper MRICS, Principal.

If you are unable to use email, please contact us through the channel by which we have been corresponding with you on the engagement, and we will agree a suitable alternative route with you.

Please tell us:

• Your name and contact details.
• The engagement or matter the complaint relates to: a job reference if known; otherwise, the dates and a short description.
• What has happened and why you are unhappy.
• What outcome you are seeking, if you have one in mind.
• Anything else we should know: for example, special circumstances, accessibility needs, or a preferred way of being contacted.

What we will do

1. Acknowledgement within 7 days. We will confirm in writing that we have received your complaint, give you a reference number, and tell you who is dealing with it. As Cooper & Codex is a sole-director practice, this will normally be the Principal, Hamish Cooper.
2. Investigation. We will examine the matter carefully, reviewing files, photographs, correspondence, and any other relevant evidence. We may ask you for further information, and we may need to speak with anyone else involved in the engagement.
3. Full written response within 28 days. Where possible, we will give you a full written response within 28 days of receipt. The response will explain what we found, what we accept, what (if anything) we do not accept and why, and any action we are proposing as a result.
4. If we cannot give a full response within 28 days, we will tell you in writing within that period where we have got to, what remains outstanding, and when we expect to respond in full.
5. Final position. Once we have given our full response and you have had a fair opportunity to reply, our Stage 1 process is complete. If you are content, we close the complaint and record the outcome. If you are not, you have the right to take the matter to Stage 2.

A note on independence

Because Cooper & Codex is a solo practice, the Stage 1 investigation and response are carried out by the Principal. We have set up Stage 2 with this in mind: if you remain dissatisfied at the close of Stage 1, the matter passes to a fully independent ADR provider, in whose decisions Cooper & Codex plays no part.

Stage 2 — Independent review by CEDR

If you are not satisfied with our Stage 1 response, you may refer the complaint to our independent ADR provider:

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) 100 St Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8BU Tel: 020 7536 6000 Email: info@cedr.com Web: cedr.com/consumer/rics/

CEDR is the default ADR provider procured by RICS for UK-regulated firms. CEDR's adjudicators are independent of Cooper & Codex and of RICS. The firm has no role in CEDR's investigations and no power to alter their decisions.

The CEDR scheme is free to you as a consumer. Cooper & Codex pays CEDR's case fee whether the complaint is upheld or not.

Information about how to refer a complaint, the scheme rules, and the documents CEDR will need from you is available at the CEDR website.

CEDR will normally expect you to have completed our Stage 1 process before referring the matter to them. If we have failed to give you a full Stage 1 response within 28 days of acknowledgement, and have not agreed an extension with you in writing, you do not need to wait further before referring to CEDR.

Records and learning

We maintain a complaints log recording every complaint received, the action taken, the outcome, and any steps taken to prevent the same problem arising again. We keep the log in line with RICS guidance and review it periodically as part of the firm's quality-assurance process. We handle personal data in the log in line with our Privacy Notice.

If a complaint shows that we should change a way of working such as a process, a checklist, or a way of communicating with clients, then we will make that change and record it.

Contacting RICS

You can contact RICS Regulation at any time, separately from this procedure:

RICS Regulation 55 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 2AA Tel: 020 7695 1670 Email: regulation@rics.org

Reporting a concern to RICS is not the same as making a complaint to us or to CEDR. RICS regulates the profession as a whole; it does not adjudicate individual disputes between firms and clients.