Privacy Policy

We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in accordance with General Data Protection requirements.

O’Brien Van der Steen Workshops only retains personal data on the grounds of legitimate interest in line with GDPR Regulations (EU Regulations 2016/679). No information on staff, clients or suppliers is shared with third parties or used for other purposes.

Cookies are used on this website but personal information is not tracked or retained.

The type of personal data we collect: As a business we process a range of data and the type is determined by your connection with us as clients, potential clients, suppliers, sub-contractors and employees. This means we will have names, contact details such as email and postal addresses, phone numbers and payment details as well as bank account numbers, sort codes, national insurance numbers and tax codes, CV’s and references. We need this information to do a good job in providing architectural services to you as our clients as well as meeting the HMRC requirements as a responsible employer.

Why we collect your information: We collect personal data in order to communicate with clients about their projects, to answer queries from prospective clients, to instruct our professional contractors in the delivery of projects and to both invoice/pay for the services we use and provide. We also collect information to process payments for our employees. Some of the information we collect is to fulfil our own legal obligations e.g. HMRC taxation requirements. From time to time we will, with your explicit agreement, for marketing purposes send you information about our services that we believe may be of interest to you via email and social media platforms.

How we collect your information: We do this through the traditional post, email, telephone, in person and social media platforms. Additionally, our website uses cookies to collect such information about you.

We use cookies: Cookies are small text files we place on your computer’s hard drive after gaining your consent; a pop- up window appears when you visit our website seeking your permission. These cookies will track how and when you visit our website and then allow us to work out what type of product or service interests you most so we can better match your needs. These cookies do not interfere with or have access to any other information on your computer. If you prefer, you can opt not to accept cookies; this may limit how you can use our website, but you may still use our website. Services delivered via the website such as video or embedded content from external providers may also place cookies on your computer; once again you will have the option to reject these cookies.

How do I stop you contacting me with marketing materials? If you’ve previously consented to receiving our marketing materials but have now changed your mind and wish to withdraw consent you can do this at any time by simply contacting us.

We share your information: As part of our own legal obligation as a business we share your personal data with HMRC and our professional/regulatory bodies RIBA and ARB. Depending on what service we are providing and your specific instructions via contract to us, we may also share your information with free-lance professional contractors e.g. structural engineer, building surveyors and third party providers. For our employees we share information with our payroll provider Sidaways Limited.

Your data is held securely: All information you provide to us is stored on our local and cloud based secure servers with encryption and regular system backup or it is in our robust physical storage facilities. All our third party providers i.e. the free-lancers we engage are also subject to the same high standards.

How long do you keep my data? This depends on the type of data we hold. We will keep data used for marketing purposes for which you have given explicit consent e.g. email address until you withdrawn consent or we do a periodic refresh of our databases every 2 years. Other data e.g. sales and purchase invoices will be kept for 6 six plus the current tax year, as this is a requirement of the HMRC. Data on former clients will be kept for six or twelve years (determined by the terms of the contract/deed) after the client leaves/completion of the project, to address any potential dispute that may arise. We also keep employee data for 6 years plus the current tax year post departure. After these time periods the data will be destroyed securely. For more information please see our Data Protection Policy, a copy will be issued upon request.

How can I see a copy of, amend, withdraw my consent or delete the data you hold on me? You may want us to amend or delete the information we have about you and want see a copy of the personal data we hold and process on you by contacting us.

Can I complain if I’m unhappy with any of the above? If you’d like to make a complaint you can of course contact us and we will investigate fully. We will take complaints very seriously and we will respond to complaints as soon as possible and certainly within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the current legislation you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office on: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House,Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. 0303 123 1113. https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling/