Bigness Responsibility & Accountability Statement

Last reviewed: October 2026
Applies to: Review My Building · Fix a Building Problem · Manage My Building

Bigness believes responsibility should be clear before work begins.

This statement explains the role Bigness may take, what we are accountable for, where specialist responsibility remains with another competent party, and what remains the responsibility of the client.

It should be read alongside the quotation, agreed scope, project-specific agreement and Bigness Service Terms & Conditions applying to each engagement.

1. Our Role

Bigness helps property owners, managing agents and other building stakeholders understand requirements, organise the appropriate response, coordinate technical specialists and contractors, track agreed actions and maintain clearer records of completed work.

Our exact contractual role is defined for each engagement.

Depending on the agreed scope, Bigness may act as:

• the direct provider of services or works;
• a contractor delivering work through its own personnel or subcontractors;
• a coordinator of specialists appointed directly by the client; or
• an authorised procurement or coordination agent where expressly agreed.

The Service Terms distinguish between work delivered by Bigness, specialists contracted directly by the client and procurement undertaken as the client’s authorised agent. (Service Terms, cl. 12.1–12.3)

Any appointment as Principal Contractor, Principal Designer or another statutory dutyholder must be expressly addressed where required. Such a role is not assumed simply because Bigness coordinates work or provides a single point of contact. (Service Terms, cl. 12.5)

2. What Bigness Is Accountable For

Within the agreed scope, Bigness is responsible for the services and obligations it has accepted under the contract.

This may include:

• understanding and coordinating the building requirements included within our appointment;
• organising agreed inspections, maintenance, remedial works or specialist attendance;
• keeping the actions, deadlines, decisions and evidence we have been appointed to manage reasonably organised;
• communicating material risks, defects, limitations or recommendations identified within our scope;
• coordinating appropriately competent specialists where specialist work is required;
• managing work that Bigness has contractually undertaken;
• recording relevant completion evidence where this forms part of the agreed service;
• explaining proposed variations and obtaining approval before additional chargeable work proceeds, except where the contract permits immediate action. (Service Terms, cl. 5.2)

Response times, attendance commitments, reporting periods and other service levels apply where expressly included in the relevant quotation, service specification or contract.

For subcontracted delivery, the accountability model is explained in Section 4 below.

3. What Remains the Client’s Responsibility

Bigness does not automatically take over statutory or legal responsibilities attached to a building.

Unless Bigness has expressly accepted a particular statutory role, or the law places a duty directly on Bigness, the owner, freeholder, managing agent, RMC/RTM company, Responsible Person or other legally responsible party remains responsible for duties imposed on them.

Bigness remains responsible for its own statutory obligations as an employer, contractor and provider of services.

Coordination of inspections, records or remedial actions does not amount to blanket certification that an entire building complies with every applicable requirement. Compliance Services are limited to the inspections, records, deadlines and actions included within the agreed appointment. (Service Terms, cl. 13.1–13.6)

Clients remain responsible, where applicable, for:

• providing accurate information;
• providing available building records;
• disclosing known hazards;
• providing safe and appropriate access;
• obtaining permissions, approvals or resident access not included within the Bigness appointment;
• approving scope, cost and priorities where client approval is required;
• complying with statutory consultation or approval processes that remain their responsibility;
• deciding whether to proceed with recommended work where that decision remains theirs.

These responsibilities are reflected in the Service Terms, including requirements relating to access, information, known hazards, records and permissions. (Service Terms, cl. 11.1–11.5)

4. Specialists and Subcontractors

Different building requirements require different forms of competence.

Bigness may coordinate specialists for areas including:

• fire safety;
• electrical inspection and testing;
• gas and commercial plant;
• water hygiene and Legionella;
• asbestos;
• lifts;
• energy assessment;
• building surveying;
• structural investigation;
• specialist roof and façade inspection;
• controls and building-management systems.

Minimum competence checks

For regulated or specialist work, Bigness verifies as a minimum, where applicable:

• the relevant professional, trade or competent-person registration;
• validity and expiry of required registrations or accreditations;
• evidence of appropriate insurance for the work being undertaken; and
• that the provider’s stated scope of competence is appropriate to the task.

Depending on the nature and risk of the work, we may also review:

• qualifications;
• experience;
• references;
• health and safety documentation;
• method statements;
• previous project evidence; and
• other scope-specific competence information.

Specialist assessments, regulated work and certification are undertaken by persons with the competence and registrations required for the task. (Service Terms, cl. 12.4)

Where Bigness appoints the subcontractor

Where Bigness subcontracts an obligation that Bigness has undertaken directly to the client:

Bigness remains responsible to the client for the subcontractor’s performance.

Bigness remains the client’s contractual point of contact for that obligation. (Service Terms, cl. 12.2)

Where the client appoints the specialist directly

Where the client contracts directly with a specialist:

The specialist remains responsible for its own contract and professional or technical work.

Bigness remains responsible for any selection, coordination or monitoring duties expressly included within our own appointment. (Service Terms, cl. 12.3)

5. Liability and Insurance

Bigness maintains insurance appropriate to the services it undertakes.

