Privacy notice for contractors and suppliers
Last updated 27 September 2026.
This notice explains what we do with personal information about you when you work for us as a contractor, tradesperson, consultant or supplier, or work for a firm that does. It also tells you what we expect when we pass you our tenants' details.
At a glance
- We hold only what we need to engage you, arrange the work, check it is done safely and pay you.
- We share your details with tenants to arrange access, and with others only where needed or where the law requires.
- We never sell your information.
- Tenant details we give you are for the job only, on the conditions in section 5.
1. Who we are
R. Lancaster & Sons (Cleveleys) Limited is the controller of your information. We are registered with the ICO, the UK data protection regulator, registration number ZA356388.
| Company | R. Lancaster & Sons (Cleveleys) Limited, company number 00476530 |
| Address | Floor 1, Capital House, 8 Pittman Court, Pittman Way, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 9ZG |
| admin@rlancaster.co.uk | |
| Telephone | 07398 042 999 |
| Data protection lead | Richard Lancaster, Director and Estates Manager |
2. The information we hold
- Contact details: your name, business name and address, email and phone numbers.
- Payment details: bank details, invoices, payments, and your tax status where relevant, for example under the Construction Industry Scheme.
- Competence and insurance: registrations and qualifications (such as Gas Safe or NICEIC), insurance certificates, and the risk assessments and method statements you give us.
- Work records: quotes, instructions, job notes, photographs of the work, certificates you issue, and records of site visits and key collection.
- Empty property records: if you visit one of our empty homes, the inspection sheet you fill in and photograph, including your name and the date. Our insurer requires us to keep these records.
- Messages between us.
Most of it comes from you or your firm. We may also check public registers such as the Gas Safe Register or Companies House, and receive feedback from tenants about work done.
3. Why we use it, and the law that allows it
| What we do | Our lawful basis (UK GDPR Article 6) |
|---|---|
| Engage you, arrange work, give tenants your details for access, and pay you | Performing our contract with you, 6(1)(b), or with your firm, where our legitimate interest is managing the work, 6(1)(f) |
| Check registrations the law requires (such as Gas Safe), keep safety records and certificates, meet construction health and safety duties, and keep tax and accounting records | Legal obligation, 6(1)(c) |
| Check your insurance and other qualifications before we engage you | Legitimate interests, 6(1)(f) |
| Keep records of empty property inspections for our insurer, deal with complaints and claims, and review how work was done | Legitimate interests, 6(1)(f) |
| Answer a request from a public body that says it needs the information for its public tasks, or share information with the police to prevent or detect crime | Recognised legitimate interests, 6(1)(ea), under paragraphs 1 and 5 of Annex 1 to the UK GDPR |
Our legitimate interests are keeping our homes safe and in good repair, meeting our insurer's conditions, and running our business properly. You can object (see "Your right to object").
We do not ask for health information or criminal records. If you tell us something about your health so that we can make an arrangement, we use it only for that, with your explicit consent (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(a)).
We need your contact, payment and competence details to work with you. Without them we cannot engage you.
4. Who we share it with
- Tenants, who receive your name and phone number so that you can arrange access.
- Our team and our AI assistant, which runs on our own server and helps us keep records and prepare messages. It sends the minimum text needed to an AI service provider acting only on our instructions under a data processing agreement, which does not use it to train its models. People make every decision about your work.
- Our insurers and insurance broker, including our empty property inspection records.
- Councils, HMRC and other public bodies, where the law requires, for example for building control, licensing or the Construction Industry Scheme.
- Our professional advisers, such as solicitors, accountants and surveyors.
- Our IT and software providers, for example for email, document storage, records, accounts, electronic signatures and hosting, who act only on our instructions, and our bank. Our own server is hosted in the UK.
Some of these providers are US companies and may handle information outside the UK. Where they do, it is protected as UK law requires, either by UK approval of the protection in that country or by contract terms approved in the UK. You can ask us for details.
5. Our tenants' details
When we give you a tenant's name, address or phone number so that you can do a job, you hold those details as a controller in your own right, responsible for them under data protection law. We share them on these conditions:
- use them only to arrange and carry out the job, and for your own records of it;
- keep them secure and do not pass them on;
- we expect you not to keep them longer than you need for the job and your own records, which as a controller you decide, and which may include records the law requires you to keep, such as a gas safety record;
- tell us straight away if they are lost or misused.
Please keep any photographs to what the work needs, and avoid photographing tenants or their belongings.
6. How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Invoices and payments | At least 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to |
| Contracts, quotes and job records | At least 6 years after the work is finished, and records of work on a property for as long as we own it |
| Safety certificates and health and safety files | For as long as we own the property |
| Empty property inspection records | At least 6 years after the inspection |
| Contact details | While you remain one of our contractors, and at least 6 years after our last job with you |
7. Your rights
You have the right to ask for a copy of your information, to have it corrected, deleted or its use restricted, to object to uses based on legitimate interests, to receive it in a reusable format, to withdraw any consent, and to complain to us and to the regulator. Some rights have limits, for example where the law requires us to keep a record. Asking is free. We will reply within one month. For a complex request we may extend this by up to two further months and will tell you why, and the time pauses if we need to ask you which information you are looking for.
Your right to object
You can object at any time to our use of your information where we rely on legitimate interests or recognised legitimate interests. Tell us why, and we will stop unless we have compelling grounds to continue or need the information for a legal claim. Email admin@rlancaster.co.uk or write to us.
8. Complaints
Please tell us first if you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, by email to admin@rlancaster.co.uk. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and deal with it without undue delay. You can also complain to the UK data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which becomes the Information Commission on 30 September 2026, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113. You can go to them at any time, but we would welcome the chance to put things right first.