​1. Introduction

MaxConsult Surveying respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Notice explains how MaxConsult Surveying collects, uses, stores and protects personal data when you contact us, request a quotation, instruct us to provide surveying services, use our website or otherwise communicate with us.

MaxConsult Surveying is a RICS-regulated independent residential surveying practice specialising in pre-purchase property surveys.

This Privacy Notice is intended to explain your rights and our responsibilities under applicable data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, as amended from time to time.

We will only collect and use personal information where we have a lawful basis for doing so and will handle it in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

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2. Who is responsible for your personal data?

For the purposes of applicable data protection legislation, MaxConsult Surveying is the data controller responsible for the personal information we hold about you.

MaxConsult Surveying
info@maxconsult.co.uk
02080361094
Website: maxconsult.co.uk

If you have any questions about how we use your personal data, or wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us using the details above.

MaxConsult Surveying does not currently require the appointment of a Data Protection Officer. If this changes, this Privacy Notice will be updated accordingly.

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3. What personal information do we collect?

Depending on the nature of our relationship with you, we may collect and process the following information:

• your name and contact details;

• postal and property addresses;

• email address and telephone number;

• information provided when requesting a quotation or making an enquiry;

• information relating to the property being surveyed;

• details contained within documents or information supplied to us in connection with the property or instruction;

• information relating to appointments, access arrangements and communications;

• payment and transaction information;

• correspondence between you and MaxConsult Surveying;

• information contained within survey reports and associated records;

• information relating to complaints, claims or disputes;

• information required for professional, legal, regulatory or insurance purposes;

• website usage information, including information collected through cookies or similar technologies, where applicable.

We will generally only collect information that is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice.

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4. How do we obtain your personal information?

We may obtain personal information directly from you when you contact us; when you submit an enquiry or quotation request through our website; when you instruct us to provide surveying services; when you communicate with us by email, telephone or other means; from your solicitor, estate agent, mortgage adviser or other professional adviser where appropriate; from the property owner, managing agent or other person arranging access to the property; from publicly available sources where reasonably necessary for the provision of our services; and from other persons involved in the property transaction where this is necessary and lawful.

Where we obtain personal information from someone other than you, we will comply with applicable transparency requirements and, where required, provide appropriate privacy information.

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5. Why do we use your personal information?

We use personal information to respond to enquiries, prepare quotations, establish and manage instructions, arrange inspections, communicate about appointments and access, provide surveying and valuation services where instructed, prepare and issue reports, provide post-report communication, administer payments and invoices, and maintain appropriate records.

We may also use information to manage our business and accounts, monitor and improve service quality, maintain professional and technical records, manage complaints and disputes, protect our business against fraud or misuse, maintain system security, comply with legal and regulatory obligations, satisfy professional indemnity insurance requirements, obtain professional advice, establish, exercise or defend legal claims, and respond to competent authorities or regulators where legally required.

We will only use personal information for direct marketing where we have a lawful basis and applicable electronic marketing requirements have been satisfied. You may object to direct marketing at any time.

We do not sell or rent personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

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6. Our lawful bases for processing

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following lawful bases: contract, where processing is necessary to enter into or perform our contract with you; legitimate interests, where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests; legal obligation, where processing is required to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation; and consent, where we specifically ask for consent for a particular purpose.

Where consent is relied upon, you may withdraw it at any time. We will not use consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate.

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7. Property information and information relating to other people

During a surveying instruction, we may receive personal information relating to property owners, tenants, agents, contractors or professional advisers. We will only process such information where reasonably necessary for providing our services, administering the instruction, complying with legal or professional obligations, or another lawful purpose.

Where you provide us with personal information relating to another individual, you should ensure that you are entitled to provide that information to us.

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8. Who may receive your personal information?

We may share personal information where reasonably necessary, lawful and proportionate, including with professional advisers, estate agents and property professionals where appropriate, specialist consultants, professional indemnity insurers and brokers, legal advisers, IT and cloud service providers, payment providers, document-signing providers, website and hosting providers, RICS or other regulatory bodies where required, and government or law-enforcement authorities where legally required.

Where third-party organisations process personal data on our behalf, we will take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate contractual and security arrangements are in place. We will only disclose information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

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9. Use of specialist consultants and contractors

Where a surveying instruction identifies a need for specialist investigation or advice, we may, with your agreement, provide relevant information to an appropriately qualified specialist where necessary to facilitate the investigation.

