PRIVACY, COOKIES AND GDPR
This notice explains what personal information Inform Surveying Limited collects, why we collect it, what we do with it, and the rights you have over it. It also explains how this website uses cookies.
We are a firm of chartered building surveyors. Most of the personal information we hold is about our clients, the people we deal with on their behalf, and the properties we are instructed to inspect.
Who we are
Inform Surveying Limited is the data controller for the information described in this notice. That means we decide what personal information is collected and what it is used for.
| Data controller | Inform Surveying Limited |
| Company registration number | 09489058 (England and Wales) |
| Registered office | The Workshop, Suite 5 Cherrytree Offices, Union Road, Sheffield, S11 9EF |
| Address for correspondence | 102–103 Hague, Park Hill, South Street, Sheffield, S2 5GS |
| Information Commissioner’s Office registration | ZC205174 |
| Contact for data protection questions | [email protected], or 0114 321 9919 |\\\
We have not appointed a data protection officer, as we are not required to do so. Data protection is the responsibility of the directors, and any question or request should be sent to the address above.
The information we collect
If you are a client, or you contact us about work, we collect your name, job title and the organisation you work for, your contact details, the address and details of the property concerned, our correspondence with you, the instructions you give us, our notes of meetings and site visits, our invoices and your payment details.
If you use this website, we collect the information you choose to give us through a contact form or by emailing us, together with technical information collected by cookies as described below.
If you are a supplier, contractor or sub-consultant, or you work for one, we collect your contact details, the terms we agree with you, evidence of your insurance and accreditations, and our correspondence and invoices.
If you apply for a job with us, we collect your CV and covering letter, your contact details, your qualifications and employment history, your right to work in the UK, and our notes of any interview.
If you are an occupier, neighbour or other person connected with a property we inspect, we may hold your name and contact details, our notes of what you told us, and photographs of the property. Where a party wall matter or a dispute is involved, we may hold correspondence and documents naming you, because we are required to.
Photographs taken during surveys
Photographs are central to how a building survey is recorded and reported. When we inspect a property we photograph the building, its condition and its defects. A photograph taken for that purpose may incidentally include people, vehicles, possessions or documents.
We use these photographs to prepare our reports, schedules and advice, to record the condition of a property at a point in time, and as evidence in professional disputes and legal proceedings where we are instructed. Where a photograph is not needed for the report, we do not include it. If you are concerned about a photograph we have taken, contact us and we will look at it.
Why we use your information, and our lawful basis
Data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using personal information. Ours are set out below.
| What we use it for | Our lawful basis |
| Providing the surveying, project management and party wall services we are instructed to provide | Performance of a contract with you, or our legitimate interests where our client is an organisation and you are its employee or agent |
| Responding to an enquiry about our services | Our legitimate interests in answering enquiries and winning work, and taking steps to enter into a contract |
| Managing our relationship with you, including invoicing and collecting payment | Performance of a contract, and our legitimate interests in running the practice |
| Keeping records of our advice and the condition of properties we have inspected, including for the defence of professional claims | Our legitimate interests in defending our position, and compliance with our regulatory and insurance obligations |
| Meeting our obligations to RICS, to HMRC and under health and safety law | Compliance with a legal obligation |
| Recruitment | Taking steps to enter into a contract, and our legitimate interests in assessing candidates |
| Sending you information about our services, where you have asked for it or we have an existing professional relationship with you | Consent, or our legitimate interests in marketing to existing professional contacts |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether those interests are overridden by your rights, and we have concluded that they are not. You may object to processing carried out on that basis, and we explain how below.
Special category information
We do not normally seek information about health, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, trade union membership, or criminal matters.
Occasionally such information reaches us anyway, for example where an occupier tells us about a health condition or vulnerability that is relevant to access arrangements or to how a property is being used, or where a party wall or dispute matter requires it. Where that happens we record only what is necessary, we keep it confidential, and we rely on the fact that the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, or on your explicit consent.
Who we share your information with
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for anyone else’s marketing.
