Complaints Handling Procedure

We regret that you have had cause to make a complaint. We have implemented the following complaints procedure to help us resolve your grievance and work towards continually improving our professional services.

1. Any complaint against the Company should be addressed in the first instance to the person with whom you have been dealing in respect of the matter giving rise to your complaint.

2. If you cannot obtain an explanation satisfying your complaint immediately (within 24 hours) please do not hesitate to contact the appointed Director responsible for the relevant office. Details are listed below.

If your complaint has not been resolved at stage 1, or in the event of a complaint being made directly to those named below we will progress as follows.

3. If your complaint was originally made verbally we would be grateful if you could summarise the nature of your grievance in writing.

4. Once we have received your written summary we will acknowledge receipt in writing, normally within 5 working days to inform you of our understanding of the circumstances leading to your complaint. We may ask for more information regarding these circumstances and we will invite you to make any comments that you may have.

5. We shall continue our investigations into the matter and normally within 15 working days of receipt of your written summary the person dealing with your complaint will write informing you of the outcome of the investigation and let you know what actions have been taken or will be taken. In some instances your complaint may take longer than this to investigate, if so we will write to you to inform you of our progress.

6. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our handling of your complaint please contact Mr P H Easton, Director and Chief Operating Officer, Newcastle Office, who will personally conduct a separate review and will contact you within 10 working days to inform you of the conclusions reached by his review.

7. If you remain dissatisfied with any aspect of the handling of the complaint, we will then attempt to resolve it promptly by negotiation. If unsuccessful we will agree to enter into mediation with you in accordance with the Centre for Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Model Mediation Procedure or the mediation process operated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

>8. If the complaint has still not been resolved to your satisfaction we will agree to its referral to the Surveyors and Valuers Arbitration Scheme operated by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 24 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2RS from whom details of the scheme may be obtained.

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