Privacy Policy

In 2016 the EU Parliament adopted legislation which affects UK businesses – you may well have heard of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by now.   It has been brought in to protect those who are particularly concerned about how their ‘Personally Identifiable Information’ (PII) may be used on line.   Whilst we would seek to protect your privacy anyway had this legislation not been adopted, we are now obliged to do this more formally.   In this case it is primarily in connection with your use of the website, but also other recorded information.

This policy explains what we collect and how we use it.

What information do we collect and how do we use it?

• Information about your use of this website that will improve the presentation and performance of the site.
• Information provided by you on the on-line Enquiry Sheet or indeed by any other means – e.g. details given to us at the time of your first enquiry and the Standard Questionnaire that accompanies our first letter, sufficient for us to perform our appointed role. This will be kept in the project files (digital and actual) along with drawn information and reasonable security protocols will apply in the office and elsewhere.   At project end we are obliged to keep data / records for a minimum of 6 years in an archive and the RIBA recommends 11 years.   (This can be useful for clients who have mislaid their own information and sometimes may form part of the historical record of older buildings.)
• Sometimes projects are put forward for Awards or suchlike at which time some data has to be passed to the Authority. This would not be done without your agreement.
• We like to maintain a contact with our clients, consultants, contractors and suppliers as we believe that our business is also relational. Often we like to maintain a connection beyond the statutory commitment so we can see how design ideas have fared over time.   In that event there may be occasions after the end of a project when we would still like to contact you in a friendly way unlikely to cause offence.   If this ever becomes bothersome, then we will of course respect your position and we can remove your data from our records within a reasonable time frame, notwithstanding our statutory obligations.

How do we protect your information?

• Our website is checked regularly as we hope to make your visit safe and helpful.
• We never put your names, email addresses or other contact details on our website. Once completed projects may be featured on the website in the Portfolio section and or on the Practice’s Facebook page, but without reference to individual names or address information beyond the place name.
• If you consent to supply a Testimonial it is important to assume it will be used / posted, though names can be reduced to initials or anonymised. If you consent to a personal photograph it will have been in the context of this section of the website.   None of this will occur without your consent or right to veto.

How do we use cookies?

• Cookies are small files that are used to identify your browser. We currently don’t use them, but we may use them in the future (and you will have the option to ‘allow’ or ‘deny’) to provide us with statistical data that will help to improve the site and your experience when returning to the site.

Is there any Third-Party Disclosure?

• We do not sell, trade or transfer any PII to outside parties. Trusted third parties are the exception and might include those helping us operate our website, conducting our business / providing services to you which normally you will have requested – e.g. other Consultants or specialist services.
• Any of the above would be obliged to observe appropriate confidentiality.

Third-Party Links

• It is possible that we may add third party links to our website, where we believe they might be helpful to our visitors. These sites would have to have their own Privacy Policies and whilst we cannot be responsible for this, if we receive negative feedback from you we will act upon it accordingly.

Updates

• From time to time we may need to modify this policy document and we shall record the date of modification.

Contacting us

• If you have any particular queries regarding any of this, you may contact our GDPR Data Officer – in this case myself as Manging Director at the practice address.
• Whilst we will make every effort to comply with this complex legislation – in good faith, we are ready to be alerted to any unwitting potential or actual breach or transgression and would value any comments you may choose to offer which we will commit to address in reasonable time. Your privacy is important to us.

All telephone calls to the Practice are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.