Lesson 11: Maintaining Adequate Records

A good record should allow another authorised employee to understand:

1. What happened;
2. When it happened;
3. Who was involved;
4. What information was available;
5. What was said or decided;
6. Who authorised the decision; and
7. What action remains outstanding.

Records that may need to be retained

These include:

1. Client instructions;
2. Property information;
3. Offers and responses;
4. Viewing feedback;
5. Application records;
6. Telephone attendance notes;
7. Emails and messages;
8. Identity and compliance checks;
9. Referral-fee disclosures;
10. Conflict declarations;
11. Repair reports;
12. Complaint records;
13. Safety incidents;
14. Decisions and authorisations; and
15. Copies of relevant documents.

Good record-keeping standards

Records should be:

1. Accurate;
2. Factual;
3. Dated;
4. Legible;
5. Stored in the correct system;
6. Created promptly;
7. Accessible to authorised staff;
8. Protected from unauthorised access; and
9. Retained and deleted in accordance with company policy.

Telephone and face-to-face discussions

Important conversations should be recorded as soon as possible. An attendance note should include:

1. Date and time;
2. Names of participants;
3. Method of communication;
4. Main points discussed;
5. Advice or information provided;
6. Decisions made;
7. Instructions received; and
8. Agreed next steps.

Inappropriate records

Employees should not include:

1. Insults;
2. Jokes at a customer’s expense;
3. Discriminatory descriptions;
4. Unsupported accusations;
5. Irrelevant personal opinions; or
6. Information that has no legitimate business purpose.

Employees should assume that records may later be examined by a manager, customer, redress scheme, regulator, solicitor or court.