We share it where the work requires it, or where the law requires it. That includes the client who instructed us, the other professionals working on the same matter such as architects, engineers, contractors and solicitors, the other party and their surveyor in a party wall or dispute matter, sub-consultants and specialists we engage to help with an instruction, our accountants, our IT and software providers, our insurers and legal advisers, RICS in connection with a regulatory or disciplinary matter, and HMRC and other public authorities where we are obliged to.
Where we engage a supplier who processes personal information on our behalf, we put a written contract in place requiring them to keep it secure and to use it only as we instruct.
How long we keep it
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it, and then delete or destroy it securely.
Records of the professional advice we have given are kept longer than most other records. A claim about professional work can be brought years after the work was done, and we need to be able to show what we advised and what we saw. Our main retention periods are:
| Information | How long we keep it |
| Client and project records, including reports, schedules, photographs and correspondence | A minimum of six years after the work is completed, and up to fifteen years |
| Financial records, including invoices, tax and VAT records | Six years |
| Health and safety records of major accidents and dangerous occurrences | Seven years |
| Records relating to unsuccessful job applications | One year after interview |
| Employee records, including contracts | For the duration of employment, and for six years afterwards |
Where a matter is or may become the subject of a claim or legal proceedings, we keep the relevant records until that matter is finally concluded.
Keeping your information secure
We use access-controlled systems, password protection, and secure file storage and disposal, and we restrict access to personal information to those in the practice who need it for their work. Personal data is not stored on local drives or on personal devices, and where it is taken off site it is protected by encryption or password protection. Everyone at Inform Surveying Limited is required to follow our data protection and IT policies, and receives training on them.
If a personal data breach occurs and it poses a risk to people’s rights and freedoms, we will report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, and where the risk is high we will tell the people affected directly.
`Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
– ask whether we hold personal information about you, and to receive a copy of it
– ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete
– ask us to delete information, where there is no good reason for us to keep it
– ask us to restrict how we use information while a question about it is resolved
– object to our use of information where we rely on legitimate interests
– ask us to transfer information you gave us to another organisation, where the processing is automated and based on consent or a contract
– withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent
These rights are not absolute, and some do not apply where we need to keep information to comply with a legal obligation or to defend a legal claim.
To exercise any of them, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within one month. We do not charge a fee, unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we release information.
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file placed on your device when you visit a website. Cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to work do not require your consent. All other cookies, including those used for analytics and advertising, may only be set with your consent.
| Cookie | Purpose | Type | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| cmplz_ cookies (several) | Remember the cookie choices you have made, so we do not ask you again on every page. | Strictly necessary | 1 year |
| _ga | Google Analytics. Tells one visitor apart from another so we can count visits and see which pages are used. Set only if you accept analytics cookies. | Analytics | 2 years |
| _ga_EJ7GFBKXQB | Google Analytics. Groups the pages you view into a single visit. Set only if you accept analytics cookies. | Analytics | 2 years |
| NID and other Google cookies | Set by Google when the map on our Contact and About pages loads. Google uses them to remember your preferences and for its own advertising. The map only loads if you accept marketing cookies. | Marketing (third party) | Up to 6 months |
You can change or withdraw your cookie choices at any time using . You can also block or delete cookies through your browser settings, although parts of this website may not work properly if you do.
Changes to this notice
We review this notice regularly and update it when our practices or the law change. This version was published on 01 November 2026.
How to contact us, and how to complain
For any question about this notice, or to exercise any of your rights, contact us at [email protected], telephone 0114 321 9919, or write to Inform Surveying Limited, 102–103 Hague, Park Hill, South Street, Sheffield, S2 5GS.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first so that we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
0303 123 1113
ico.org.uk
CONTACT US
If you’d like to arrange a meeting or learn more about what we do, please email us or give us a call.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Our Office
102-103 Hague, Park Hill,
South Street, Sheffield S2 5GS
What 3 words: placed.backed.agenda
Open Office Hours
Mon-Fri : 9:00am - 5:30pm
Get in Touch
+44(0)114 321 9919
