As a young lad in the boy scouts, we were taught to "be prepared" - something which is very relevent to life generally. It is no less important when selling your dental practice. So often, no thought is given to the actual sale of the practice, such is the desire to put the practice on the market and to get a buyer. Much time and expense can be saved, if by the time you have a buyer, you are ready to deal with the legal requirements involved in the sale process.
Your buyers solicitor will ask questions about both the practice and the surgery premises. These questions have to be answered as part of the due diligence investigation. Ask your solicitor for a copy of the sort of questions which will be raised, to enable you to prepare your answers and to put together the copy documents which will need to accompany those answers. Since most of these documents will be in paper form, we suggest that you put them into a large ring binder to keep them all together. Perhaps later, you may be able to scan them and save them electronically.
The copy documents which you will need to provide include your accounts for the last three years, and all your maintenance reports and certificates for your dental equipment such as your autoclaves, compressors and x-ray machine, and for clinical waste. You will need to prepare an inventory of all the equipment which is included in the sale, and it is also useful to make a list of anything which you are intending to keep. Copy all your staff employment contracts, or if they do not have contracts, complete a schedule for each member of staff giving all their employment details. Your solicitor can provide a pro-forma for this. If you have an NHS practice, copy your GDS or PDS contract, your NHS Pay statements and the Vital Signs at a Glance Report. You will also need to provide a copy of your Infection Control Policy, Health and Safety Policy and your Accident Book.
With regard to the surgery premises, you will need to answer questions about the property. These are usually in a standard format and your solicitor can help you answer the questions. Irrespective of whether you are selling the freehold, granting a new lease or assigning your existing lease, you will however need to produce a current Energy Performance Certificate, an Asbestos Survey Report and a Fire Risk Assessment. If you do not have these, they can take some time to obtain, so it is wise to have them ready - be prepared.
If you are seriously contemplating selling your practice, our advice is to prepare for it now. We will be pleased to provide you with our Sale Preparation Pack which gives you all you need to put together the information which will be required. Further enquiries can be made to Chris Pomfret at chris.pomfret@www.rhw.co.uk