Complaints Handling Procedure

The procedure at a glance

Stage	What happens	Timescale
Stage 1	We acknowledge your complaint in writing	Within 3 Working Days of receipt
Stage 1	Initial Response Letter from a Director or senior member of the team	Within 15 Working Days of receipt
Stage 1	You may ask us to review the Initial Response Letter	Within eight weeks of that letter
Stage 1	Final Response Letter from a Director (end of Stage 1)	Within 15 Working Days of your request
Stage 2	Referral to CEDR, our independent ADR provider	After Stage 1, or once eight weeks have passed since your complaint

This table summarises the key steps and timescales. Full details of each stage, including how to make a complaint and how CEDR referrals work, are set out in the sections that follow.

Introduction

CJ Bloor Property Consultants Ltd ("the Company", "we") is regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). As a regulated firm we maintain this formal Complaints Handling Procedure ("CHP"), which meets RICS regulatory requirements.

We take every complaint seriously. Most are resolved quickly and informally by speaking to the surveyor or the office, and we encourage you to raise a concern with us as soon as it arises. Where a matter cannot be resolved that way, or you would prefer to make a formal complaint, this procedure applies.

The procedure has two stages:

Stage 1 — Internal investigation. We acknowledge your complaint, then a Director or senior member of our team investigates it and sends you an Initial Response Letter. If you remain dissatisfied and ask us to review it, a Director issues a Final Response Letter. Both letters are part of Stage 1.
Stage 2 — Independent redress. If you remain dissatisfied at the end of Stage 1, or eight weeks have passed since you first complained, you may refer the matter to our certified independent ADR provider, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). Stage 2 is not a further letter from us.

Definitions

Working Day means Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales.
Receipt. A complaint received after 5pm, or on a day that is not a Working Day, is treated as received on the next Working Day. The same applies to a request for review and to any information we ask you for.
Complainant means the client who instructed us, or a person acting with the client's written authority.

Stage 1 — Internal investigation

How to make a complaint

Please set out your complaint in writing, including:

your name, the property address and our report or instruction reference;
a clear description of your concerns, with relevant dates;
the names of any members of staff or consultants you have dealt with;
any supporting evidence, such as photographs, correspondence or third-party reports.

Please send your complaint to:

Email: complaints@cjbloor.co.uk
Post: Complaints, CJ Bloor Property Consultants Ltd, 91 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 4HT

If your complaint concerns a particular surveyor or member of staff, it will be handled by a Director who was not involved in the work complained of.

Acknowledgement

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 3 Working Days of receipt. The acknowledgement will confirm who is handling your complaint and enclose a copy of this procedure.

Initial Response Letter

A Director or senior member of our team will investigate your complaint and send you an Initial Response Letter within 15 Working Days of receipt.

Where we need further information from you to investigate properly, we will ask for it within the acknowledgement period. The 15 Working Days then run from the date we receive that information.

The Initial Response Letter will set out what we have found, our position on each point you have raised, and any action we propose. It will also tell you how to ask for a review if you remain dissatisfied.

If you are not satisfied with the Initial Response Letter

You may ask us to review the Initial Response Letter. Please tell us in writing, within eight weeks of the date of that letter, why you remain dissatisfied.

A Director will reconsider the matter and issue a Final Response Letter within 15 Working Days of receiving your request. The Final Response Letter sets out our final position and marks the end of Stage 1. It will remind you of your right to refer the matter to Stage 2.

If we do not hear from you within eight weeks of the Initial Response Letter, we will treat your complaint as closed at Stage 1. This does not affect your right to refer the matter to CEDR under Stage 2.

Stage 2 — Independent redress

If you remain dissatisfied at the end of Stage 1, or if more than eight weeks have passed since you first made your complaint without it being resolved, you may refer the matter to a certified independent ADR provider.

We have selected the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) as our certified ADR provider for both consumer and business clients. CEDR is approved by the RICS Regulatory Board.

Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)

International Dispute Resolution Centre, 100 St Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8BU
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7536 6000
Email: info@cedr.com
Web: www.cedr.com

CEDR will review the complaint independently. Its decision is binding on the Company; you may decide whether to accept or reject the outcome. CEDR may charge a fee, and applies its own time limits for making a referral; current details are published on its website.

Re-inspection of the property

Where a complaint or claim relates to a matter that may be capable of inspection, we are entitled to a reasonable opportunity to inspect or re-inspect the property before any remedial works are carried out. This allows us to verify the position and respond meaningfully to your complaint.

You are asked, so far as reasonably practicable, not to instruct any third party to carry out remedial works to the matter complained of until we have had that opportunity. In an emergency, where works are needed urgently to prevent injury, damage to the property or further loss, works may be carried out without prior re-inspection, provided that:

you notify us as soon as reasonably practicable;
you provide reasonable access to inspect during or after the works; and
you preserve, where possible, any defective elements removed.

Where you have, without good reason, prevented us from having a reasonable opportunity to inspect, we may decline to consider the relevant part of your complaint or claim, or our ability to investigate fully may be limited. We will not unreasonably refuse to accept that good reasons existed, for example a property sale being concluded or remedial works having formed part of a separate transaction.

Our records

We keep a record of every complaint, the correspondence on it and its outcome, and we review complaints periodically to improve our service. Where a complaint may give rise to a claim, we are required to notify our professional indemnity insurers; this does not affect how your complaint is handled under this procedure.

Version 2 · September 2026 · Supersedes the previous edition