Conveyancing Quality Scheme

What it is

In the Law Society's own words, verbatim: "The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) is a recognised quality standard for SRA-regulated firms in residential conveyancing. It sets out the standards of competence, risk management and client service levels expected of practices. It is designed to produce benefits for member practices, consumers, clients and industry stakeholders."

The scope is one area of legal work. The owner's eligibility section reads, verbatim: "CQS is designed for practices which:" — "offer residential conveyancing" and "are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)".

The requirements sit in four separate documents named by the owner: "Core Practice Management Standards", "Client Service Charter", "Conveyancing Protocol" and "CQS onsite assessment guidance notes". None of those four was opened for this record, so their contents are not reproduced here.

The owner links the scheme to its own practice-management standard, verbatim: "You'll already meet some of these standards if your practice is Lexcel accredited".

Applying starts with a named individual. The owner states, verbatim: "To apply for accreditation, your practice will need to appoint a senior responsible officer (SRO). The SRO is the nominated person accountable to the Law Society." It adds a specific obligation for that person, verbatim: "the SRO must complete the CQS SRO certification exam", and requires the SRO to read the scheme rules and the Core Practice Management Standards (CPMS) before the application.

Compliance is expected at the point of application. The owner states, verbatim: "Practices are expected to be compliant with the CPMS at the time of submitting the application form." Applications are online only: "We no longer accept applications by email or post."

Training runs on an annual cycle tied to the application. The owner states, verbatim: "All relevant members of staff must complete this mandatory training course annually and prior to submitting the application for assessment."

Renewal is yearly, with a defined window. The owner states, verbatim: "To maintain your CQS accreditation, you must renew your accreditation every 12 months.", "You may submit your application form up to three months before your accreditation expires." and "The application form must be submitted before your accreditation expires, otherwise the accreditation will lapse." A practice can take a one-off extension of 30 calendar days from the SRO dashboard.

An application is a decision that can go against the practice: the owner's published fee list includes an item for an "Appeal against decision to refuse accreditation". This record reproduces no fee figures.

The eligibility section names "CQS onsite assessment guidance notes" among the documents a practice must comply with. Who carries out that onsite assessment is not stated on the pages opened for this record, and this record makes no claim in either direction on that point.

Who owns it

The Conveyancing Quality Scheme is owned by the Law Society of England and Wales, which publishes the scheme rules, the Core Practice Management Standards, the Client Service Charter and the Conveyancing Protocol, sets the fees and decides applications — its own page names the SRO as "the nominated person accountable to the Law Society".

Who assesses it

The Law Society assesses applications itself. Its own application page states, verbatim: "Our CQS team will assess your application and documents to reach a decision on the outcome of your application." It adds, verbatim: "This process will take us around 10 working days."

Who asks for it

Buyer-driven. The only demand statement verified for this record is one lender's own condition, and it is bounded: HSBC UK states that for England and Wales, SRA-regulated firms acting on its mortgages must be CQS accredited, while CLC-regulated firms can act for it without CQS. No other lender's own page was opened for this record, and it makes no claim about what any other lender requires.

One lender states its own condition. HSBC UK's conveyancing page, under the heading "England and Wales:", states, verbatim: "Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulated firms must be Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accredited." and "All Council of Licensed Conveyancer (CLC) regulated firms can act for HSBC." The page states the condition by regulator, and lists the Law Society of Scotland and the Law Society of Northern Ireland separately.

That is the only lender whose own page was opened for this record. No other lender is named here, and this record makes no claim in either direction about any other lender's panel conditions.

Validity

The Law Society states: "To maintain your CQS accreditation, you must renew your accreditation every 12 months." It adds: "The application form must be submitted before your accreditation expires, otherwise the accreditation will lapse." and "You may submit your application form up to three months before your accreditation expires."