Current cover includes:

• Public Liability — £5,000,000
• Employers’ Liability — not less than £5,000,000

The current policies run from 23 June 2026 to 22 June 2027. Insurance certificates are available on request.

Professional Indemnity insurance will be stated separately where applicable to the service or appointment.

Liability under each engagement is governed by the applicable Service Terms and any project-specific agreement.

For Business Customers, subject to applicable law and liabilities that cannot lawfully be limited, Bigness’s aggregate liability is normally limited to the total price paid or payable under the relevant contract.

For recurring services without a fixed total price, the standard limit is based on fees paid or payable for the relevant 12-month contractual period unless another limit has expressly been agreed. (Service Terms, cl. 20.3–20.4)

For Consumers, different statutory protections apply. Bigness remains responsible for foreseeable loss or damage caused by breach of contract or failure to exercise reasonable care and skill, and mandatory consumer rights are not restricted. (Service Terms, cl. 20.2)

Nothing excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation or another liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted. (Service Terms, cl. 20.1)

Bigness does not become responsible for unrelated pre-existing defects merely because we undertake work at a property. We remain responsible to the extent our own breach or negligence causes or worsens damage. (Service Terms, cl. 20.6)

6. Independence, Fees and Conflicts of Interest

Bigness aims to make the commercial relationship clear before work is authorised.

Our charging model depends on the service.

Building Reviews and Defined Assessments

Normally priced on a fixed-fee basis where the scope can be established in advance.

Reactive and Diagnostic Work

May be charged using disclosed attendance or time-and-materials rates where the problem must first be investigated.

Planned Maintenance and Compliance Services

May use fixed, scheduled or recurring pricing depending on assets, frequency and scope.

Managed Building Operations

Management and coordination fees may be charged separately from inspections, servicing, repairs, materials and improvement works.

Technical Works and Projects

Priced through an agreed quotation once the required scope is sufficiently understood.

Bigness may apply a trade markup to materials and equipment to cover procurement, handling, logistics and warranty administration. Supplier discounts are not automatically passed to the client unless an open-book arrangement has expressly been agreed. (Service Terms, cl. 4.8)

Conflict transparency

Where Bigness recommends work that Bigness or a Bigness-appointed subcontractor may deliver:

We confirm in writing the capacity in which Bigness is acting before the work is authorised.

The client will therefore know whether Bigness is acting as coordinator, contractor, procurement agent or another expressly agreed capacity.

Independent quotations

Clients are free to obtain independent quotations for recommended work unless a different procurement arrangement has expressly been agreed.

Where reasonably practicable, Bigness will provide the relevant scope or findings needed for another competent provider to price the identified work.

Choosing another competent contractor does not invalidate the underlying Bigness finding or recommendation.

7. Records and Evidence

Documented control is an important part of the Bigness operating model.

Depending on the agreed service, Bigness may maintain or coordinate records including:

• compliance registers;
• action logs;
• renewal dates;
• maintenance requirements;
• contractor and specialist information;
• quotations and approvals;
• inspection reports;
• specialist certificates;
• completion evidence;
• outstanding actions; and
• planned future works.

The objective is to maintain a clear connection between:

Finding → Action → Responsible Party → Completion → Evidence → Closure

Records and completion evidence are provided and retained in accordance with the applicable service agreement and any agreed client portal or reporting arrangements.

8. Complaints and Escalation

If you have a concern about a Bigness service, contact:

Bigness
office@bigness.co.uk
020 7183 5768

Please provide the property address, relevant contract or project reference and details of the concern.

Bigness will investigate the complaint and explain its response.

The Service Terms provide for attempts to resolve disputes through discussion and, where agreed, mediation, without preventing statutory adjudication, urgent court relief or other applicable legal remedies. (Service Terms, cl. 24.1–24.5)

Complaints Procedure

9. Our Accountability Principle

Bigness does not believe that providing one point of contact means pretending that one organisation possesses every specialist competence.

Our model is:

Understand the requirement.
Define the responsibility.
Appoint the right competence.
Coordinate the work.
Verify the evidence.
Keep the action visible until closure.

Where Bigness is contractually responsible for delivering work, Bigness remains accountable for that contractual obligation.

Where a specialist has been appointed directly by the client, the specialist remains responsible for its own professional or technical work.

Where a statutory duty belongs to the client or another legally defined dutyholder, coordination by Bigness does not transfer that duty unless an express appointment or the law provides otherwise.

Bigness remains responsible for its own statutory obligations as an employer and as a contractor carrying out work.

10. Review of This Statement

Bigness reviews this Responsibility & Accountability Statement at least annually and whenever there is a material change to:

• our services;
• contractual responsibilities;
• statutory dutyholder roles;
• specialist procurement arrangements;
• insurance arrangements; or
• our operating model.

The specific quotation, scope of works, project agreement and applicable Service Terms take precedence where they define the parties’ responsibilities in greater detail.

Clear responsibility is part of good building control.

Bigness exists to make building requirements easier to understand, coordinate and close — while keeping the responsibility of every party clear.