What is "advice" and what is "consultancy" and why is this distinction important?

It is important to determine what we term "advice" and what we term to be "consultancy" in respect of the services we provide.

Primarily this is important, because lots of our products and services include "advice" and do not include "consultancy", they will have "consultancy" charged in addition.

Examples of advice include the advice provided by our help desk to DGSA clients as part of their subscription and to online course takers.

We define "advice" as follows:

• providing familiarisation with dangerous goods rules and provisions;

by way of example, this may include but is not limited to:

• answering questions with regards to particular aspects of the dangerous goods rules,
• providing information about dangerous goods packaging, marks and labels, for specific UN numbers,
• answering questions with regards to exemptions from the dangerous goods rules; such as the limited quantities provisions, special provisions or the application of the dangerous goods rules,
• checking a shipper's declaration to ensure that the information provided is in compliance with the regulations.

This advice is provided by email through our help desk, via telephone (0800 246 1972) or via WhatsApp chat (0800 246 1972).

We define "consultancy" as follows:

• completing a task on behalf of a client;

by way of example, this may include but is not limited to:

• attending a site to provide in-person training,
  
• attending a site for a planned site inspection,
• attending an online meeting, e.g. web software such as Zoom or Teams,
• providing classifications for your products or wastes,
• writing a Safety Data Sheet (SDS),
• providing a written opinion about a particular aspect of the law or the dangerous goods rules,
• providing written information to a regulator or other authority on your behalf.

Consultancy services are chargeable, typically by the hour, and are subject to our standard terms and conditions, including in the event of cancellation. This is because if one of our consultants has set time aside to attend your site or online meeting and it is cancelled at short notice, we will have incurred costs which we need to pass on to you.

If you are unsure of any of the terms used above or wish to discuss any aspects of our services, please don't hesitate to contact us using the details above.