AK SURVEYING SERVICES
Complaints Handling Procedure
Version 1.1 | Issued 12 November 2026 | Review November 2027
We aim to provide a careful, professional service. If you are unhappy with any part of our work, please tell us so we can investigate and try to put matters right. This procedure explains how to complain and how to obtain independent redress if we cannot resolve your concerns.
1 Who handles your complaint
Andrew Kime is responsible for handling complaints at AK Surveying Services. We are a sole practitioner business, so Andrew will normally investigate the complaint, including where it concerns his own work. Where appropriate, we will seek an independent professional review at our expense.
Andrew Kime trading as AK Surveying Services
Email: aksurveying@outlook.com
Telephone: 07920 569733
RICS regulated firm number: 855568
RPSA membership number: Kim0865
2 Making a complaint
You may contact us by email or telephone. If you prefer to write by post, please contact us for our correspondence address. Please give your name, the property address, the service provided, the points you are unhappy about and the outcome you would like. Include relevant documents or photographs if available. You do not need to use a particular form or describe your concern as a formal complaint.
If you complain verbally, we will confirm our understanding in writing and invite you to correct anything we have misunderstood. Please tell us if you need help making your complaint, an accessible format or a different way of communicating. You may appoint someone to act on your behalf, with your authority.
3 Acknowledgement and investigation
We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within three working days of receiving it. We will record the issues raised and review the relevant instructions, terms, report, site notes, photographs and correspondence. We may contact you for clarification or discuss whether a further inspection or specialist opinion would help.
We aim to provide our first substantive written response within 15 working days of receiving your complaint. We will address each point, explain our findings and set out any proposed action or remedy. If we need longer, we will explain why before that deadline and give you a revised response date.
4 Further review and final response
If you remain dissatisfied, please tell us which points are unresolved and why. We will acknowledge your request for a further review within three working days. Where practicable and appropriate, we will arrange for someone not involved in the original investigation to assist with that review. As a sole practice, we cannot offer a separate internal department.
We aim to issue our final written response within 15 working days of your request for further review, and in any event within eight weeks of first receiving your original complaint. It will be clearly identified as our final viewpoint and will explain our conclusions, any proposed remedy and how to refer the matter to independent redress. If you request further review after a final viewpoint has already been issued, your right to approach TPO remains available under its rules.
5 Independent redress through The Property Ombudsman
AK Surveying Services selects The Property Ombudsman (TPO) as its independent consumer ADR provider, accessed through the Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA). Andrew Kime is a practising RPSA member. RPSA holds corporate membership of TPO on behalf of its members.
If you remain dissatisfied after our final viewpoint, you may refer an eligible consumer complaint to TPO. You may also approach TPO if eight weeks have passed since you first complained to us in writing and we have not issued a final viewpoint. The service is free to you, and you do not need our permission to use it.
The Property Ombudsman
Website and complaint information: https://www.tpos.co.uk/
Telephone: 01722 333306
When contacting TPO, please identify Andrew Kime of AK Surveying Services as a member of the Residential Property Surveyors Association, membership number Kim0865. This enables TPO to identify us through the RPSA arrangement.
Referral should normally be made within 12 months of our final viewpoint. Other eligibility and time limits apply under TPO’s current scheme rules, including limits concerning when the issue occurred or became known and when it was first raised with us. TPO decides whether a complaint falls within its jurisdiction. Please contact TPO promptly if you wish to refer a complaint.
We will cooperate with TPO and comply with any decision or award that becomes binding under its scheme rules. This consumer redress route is subject to those rules; complaints by business clients may require a different route, which we will explain where relevant.
6 Records and your rights
We keep a complaints log and retain the relevant records securely, normally for at least six years from closure and longer where required for legal, regulatory or insurance reasons. Necessary information may be shared with TPO, RPSA, RICS, our insurers or professional advisers, subject to confidentiality, data protection and any applicable legal privilege.
There is no charge for using our complaints procedure. You may raise a regulatory concern separately with RICS at https://www.rics.org/regulation. RICS regulation does not replace independent redress or determine compensation claims. This procedure does not restrict your legal rights or any right to seek independent advice.