Terrafirma Commits Support To CoPSO Future

Terrafirma Commits Support To CoPSO Future

4^th June 2019

Terrafirma has today announced they are extending their existing role within the Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) as ongoing Executive Members.

Following a hugely successful 12 months, in which Terrafirma launched the first alternative and official CON29M and have become the second largest provider of mining reports in the UK after the Coal Authority, today’s announcement highlights Terrafirma's vision to reinforce and continue improving the industry standards set in the CoPSO Search Code.

Terrafirma has played an active role in CoPSO since 2015, becoming an Executive Member in July 2018. Their focused ambition to transform the way in which professionals understand the ground led Terrafirma to be influential in developing new standards for mining reports and risk assessment, driven by an ambition to make geo-data more accessible and to adopt new best practice for ground due diligence in the property purchase process.

“At Terrafirma, it has always been about innovation and positively transforming the way in which professionals and the public understand the ground. We have pushed hard to ensure that data primacy and professional excellence is put first in ground and mining risk assessment and have been at the forefront of developing these standards since 2015” said Tom Backhouse, Founder and CEO of Terrafirma. “The Search Code was developed to ensure that all professionals within the property purchase process are well informed, well protected and can rely on their report provider in delivering the opinion and answers they need to satisfy their due diligence”

“CoPSO have been successful in achieving the endorsement of both the UK Finance (CML) Handbook and the Law Society Conveyancing Handbook and have cemented the Search Code as an industry-standard throughout England and Wales, a standard universally accepted by lenders. At Terrafirma, we are proud to commit our ongoing support to CoPSO, its members and the legal sector that has benefited from its dedication and hard work over the past 18 years.”

Terrafirma is the proud provider of both official (licensed by the Law Society) and regulated (adhering to CoPSO and PCCB Search Code) property risk reports. Its team is comprised of qualified professionals in ground and mining risk assessment as well as experts in geospatial, data and computer science, all supported by an Advisory Panel that hosts some of the UKs leading professionals in ground engineering, science and environmental law.

Terrafirma’s continued support as an Executive Member of CoPSO will mean professionals obtaining ground and mining reports from Search Code compliant resellers can access an expert opinion and professional guidance, ensuring their clients can make informed decisions and better understand the ground.

“Terrafirma are unique, representing a voice for change and innovation, being one of only a handful of companies that have set out on a journey for positive disruption in the use of environmental data and ground and mining risk assessment” continued Backhouse. “We will continue to use our voice within CoPSO to continually drive a ‘best-in-class’ standard for the use of data, professional opinion and risk assessment methodologies in the ever-changing property market.”