SURVEYCHOICEFIXED PRICE
NAMED PRACTICE
10

PRACTICE WELCOME GUIDE

From invitation
to your first instruction.

This guide takes a new practice through every setup step in order: what you do, where in the practice workspace, what to have to hand, who acts and how long it usually takes. Then it explains how the work runs once you are live.

About joining SurveyChoice →

CONTENTS

In this guide.

Your practice workspace is at surveychoice.co.uk/practice. Its checklist links to the matching step here.

  1. 00Before you start
  2. 01Create your account
  3. 02Upload your professional indemnity insurance
  4. 03Upload your RICS firm registration
  5. 04SurveyChoice reviews your practice
  6. 05Confirm your terms of engagement
  7. 06Set up payouts with Stripe
  8. 07Choose the areas you cover
  9. 08Set your availability and turnaround
  10. 09Invite your team
  11. 10Go live
  12. —Working with SurveyChoice day to day
  13. —Payments, refunds and disputes
  14. —Keeping your certificates in date
  15. —Your areas, availability and turnaround
  16. —Your team
  17. —Changing your details or terms
  18. —Getting help

00 / BEFORE YOU START

How you got here.

Your practice applied to join, and we talked it through with you on a call. We then set up your practice record: your legal and trading names, legal form, contact details, the survey levels you offer and the draft terms of engagement for each, starting from SurveyChoice’s model terms.

We then emailed your coordinator, usually the director or practice manager, an invitation to the practice workspace. The coordinator sets the practice up and can invite the rest of the team once they are in.

Steps marked You are done by your coordinator in the workspace. Steps marked SurveyChoice are ours; the workspace shows when we are working on something and we email you when it is your turn again.

SETUP / STEP BY STEP

Ten steps
to go live.

Eight are required. Availability and inviting your team are optional, but most practices do both before going live.

  1. 01Create your account

    You

    SurveyChoice emails your coordinator (the director or practice manager) an invitation. Open the link, check the practice name and choose a password. The link is valid for 7 days; if it lapses, ask us for a new one.

    Where
    The invitation email, then surveychoice.co.uk/practice.
    Have to hand
    Access to the email address the invitation was sent to.
    Typical time
    About 5 minutes.

  2. 02Upload your professional indemnity insurance

    You, then SurveyChoice

    Upload a PDF of your current professional indemnity insurance certificate or schedule and enter its expiry date. SurveyChoice checks that the insured name matches your practice and that the cover is in date.

    Where
    Compliance, in the practice workspace.
    Have to hand
    The certificate or schedule as a PDF, its policy reference and expiry date.
    Typical time
    5 minutes to upload. We usually check it within one working day.

  3. 03Upload your RICS firm registration

    You, then SurveyChoice

    Upload your RICS firm registration certificate and enter its expiry or renewal date. SurveyChoice checks the registered firm matches your practice.

    Where
    Compliance, in the practice workspace.
    Have to hand
    Your RICS firm registration certificate as a PDF.
    Typical time
    5 minutes to upload. We usually check it within one working day.

  4. 04SurveyChoice reviews your practice

    SurveyChoice

    We check your practice details, insurance, RICS registration and the draft terms of engagement for each survey level you offer. The terms start from SurveyChoice’s model terms, adapted with you for your practice. We email you when your terms are ready to confirm.

    Where
    Nothing to do in the workspace. You can read your draft terms under Terms & payouts while you wait.
    Have to hand
    Be available for any questions we have about your details or terms.
    Typical time
    Usually a few working days once both certificates are accepted.

  5. 05Confirm your terms of engagement

    You

    Read the supplier details and the complete terms for each survey level, then give four confirmations: that you are authorised to bind the practice; that you approve the terms; that you agree the collection arrangements (clients pay your practice through SurveyChoice’s checkout, with the platform fee deducted); and that the practice is regulated by RICS, insured, and will carry out the surveys with its RICS surveyors. Only a coordinator can confirm. Once confirmed, clients accept exactly these terms before they pay.

    Where
    Terms & payouts, in the practice workspace.
    Have to hand
    Authority to agree terms on the practice’s behalf, and time to read the terms properly.
    Typical time
    20 to 30 minutes to read and confirm.

  6. 06Set up payouts with Stripe

    You, with Stripe

    Clients pay your practice directly through Stripe. Start from the workspace and complete Stripe’s own onboarding: your business details, the bank account for payouts and, for a company, the directors’ details for Stripe’s identity checks. If Stripe needs more, the workspace shows where to continue.

    Where
    Terms & payouts → Set up payouts, then Stripe’s secure pages.
    Have to hand
    The practice’s bank account details, company number (for a company), and each director’s name, date of birth and home address.
    Typical time
    10 to 20 minutes. Stripe’s checks are sometimes immediate and sometimes take a few days.

  7. 07Choose the areas you cover

    You, then SurveyChoice

    List the postcode districts you will inspect in, for example HD1, HD2 and LS1. SurveyChoice approves them. Several practices can cover the same district, and SurveyChoice may make one of them the preferred practice there.

    Where
    Coverage, in the practice workspace.
    Have to hand
    The postcode districts (the first half of a postcode) you want to cover.
    Typical time
    10 minutes to request. We approve or come back to you with questions.

