Privacy Policy

This notice explains how we use personal information when you visit our website, contact us, book a service or are connected with a property we inspect. It covers clients, prospective clients, property owners, occupiers, agents and business contacts.

 

WHO WE ARE

 

Stratful Associates Ltd is the controller responsible for the personal information described in this notice. We provide residential surveying and related property services.

 

For privacy enquiries or to exercise your rights, contact Paul Stratful at surveys@stratfulassociates.co.uk or telephone 07361 249464. Postal contact: 8 Giffin Way, Sawbridgeworth, CM21 0DW.

 

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

 

We collect names, contact details, property and correspondence addresses, enquiry and booking details, access arrangements, correspondence, chatbot messages, feedback, invoices and payment records. Where relevant, we also collect inspection notes, property photographs, thermal and drone images, floor plans and 360° tour images. These may contain personal information about owners or occupiers.

 

Our website and service providers may collect technical information such as IP addresses, device and browser details, security logs and information about website use. The cookie section below explains how device storage and tracking are handled.

 

We receive information directly from you, through our website and booking systems, and from people involved in an instruction, such as estate agents, sellers, occupiers, solicitors and referring organisations. We may also consult public property records, planning records, property listings and other relevant public sources.

 

Please provide only information needed for your enquiry or instruction. Avoid putting health information, identity documents, bank card details or other sensitive information in the chatbot. If you supply another person’s details, please make them aware of this notice.

 

WHY WE USE INFORMATION

 

Enquiries and instructions: we use your details to provide quotations, arrange access, inspect properties, prepare reports, deliver optional services and communicate about the work. For individual clients, this is necessary to take steps at your request before a contract or to perform our contract with you.

 

Other people involved in a survey: we use owners’, occupiers’, agents’ and business contacts’ details under our legitimate interests in arranging and delivering the instruction, keeping accurate records and communicating with the relevant people. We consider the effect on their rights before relying on this basis.

 

Administration and protection: our legitimate interests include managing the practice, keeping systems secure, resolving complaints, collecting debts and establishing or defending legal claims. We also process information where required by law, including accounting and tax obligations. We do not send promotional emails or text messages. Our communications concern your enquiry, booking or service.

 

WHO WE SHARE INFORMATION WITH

 

We share information only where needed for the relevant purpose. Our service providers include Wix for the website and its enquiry and chat functions, Usercentrics for cookie-consent management, SurveyBooker for quotations and bookings, GoReport for survey preparation and reporting, Google Workspace for email, documents and storage, and OpenAI for ChatGPT assistance described below. Where used for an instruction, Zapier supports administration between systems and ClickSend delivers text messages.

 

Payments are made by bank transfer. We use payment references and transaction details to match payments to invoices and maintain our accounts. We may also share relevant information with banks, professional advisers, accountants, insurers, legal representatives, regulators and authorities where necessary. Estate agents, sellers, occupiers and solicitors may receive information needed to arrange access or progress your instruction. We do not routinely send your completed survey report to the seller or selling agent without your authority.

 

Providers acting on our behalf process information under contractual instructions and appropriate confidentiality and security requirements. Some recipients, such as banks and regulators, may be independent controllers for their own purposes. Their privacy notices explain those uses.

 

PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPHS AND WALKTHROUGHS

 

Images and notes help us record the property’s condition, explain findings and provide the services you request. Our legitimate interests include maintaining an accurate inspection record and supporting professional advice. For clients, relevant processing also forms part of delivering the agreed service.

 

We aim to avoid recording people, private documents and personal possessions unnecessarily. Anyone with access to a walkthrough may be able to view its images, so please share access details carefully. Public samples or marketing images will be anonymised or used with appropriate permission; booking a survey does not by itself authorise publication of identifiable interiors.

 

AI ASSISTANCE AND AUTOMATED TOOLS

 

We use ChatGPT, provided by OpenAI, to compile inspection notes and check draft reports for conflicting or inconsistent statements. This includes property addresses and may include personal information associated with the property. The model-training sharing setting is switched off in the account used for this work. We use these tools in our legitimate interests in producing clear, accurate and consistent records and reports. The surveyor reviews the output and remains responsible for the report and professional advice.

 

Our website chatbot is an automated assistant. Messages and contact details you provide are processed to answer general enquiries and help our team follow up. The chatbot does not replace advice from your surveyor. Please contact us directly if you need a person to review your enquiry.

 

Online quotations may use the property and service details you enter to calculate an indicative price. A quotation is subject to the booking process and any necessary checks. We do not use the chatbot to make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.

 

PROCESSING OUTSIDE THE UK

 

Our providers may process information in the UK, European Economic Area, Israel, United States, Australia and other countries where they or their subcontractors operate. Wix identifies Israel; SurveyBooker identifies the UK, United States and Germany; OpenAI and Zapier identify the United States. Google Workspace and ClickSend also process internationally.

 

Transfer protections include UK adequacy arrangements or contractual safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses with the UK Addendum where applicable. Providers describe these in their privacy notices and processing terms. Contact us for details of relevant transfers and copies of applicable safeguards.

 

HOW LONG WE KEEP INFORMATION

 

We retain information for the purpose for which it was collected and any necessary legal, accounting, insurance or claims-related purpose. Retention depends on the type of record, the work undertaken, applicable requirements and whether a complaint or claim is outstanding.

 

We normally retain the core survey file for 15 years after completing the instruction. This includes the report, inspection notes, relevant photographs and images, agreed terms and material correspondence. We keep these records to answer later queries and establish or defend legal claims.

 

We retain unsuccessful enquiries and routine chat messages for 12 months after the last contact. Messages forming part of an instruction or complaint are kept with the relevant file. Online walkthrough access is provided for 12 months after delivery, unless extended for an additional fee. Relevant survey images remain within the core survey file after online access ends. Accounting records follow applicable statutory retention requirements. We delete or anonymise information when no longer needed. Relevant records may be kept longer where a claim, dispute, legal requirement or insurer requirement justifies this; we review that need rather than retaining everything indefinitely.

 

SECURITY

 

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect information and limit access to those who need it for their work. No online service is completely risk-free. Please keep booking portal and walkthrough access details secure and contact us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access.

 

COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

 

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate securely, maintain sessions and remember preferences. Wix, booking services and embedded content may also use these technologies to provide additional features and measure how their services are used.

 

You can delete or block cookies through your browser settings, although blocking some cookies may affect website functions. Separate booking pages and external content may have their own privacy information and cookie controls. If you have questions about cookies on our website, please contact us using the details above.

 

YOUR CHOICES AND RIGHTS

 

Depending on the circumstances, you may ask to access your information, correct inaccuracies, erase information, restrict its use or receive certain information in a portable format. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests and to direct marketing. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing. These rights are subject to legal conditions and exemptions.

 

Contact us using the details above. We normally respond within one month, subject to any lawful extension or pause, and may need information to confirm your identity. Requests are normally free. If you do not provide information needed for an instruction, we may be unable to quote for or deliver that service.

 

COMPLAINTS AND CHANGES

 

Please contact us if you are concerned about our use of your information. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/. You do not have to obtain our permission to do so.

 

We may update this notice when our services or data-handling arrangements change. The current version and its update date will be available on our website. Other websites we link to have their own privacy notices.