2. Practice management Flashcards
What is the difference between a sole trader and a limited liability company?
The key differences are the landscaping Institute membership, appropriate insurance, whether they are registered at companies house, and companies a separate legal entity so protects the employees personal finances
How does copyright affect you as a landscape architect?
Your work is protected by the copyright designs and patience act which gives you the exclusive right to copy adapt communicate or sell copies of your work. When working as an employee this right is helped by the company you work for. A clients permission is needed to circulate any plans externally.
Why be accredited?
Being accredited for example with ISO 9000 gives you additional credibility, ensures certain level of quality and organisation, means that things are done with improved consistency and efficiency. It also gives you a competitive edge as it is often sought after in bids and competitions. External audits provide the opportunity for constructive feedback however for small companies like us it is not often worth it.
What are the responsibilities of an employer?
An employer needs to ensure the well-being of staff. This could be done through PAT testing, first aid, fire safety. They must also provide opportunities for appraisals, complaints procedures, HR procedures. And they must ensure staff are paid as per their contract and have enough money for payroll. They must have the appropriate insurance and they must enable staff to carry out their jobs as well as possible by providing equipment and CPD.
What quality assurance procedures do you have at Define?
Fine, we don’t have any formal accreditation systems, but we have our own QA procedure which is reviewed annually. This relates to every aspect of how the business is run from quality procedures, working with clients, ensuring competence and appropriate training, legislation and guidance. There is an office procedures manual which has information on the company, staff policy, practical matters such as health and safety and IT.
What is BREEAM? Do you have experience with it?
BREEAM is an accreditation system based on sustainability. I do not have any experience of it myself but a colleague of mine is an assessor for the building with nature of accreditation which is more relevant to landscape architecture and considered more meaningful in real life it actually reduces environmental impacts and improves well-being rather than ticking boxes preconstruction. What is Brian?
What are the essential elements of practice needs in order to stay in business?
Marketing
Money management
Management of time and cost of services
Staff appointment
HR
Appropriate office and quality management system
And risk management
What marketing methods exist?
Networking event, promotional material via post, email, social media, website updates and keeping in contact with past or existing clients. word-of-mouth several of our clients have come to us as a result of recommendations from others. The code of practice has a standard on promoting services in a truthful and responsible manner.
What is cash flow forecast and what should it cover?
A cash flow forecast and shows financial stability of practice. it should have a monthly forecast of feed incomes as well as a summary of expenditure. There will also be an annual budget forecast and a profit to loss ratio.
How would you calculate staffs hourly rate?
It would be calculated by looking at their annual salary and the hours including things like CPD and training and profit is then added which varies from company to company and sector to sector.
What legislation would an employee need to be aware of when employing someone?
They would need to be aware of the health and safety work act, the employment rights act, the equality act, data protection act and they may also need to be aware of immigration regulations or the rehabilitation of offenders act.
What are employees responsibilities?
Employees have a responsibility to be honest, not disrupt business, to carry out and follow orders, to work with reasonable skill and care, to look after their employees property, not to compete in business, to be prepared to learn new skills techniques and technology, and comply with regulations and policy such as health and safety act.
What is ISO 14,001?
This is the international standard relating to the impact on the environment and its specifies the requirements to enhance its environmental performance.
What is ISO 9000?
This is an international standard relating to quality assurance and how quality management systems can be implemented
What types of insurance to practices need?
Practices are required to take out professional indemnity insurance, employers insurance, and public liability insurance. They may also need motor insurance and buildings and contents.
What is the procedure if there is an accident in the office?
Appropriate first-aid must be provided, it must be logged in the accident book, and if the person needs to be off work for more than eight days than HSE would need to be notified.
What is a quality management system?
This is a way of consistently ensuring that certain levels of organisation and quality and they can include things like internal audits, calibrations, having processes which everyone follows, having document checking processes, and ensuring training is up-to-date.
How can you enforce payment of your fees by your client?
Firstly, I would attempt to resolve things by phone or email and check that they haven’t just forgotten and stop all work on the project. If these are unpaid after a reasonable amount of time, then official re numeration must be followed through as set out in the contractual fee proposal. this will then escalate to revoke copyright of drawings produced for the client and solicitors letter and this will be followed by adjudication, arbitration, litigation and statutory demand.
Why is BIM required on some projects?
BIM is required on some projects to ensure collaboration and minimise the risk of errors in revisions and detect conflict. All public projects with a value over £5 million must have at least a level two BIM compliance.
What are the key areas of private practice needs to manage?
Marketing, client relationships, finance, time and cost of ongoing project and jobs, staff appointment and management including appraisals, payments, sick pay et cetera, office and quality management systems and risk.
How can you ensure payment?
Ensure that there is a written agreement in place and make the terms of the payment clear on the contract and fee proposals
Regular invoicing and communication will help prevent late fees and smaller but more regular invoices will reduce the risk of being out-of-pocket of significant sums . define invoices sent monthly reducing the risk and maintaining a healthy cash flow
Speak to the client to check if they haven’t forgotten if there’s a good relationship and if they still don’t pay stop and then escalate to solicitors and then court
What are the key areas of practice management?
Staff appointment
Risk management
Marketing
Time and cost forecasting
QA systems
Insurance
What insurance should a practice have in place?
Professional indemnity insurance
Employers liability insurance
Public liability insurance
Buildings and contents
Motor
What is professional indemnity insurance?
Every company should have this before accepting work it covers the company from claims from the client.
It covers you and the business for claims for financial and reputational damage due to negligent services or advice.
It is mandatory for landscape practices to have this as set out in the code of practice and it should be taken out 15 years following the completion of a companies final project
How is professional indemnity insurance calculated?
It’s calculated based on the number of employees, annual turnover, largest commission in the last five years, previous claims made against the practice, forms of contract and terms and conditions, nature of the work and projects and whether you deal with pollution as this requires an extra charge