  8. 08Set your availability and turnaround (optional)

    You

    Tell us how many active instructions you can take at once, your next available inspection date and how many working days a report takes. Clients see your next available date and turnaround. You can change these at any time and changes apply straight away.

    Where
    Coverage → Availability, in the practice workspace.
    Have to hand
    A realistic job limit, your next free date and your usual report turnaround.
    Typical time
    About 5 minutes.

  9. 09Invite your team (optional)

    You

    Invite the surveyors and administrators who will work on your instructions. Each person gets their own login. You choose whether each person is a coordinator or a team member.

    Where
    Team, in the practice workspace.
    Have to hand
    Each person’s name and work email address.
    Typical time
    A few minutes per person.

  10. 10Go live

    SurveyChoice

    When every required step is done, SurveyChoice activates your practice and emails you. From then on, clients in your areas can find and book your practice at SurveyChoice’s fixed prices.

    Where
    Nothing to do. Your workspace shows your practice as active.
    Have to hand
    Nothing further.
    Typical time
    Once the required steps are complete.

ONCE YOU ARE LIVE

Working with SurveyChoice day to day.

New instructions appear under Instructions in your practice workspace at surveychoice.co.uk/practice, with anything that needs your practice’s action listed first. Each instruction moves through the same stages:

  • Accept the instruction. The client has already accepted your terms. A coordinator confirms your practice can take the instruction. Only coordinators can accept or cancel an instruction.
  • Arrange access. Once the client has paid, contact them or their agent, agree the appointment and record it in the workspace.
  • Record the inspection outcome. After the visit, record whether the inspection went ahead, so the client knows the report is being prepared.
  • Deliver the report. Upload the report to the instruction in the workspace. The client is told it is ready.

The client is kept informed by email automatically at each stage, so you do not need to send separate updates.

SurveyChoice sets service targets for each stage: accepting a new instruction, arranging the inspection, recording the outcome and delivering the report. If an instruction goes past a target, our team will follow it up with you. If you cannot take an instruction, or you are at your job limit, tell us straight away so we can offer it to another practice.

MONEY

Payments, refunds and disputes.

Prices are fixed by SurveyChoice and are the same for every practice. Listed, thatched and non-standard properties go to a manual quote.

Clients pay through SurveyChoice’s Stripe checkout directly into your practice’s own Stripe account. SurveyChoice’s platform fee is deducted automatically at the moment of payment; the fee is set out in your commercial terms, which you saw and confirmed before going live. Stripe pays the balance out to your bank on your Stripe payout schedule.

Because the payment is your practice’s, Stripe’s processing fees are charged to your Stripe account. To refund a client, either refund from your own Stripe Dashboard or ask us to do it for you. Either way, the same share of SurveyChoice’s fee is returned automatically, the refund is recorded on the instruction and the client is emailed.

If a client disputes a payment, you respond with your evidence from your Stripe Dashboard, and scheduling on that instruction is paused until Stripe closes the dispute. Any loss from a dispute comes from your Stripe balance, and the platform fee is not returned on a lost dispute.

Until direct payments are switched on for your practice, SurveyChoice collects each payment and settles your share with you. We tell you before this changes.

COMPLIANCE

Keeping your certificates in date.

Your professional indemnity insurance and RICS firm registration must stay in date for your practice to keep taking instructions. We email a reminder 30 days before either certificate expires.

When a certificate renews, upload the new one on the Compliance page with its expiry date. We check it, usually within one working day, and your practice carries on as normal. If a certificate lapses before a new one is accepted, new bookings may be paused until it is.

COVERAGE

Your areas, availability and turnaround.

Your postcode districts are on the Coverage page. To add or remove a district, ask for the change there; SurveyChoice approves it. Several practices can cover the same district, and SurveyChoice may make one of them the preferred practice there.

Availability is also on the Coverage page: whether you are taking new work, your active job limit, your next available date and your report turnaround in working days. Changes apply straight away and clients see your next available date and turnaround when they book. Keep these up to date, especially around holidays.

PEOPLE

Your team.

Everyone who works on your instructions has their own login. There are two roles:

  • Coordinators manage the practice: they invite and remove people, confirm terms, accept or cancel instructions, and set coverage and availability.
  • Team members work on the instructions they are given: arranging access, recording the inspection and delivering the report.

Invite people from the Team page. Each invitation is valid for 7 days. When someone leaves, a coordinator removes their access from the same page.

CHANGES

Changing your details or terms.

Your practice’s name, address and contact details appear in the terms clients accept, so they are changed through SurveyChoice rather than edited directly. Go to Practice details → Ask for a change, say what should change and why, and we will update the record and let you know.

Approved terms of engagement are not edited in place, because clients have accepted exactly that wording. To change them, ask us and we prepare a new version with you. It is reviewed, and your coordinator confirms it in the workspace, before new clients see it. Existing instructions keep the terms their client accepted.

SUPPORT

Getting help.

If something in the workspace is unclear, or a step is taking longer than you expected, contact SurveyChoice and choose “Joining the practice network” or “Something else”. Include your practice name so we can find your record quickly.

For anything about a specific instruction, include its booking reference, shown at the top of the instruction in your workspace.