MaxConsult Surveying does not normally select or appoint contractors on behalf of clients and does not normally advise which contractor should undertake remedial works unless expressly agreed as a separate service.

Any personal information shared for this purpose will be limited to what is reasonably necessary.

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10. Payment information

Payments may be processed through a third-party payment provider. We do not normally need to retain full payment card details. Payment information may be processed directly by the relevant provider in accordance with its privacy and security arrangements.

We will retain appropriate transaction and accounting information as required for business, tax, legal and regulatory purposes.

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11. Electronic communications and cloud services

We use electronic systems and cloud-based services to operate our business, communicate with clients, store documents and manage surveying instructions. These may include email and document storage, website hosting and enquiry management, customer relationship management, electronic document signing, payment processing, calendar and appointment management, and accounting and financial administration.

Where third-party providers process personal data on our behalf, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that they provide appropriate security and data protection safeguards.

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12. Artificial intelligence

We may use artificial intelligence and other automated or technology-assisted tools to support certain administrative, drafting, organisational or other business activities.

Where AI tools are used, MaxConsult Surveying remains responsible for the professional services provided to clients. AI-generated information is not treated as a substitute for professional judgement, verification or appropriate human review.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal and confidential information is not unnecessarily disclosed to AI systems and that AI use involving personal information is undertaken lawfully and appropriately.

Where AI processing involves personal data in a way that materially affects our services, we will consider applicable data protection, confidentiality and professional requirements before using the relevant system.

Our use of AI is also subject to our separate AI Policy and Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Surveying Practice.

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13. International transfers

Some technology and service providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom. Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate safeguards are in place where required.

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14. How long do we keep your information?

We will not keep personal information for longer than is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, unless a longer period is required or permitted by law, regulation, professional requirements, insurance arrangements or for establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

Different categories of information may therefore be retained for different periods. Our retention periods will take account of the nature and purpose of the information, contractual obligations, legal and regulatory requirements, professional record-keeping requirements, insurance requirements, relevant limitation periods and whether information remains necessary for an ongoing matter.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted, destroyed or otherwise disposed of as appropriate.

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15. How do we protect your information?

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, alteration, disclosure and misuse.

These measures may include appropriate access controls, password protection, secure cloud services, device security, software updates, backups and secure disposal of information.

No method of transmitting or storing information can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, we will take reasonable steps appropriate to the nature and sensitivity of the information we hold.

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16. Your data protection rights

Subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions, you may have rights including the right to be informed, the right of access, rectification, erasure in certain circumstances, restriction of processing in certain circumstances, objection to certain processing including direct marketing, data portability in certain circumstances, and withdrawal of consent where consent is our lawful basis.

Not all rights apply in every circumstance. For example, the right to erasure is not absolute and may not apply where we need to retain information to comply with a legal, regulatory or professional obligation or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

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17. How to exercise your rights

If you wish to exercise any data protection right, please contact:

MaxConsult Surveying
info@maxconsult.co.uk
02080361094
Website: maxconsult.co.uk

We may need to request additional information to verify your identity. We will normally respond to a valid request within the period required by applicable data protection legislation.

You will generally not have to pay a fee to exercise your rights, although legislation permits a reasonable fee or refusal in certain circumstances, such as where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

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18. Complaints about the use of your personal information

If you have concerns about how MaxConsult Surveying has handled your personal information, we encourage you to contact us first so that we have an opportunity to investigate and resolve the matter.

This does not affect your right to complain directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent supervisory authority for data protection.

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Website: ico.org.uk

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19. Cookies and website usage

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies. Some cookies may be necessary for operation, security and functionality. Other cookies, such as analytics or advertising cookies, may require consent depending on their purpose and applicable requirements.

Further information about cookies and how they are used can be provided through our website's cookie information or cookie management mechanism.

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20. Automated decision-making and profiling

MaxConsult Surveying does not ordinarily make decisions about clients based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

If this changes, we will update this Privacy Notice and provide any additional information required by applicable data protection legislation.

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21. Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may review and update this Privacy Notice to reflect changes in our services, the way we process personal information, technology and service providers, legal or regulatory requirements, and professional standards and guidance.

The latest version will be made available on our website. Where a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will take appropriate steps to bring the change to people's attention before introducing the new processing where required.

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22. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or how MaxConsult Surveying handles personal information, please contact:

MaxConsult Surveying
info@maxconsult.co.uk
02080361094
Website: maxconsult.co.uk