PROCEDURES FOR UNDERTAKING CONSULTANCY THROUGH UCL CONSULTANTS
LTD
It is important that the consultant contacts UCL Consultants Ltd as early as possible in the
negotiation stage. Full details of procedures, costings and forms to use can be found on
UCL Consultants Ltd’s website:
1.
APPROVAL/ AGREEMENTS
The Head of Department (HoD), or deputy must approve ALL consultancies in line with the
’40 day rule’, via the Approval Form before the project commences. In cases where the
consultant is a HoD, Dean or Vice Provost, application for approval should be made
respectively to the Dean, Vice Provost or Provost.
Before the consultancy is processed by UCL Consultants Ltd, the Consultant is required to
complete a blanket ‘one-off’ agreement which signifies his agreement to allow UCL
Consultants Ltd to contract work on his behalf.
2.
PROJECT COSTING
The Consultant completes a Costing and Pricing Form to document the full cost of the
project. This is signed by the Consultant and by the HoD.
a.
Consultant’s charge out rate
UCL Consultants Ltd can assist in the costing and pricing of consultant’s fees. The
‘day rate’ of the Consultant should be guided by what the market will bear. UCL
Consultants Ltd has experience in negotiating the appropriate day rate for different
types of consultancy assignment and will, with the approval of the Consultant, help
to negotiate the optimum price.
b.
Support staff costs
Before committing to the costs, the consultant should contact UCL Consultants Ltd
for advice. To help Departments calculate gross salary costs for support staff and
academic related staff, further details can be found at:
http://www.ucl.com/uclbusiness/pages/info_academics/consultants/consultantfaqs.ht
ml.
If support staff perform the work out of hours they receive a payment at overtime
rates payable through PAYE. However, such payments are not superannuable.
c.
Use of Department Resources
Where the Consultant is using Department resources e.g. equipment, consumables
and resources, he should check with the HoD and/or Departmental Administrator for
permission and price for use. Guidelines for costing department resources can be
found in Section 5 of UCL Consultants Ltd FAQs. The full cost of any UCL resource
used in the course of the Consultancy MUST BE charged to the Client – UCL cannot
permit its resources to be used at less than full cost since to do so would be to
subsidise the Consultancy project.
If using department resources, at the outset the Consultant should specify a
departmental account into which UCL Consultants Ltd will transfer payment, when
they receive payment from the Client.
d.
Other costs e.g. travel, subsistence, consumables etc. Clients will expect a
reasonably accurate estimate of travel costs to be incurred in a budget. Many clients
will wish to pay for travel and subsistence costs outside the agreed budget and as a
direct reimbursement to the Consultant and most travel will need the prior
permission of the Client.
Clients will require proof of travel costs before
reimbursement through the production of the original receipts. This requirement
applies for travel expenses incurred through the contract or outside the contract.
e.
Sub Consultant. If you wish to employ sub-consultants, UCL Consultants Ltd will
arrange the issue of a contract. A 20% management/ administration charge will be
included for the preparation of the sub-contract, payment of sub-contractors and
credit control function.
3.
PAYMENT TO THE CONSULTANT
UCL Consultants Ltd will pay gross fees to the Consultant under ‘Schedule D’ whereby the
Consultant will be responsible for completing his/ her own tax return. In order to assist the
consultant, UCL Consultants Ltd will provide annual statements of the consultant’s gross
income and guidance on how to compete a tax return.
However, if the Consultant wishes to channel his fees back to the Department to support
Departmental activities, he should indicate the intended distribution of fee income on the
Costing and Pricing form so that the credit to the Departmental account can be made by
UCL Consultants Ltd.
4.
FINANCE AND REPORTING
UCL Consultants Ltd will provide monthly reports to consultants on account status. Also,
UCL Consultants Ltd will prepare an annual statement for UCL to show the proportion of the
annual surplus to be distributed to the UCL Centre and each department, in proportion with
that department’s use of UCL Consultants Ltd.
5.
LEGAL ISSUES
UCL Consultants Ltd will act as an interface between the consultant, department and client
where necessary and negotiate with the Client on behalf of the Consultant on cost and
terms and conditions of consultancy contracts. UCL Consultants Ltd will also prepare
agreements between UCL Consultants Ltd and the client and any sub-contracts as required.
Indemnity Insurance - Scope of cover
UCL consultancies administered by UCL Consultants Ltd are all covered under UCL’s
indemnity insurance policy.
High risk UCL consultancies
The terms of UCL’s insurance require UCL to inform the insurers in advance of any UCL
consultancy project which is regarded as “unduly high risk”. Cover is normally available but
the insurers reserve the right to refuse cover, or to charge an additional premium, or to
stipulate restrictions on the terms of cover, or may wish to contact the client’s insurers with
a view to sharing risks.
Identification of high risk projects
UCL clearly depends on the judgement of the consultant and HoD for initial identification of
high risk projects – a tick box is provided on the Costing and Pricing Form for this purpose.
The golden rule is – if in any doubt about the level of risk involved; tick the box to alert UCL
Consultants Ltd to the risk so that Finance Division can arrange for details to be put to the
insurers for a ruling.
Examples of High Risk projects
No particular guidelines are given by the insurers as to the definition of “unduly high risk”
projects. However, examples of projects which UCL would regard as requiring declaration
would be:
 advice on the life of oil rig structures in corrosive environments based on corrosion tests
 design of safety equipment for hazardous environments
 design of new or non-standard shut-off valves for oil pipelines in overland supply lines
 design of novel building structures, bridges, etc.
 advice on safety procedures of an organisation
 any contract undertaken in or for clients based in USA or Canada
In these examples, although the terms of contract should ensure that the client is
responsible for management decisions taken after receipt of the consultant’s report and for
overall product liability, if there is a high cost disaster in the future and negligence on the
part of the consultant is alleged or proven as contributing to the cause of the disaster, the
claim for damages could be very high.
Contracts undertaken in or for clients based in US/Canada
Projects for US or Canadian clients or for any non-US/Canadian organisation where the work
is to be undertaken in the US or Canada, are automatically classed as high risk and will NOT
be covered by UCL’s insurance unless declared beforehand on the Costing and Pricing Form
and cleared with the insurers by Finance Division. HODs may sign the Costing and Pricing
Form to signify their approval of other aspects of such consultancies, but UCL Consultants
Ltd is not able to initiate the project until any special terms which may be required by the
insurers (e.g. increased premium charge and/or any restrictions on liability) have been
allowed for in the agreement with the client.
The Procedure – Consultancy via UCL Consultants Ltd
Academic wishes to
undertake consultancy
work
Academic obtains
approval from HoD by
completing the
Approval Form
Academic decides to
channel work via UCL
OR as a Private
Consultancy
Private Consultancy
Refer to:
 UCL Consultancy
Guidelines
 Procedure for undertaking
Private Consultancy
UCL Consultants Ltd
Consultant contacts UCL Consultants as
early as possible in the negotiation stage
and completes Costing and Pricing Form
detailing:
- Consultant’s fee (in consultation with
UCL Consultants Ltd)
- Support staff and use of Department
resources (in consultation with the
HoD/ DA)
- Sub-consultants (in consultation with
UCL Consultants Ltd)
At the outset, the Consultant must
highlight to UCL Consultants Ltd if the
project is in the ‘high risk’ category.