Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011: Code of conduct for Property Factors

SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION AND CONSULTATION

Good communication is the foundation for building a positive relationship with homeowners, leading to fewer misunderstandings and disputes. In that regard:

2.1 You must not provide information which is misleading or false.

2.2 You must not communicate with homeowners in any way which is abusive or intimidating, or which threatens them (apart from reasonable indication that you may take legal action).

2.3 You must provide homeowners with your contact details, including telephone number. If it is part of the service agreed with homeowners, you must also provide details of arrangements for dealing with out-of-hours emergencies including how to contact out-of-hours contractors.

2.4 You must have a procedure to consult with the group of homeowners and seek their written approval before providing work or services which will incur charges or fees in addition to those relating to the core service. Exceptions to this are where you can show that you have agreed a level of delegated authority with the group of homeowners to incur costs up to an agreed threshold or to act without seeking further approval in certain situations (such as in emergencies).

2.5 You must respond to enquiries and complaints received by letter or email within prompt timescales. Overall your aim should be to deal with enquiries and complaints as quickly and as fully as possible, and to keep homeowners informed if you require additional time to respond. Your response times should be confirmed in the written statement ( Section 1 refers).