Part 4 - Appendix 1 - Inspections and Miscellaneous Administrative Matters

Inspections and Miscellaneous Administrative Matters - Appendix 1.

Scenario 1

You make an appointment with the Owner by phone but when you get to the appointment the owner isn’t there. The manager on site isn’t aware of the appointment.

Action 1

Contact the owner, where possible, and ask the owner to explain to the on-site manager about the appointment.

If you are unable to contact the owner, or the on-site manager is not sufficiently reassured to give consent to inspect, make a second appointment with the owner in attendance.

If you are granted permission to inspect the property you must add a case remark on the CDB detailing who allowed entry and the date it was granted.

Scenario 2

An appointment letter is sent to a retail unit / shop, but when you get to the appointment the manager says he must get approval from the Head Office before granting you entry.

Action 2

Where possible, you should try to make contact with Head Office to request permission to inspect.

If Head Office and the manager consent to the inspection, then you must add a case remark on the CDB detailing who allowed entry and the date it was granted.

Where consent isn’t given by either the Head Office or the manager then you should leave the premises. Ensure you record the contact details of the Head Office to allow you to arrange a second appointment through Head Office at a later date.

Scenario 3

You inspect a former Agricultural building now used for storage without making an appointment. It’s clear to you the occupier is using the building for commercial purposes, but no one is there and the property is locked up.

Action 3

If you call at a property and it is apparent no one is there, you should leave a Stock Letter at the premises. A note of the Abortive Visit with the date must be made in the case remarks on the CDB.

You must not carry out an inspection under any circumstances without prior consent. You can take a photograph of the property providing it is from the public highway and not within the curtilage of the property.

Scenario 4

An appointment letter is sent to a retail unit / shop, but when you get to the appointment the occupier speaks English as a second language and you find it difficult to explain the reason for the inspection.

Action 4

Where possible, you should try to find someone to translate your reason for the inspection. If this is not possible, or you cannot be sure the occupier understands clearly enough to give consent, you should not inspect the property.

You should try to determine the occupier’s first language, and on return to the office arrange to issue another inspection letter in the occupier’s first language. You can do this using the Language Line Service, which you can find on the Customer Service intranet pages.

Scenario 5

An appointment letter is sent to a retail unit / shop, but when you get to the appointment the owner/occupier is aggressive and refuses you permission to undertake the inspection.

Action 5

In this situation, you must leave the premises immediately. Upon returning to the office you should complete an Inspection Awareness Document [IAD] and store it in EDRM.

A blank IAD is available under the Risk Assessment and Control section of the Health & Safety homepage.

You must also add a case remark on the CDB detailing who denied entry and the date of the aborted visit.

If you do not have sufficient information to make an opinion of value, and a further appointment is necessary, the case should be discussed with the Referencing Team Manager.

Scenario 6

You make an appointment with the owner by telephone, but when you arrive at the property you are met by a Child (Minor).

Action 6

You should ask if there is an adult at the property. If there is no adult present at the property do not carry out any inspection of the property - either internally or externally - under any circumstances.

On returning to the office, you should send an inspection letter to the owner explaining the circumstances, and arrange a new appointment when an adult will present during the inspection.

Scenario 7

You sometimes work with the Billing Authority on inspections. Do you think you need to do anything differently now?

Action 7

BA’s sometimes ask to accompany us on inspections, or sometimes ask us to accompany them. This is usually to help ensure cases progress more easily, and to reduce the burden on the occupiers. Joint inspections can be useful but you need to make sure that the occupier is clear about what is happening and why. If a joint inspection is likely to create concerns for the occupier you should make separate arrangements.

If you are arranging the inspection, make sure that you get the explicit consent of the occupier and record this noting the occupier name, the BA contact and the reasons for the joint inspection.

If the BA is arranging the inspection, you should check consent with the occupier at the time of the inspection. Record the details of the occupier name, the BA contact and the reasons for the joint inspection.

At any joint inspection you must be careful not to share information with the BA unless the occupier chooses to do so.

Scenario 8

An agent gives consent for you to inspect a property.

Action 8

Where the agent is acting on behalf of the occupier, the agent’s consent will be sufficient. A note of the date the agent gave consent and name of the occupier they represent should be recorded in the case remarks.

Where the agent is acting on behalf of a landlord, the consent of the occupier will also be required, unless the property is empty. Again record the date and name of occupier giving consent in the case remarks.

If an occupier refuses consent at the time of the inspection, another more convenient appointment time should be arranged with them if possible.

Where this cannot be arranged with the occupier you should advise the agent and discuss the next steps with your team leader.