Inventory Provider Training | Inventory Provider Accreditation

Inventory Provider Training Leading to Licensed Inventory Provider Accreditation

Inventory Training Prospectus
Sample Inventory Condition Report

Why the need for Inventories

The provision of inventories is currently a fragmented and uncontrolled business in the UK with a disparate quality and range of products. There are currently no nationally recognized standards or qualifications for inventory providers.

The need to regularize and improve the inventory supply chain is coming under close scrutiny as the Government moves further towards statutory regulation of the lettings industry, this includes a Government review of the sector during 2008.

From 6 April 2007, the Government made it compulsory for those receiving tenancy deposits in England and Wales to join a scheme that safeguards deposits for the duration of a tenancy and offers resolution procedures should disputes arise, an approved Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), of which there are a number.

Where there is a dispute about allocation of the deposit at the end of the tenancy that cannot be resolved between the parties, the scheme refers the dispute to its dispute resolution service. An independent adjudicator will examine the facts and determine how the deposit should be allocated.

An inventory and record of the condition of the building at the beginning and end of a tenancy are central to this process.

The Licensed Inventory Provider Scheme (LIPS), has developed a voluntary, national system for the training and regulation of inventory providers.

The UK lettings market

There were approximately 2.1 million Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) in England in 2007 (source DCLG survey of English housing). The average length of a residential tenancy is currently approximately 14 months. Well over 1 million of these tenancies are managed by a structured industry of Letting Agents or Corporate Landlords.

Inventory Providers may be instructed to carry out one or all of the following at different stages of the tenancy:

Ingoing Inventory
Check-in
Outgoing Inventory
Interim Visits

"I have won all my business on the style of the report i.e. text with integrated photos."

"Easy and clear to read inventory."

Guidance tips to help you understand your Accreditation

The Licensed Inventory Provider Award has been created to develop and qualify individuals to become licensed Inventory Providers to undertake and produce Inventories for residential properties.

The route offered by LIPS is not seen as a learning qualification but more as the provision of evidence of a person's competence in the field of Inventory Provision and so is primarily designed for Experienced Practitioners. An Experienced Practitioner is classed as having relevant qualifications and having worked within the area of property Inspection for a minimum of 6 months.

Whether you are a qualified and accredited Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA), a RICS chartered or technical member or someone with experience in the Inventory business, becoming a Licensed Inventory Provider with the Licensed Inventory Provider Scheme (LIPS) is a very straightforward process and will take a matter of a few weeks.

New entrants or less experienced applicants will need to undertake additional training in the form of the distance learning at an additional £200+VAT and allow at least 40 hours for structured home learning before attending the 2 day course.

What happens once you have gained the Award

Once you have gained the award, you will need to join LIPS before being able to gain access to the SMART-inventory software to be able to produce and lodge your LIPS inventories.

You will also need to acquire the correct PDA device onto which the scheme software will be loaded. LIPS have partnered with e-Tech Ltd who are market leaders in PDA driven surveying software including EPC generation. The two organisations have developed SMART-inventory software that you will use to produce your LIPS approved inventories. You will also need to enter into a software contract with e-Tech Ltd to use SMART-inventory software and pay the report generation click-charges of £10+vat per report.

More questions and answers can be found in the Inventory Provider Training and Accreditation - Frequently Asked Questions.

Inventory Accreditation

Once you have gathered the on-site data at a property on the PDA to produce the inventory, you will be able to sign off the inventory and submit it to LIPS for Audit checking, and onward transmission to the Client as a PDF download from the scheme's secure servers. This will enable landlords to view the reports on screen and print copies for check-in purposes, thus meeting the requirements of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

More questions and answers can be found in the Inventory Provider Training and Accreditation - Frequently Asked Questions.

Where will the work come from?

LIPS will actively promote the unique benefits of the LIP Scheme and the Inventory Condition Report (ICR) centrally to all National and Regional letting agents via promotional events and via the LIP Scheme website www.LIPScheme.org

All LIPS members are eligible to register their details on the Members area of the LIPS website and these details will populate the Members' Directory advertising themselves as an active LIPS Member to the Public and Businesses, visiting our site.

property-careers.com Ltd, as experienced panel managers have also created a new trading brand

Once a reliable national or regional network of LIPS Members has been established the Inventory portal will attempt to secure Corporate or Regional Clients to outsource their inventory supply chain. This future work will be passed out to LIPS members who choose to join the inventory portal on its business terms.

As an accredited LIPS member, you are well placed to source your own work, at your own price, from your own clients. The Members Area of The LIPS website contains marketing advice and promotional LIPS branded materials to help you win this business from local letting agents and landlords in your area.

Fees

The cost of the property-careers.com inventory provider course is £295 plus VAT. Included within the course fees are all academic training and examination fees and course materials. New entrant packs are available for an additional £200+vat for those candidates with no prior EPC, lettings or inventory experience.

The membership subscription for The Licensed Inventory Provider Scheme is £200 plus VAT per annum.

The current cost of the handheld PDA to buy outright is approximately £430 plus VAT but these are also available from mobile phone suppliers such as O2 and Orange from £nil outlay on Business user tariff.

Report click charges are collected through the software agreement with e-Tech Ltd at £10+vat per inventory created. There is no charge for having the software loaded onto a LIPS members PDA device.

Why choose to become a Licensed Inventory Provider