National Occupational Standards in
Archaeological Practice

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AJ4 Agree professional services

AJ4.2 Agree fees for professional services

Performance Required

This will involve:

1. explaining clearly the options for the professional appointment, the range of services to be provided and recommending and justifying the fee basis in the context of the client's project requirements
2. providing the client with opportunities to discuss the options for appointment, range of services and the recommended fee basis
3. agreeing with the client the scope of the commission and the method and form of appointment
4. accurately calculating, to the level of detail required, a fee quotation incorporating all relevant factors, risks and opportunities
5. identifying and incorporating in the offer qualifications necessary to protect your organisation's interests
6. ensuring that the quotation is complete, accurate, conforms to organisational house style and is presented and supported in a manner which maximises the opportunities for acceptability
7. ensuring that the quotation is submitted in accordance with client's requirements and recorded for future reference
8. where challenged by the client, negotiating, agreeing and confirming valid adjustments acceptable to both parties in a manner which maintains goodwill and trust

Occupational Context

1. Range of services
   • archaeological investigations
   • research
   • consultancy services
   • management services
2. Relevant factors:
   • cost of resources
   • scale charges
   • organisational objectives and policies
   • professional codes of conduct
   • terms and conditions of appointment
   • insurances
3. Risks and opportunities:
   • project risk
   • client risk
   • business risk
   • legal / regulatory constraints
   • reputation of own organisation
   • business development opportunities
4. Qualifications necessary:
   • assumptions concerning the purpose and the subject of the valuation, market conditions or legal interest
   • contract conditions
   • programme

Knowledge Requirements

You need to know about:

Professional fees

• The selected Form of Appointment and the associated range of services
• Different methods for calculating fees
• Relevant aspects of the Codes of Professional Conduct
• Types of qualification necessary in submitting quotations for fees
• Fee profiling
• Fee negotiation

Estimating

• Using work breakdown methods for estimating resource costs
• Sources of cost data for calculating costs
• Using risk analysis techniques
• Cash flow analysis
• Factoring overhead costs
• 6 Calculating profit

Required Skills

You should demonstrate:

• How to recommend and justify the fee basis
• How to present and support quotation in a manner which maximises the opportunities for acceptability

Evidence Required

You should provide evidence that you can agree fees for professional services

The candidate should be questioned, based upon the documentation provided, to explore how they:

• agreed the scope of the commission and the method and form of appointment
• submitted a quotation in accordance with client's requirements which conforms to organisational procedures

Evidence Rules

The candidate should have been involved in agreeing professional services on at least 2 projects.

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Today's date: 4/2/2012
This page last updated: 6/8/2007 10:58