December 2019
TAKEN FROM LCA NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2019
Within the legionella control market there are many instances where companies are acquired or merge for commercial reasons. Where this occurs and one or both of the companies are LCA Members, the management procedures by which the company operates in compliance with the LCA Code of Conduct and Service Delivery Standards are likely to be changed.
This situation has been identified as a potentially foreseeable risk of a lapse in quality of delivery for the LCA Member due to a period of change and adjustment. To address this risk the LCA have drafted the following guidance for Members:
Where two companies join by merger or acquisition and both are LCA Members, the LCA must be satisfied that the management procedures already in place are maintained to a safe standard.
As both companies are LCA Members, Membership must be maintained for both sets of management procedures until such time as a single set of management procedures for the new single legal entity have been put in place.
When operating two sets of management procedures and two LCA Memberships, non-conformance against one LCA Membership at audit may have an impact on the LCA’s assessment of the combined entity.
Where two companies join by merger or acquisition and one is an LCA Member and the other is not, the LCA must be satisfied that the management
procedures already in place with the LCA Member are extended to all parts of the new entity as soon as possible.
The LCA Member company’s Membership is contingent on all parts of its business. The assessor will seek evidence from the new components of any merged business to ensure appropriate procedures are in use throughout the new entity.
The expectation from the LCA is that its Members will adhere to the above policy if they need to manage the transition through a merger or acquisition period. Should the LCA assessor discover during the course of a Member audit that changes within the management procedures of a Member have led to compromise of compliance with the Code of Conduct and/or Service Delivery Standards, this may jeopardise Membership.
Merged businesses and larger LCA Members often maintain several offices around the UK. The LCA has previously carried out assessments at head offices with limited audits at regional offices of larger Members.
The future policy of the LCA is to extend auditing to cover regional and satellite offices, either directly, or by seeking evidence of the work completed from remote parts of Member companies.