The RICS Code of Practice for Service Charges in Commercial Property
provides inter alia best practice guidance on the provision of data to tenants.
Developing a conceptual framework concerning the use of these data allows
surveyors acting as managing agents to follow four key drivers in creating budgets
and fi nal accounts: understandability, relevance, reliability and comparability.
The article provides surveyors acting as managing agents (and others providing
service charge budgets and accounts) an overview of what they should seek to
achieve from the provision of their data in terms of tenants ’ understanding of the
information, its reliability and its comparability across properties and years.

• A conceptual framework for enhancing ‘ effectiveness ’ in the service charge process