Accreditation
Suppliers can be accredited in their own right, such as with ISO standards, but most specialists rely on accreditation of key staff and consultants in particular. ISO is not the panacea it once was, client retention is still the best measure of effectiveness for most suppliers.

Audits
A commoditised service in tax and accountancy, in many compliance specialisms, audits are a higher level of risk assessment. Dependent on the quality of person performing the audit on site, it is a key component of the pricing of a consultancy service. The frequency/location of audits will reflect the quality of service offered given the risks being managed.

Certification
Specialist suppliers can be accredited to a standard whereby they can certify a firm, sub-contractor or supplier to a client as having achieved an independently audited standard. Often based on certifying a chain of supply and responsibility, specialist standards abound in construction, chemical, food and environmental safety in particular.

Consultancy
The core know-how of most compliance suppliers, the quality of staff or partners is often the determining factor in the quality of service offered. Compliance consulting is typically available on a fixed fee basis, but this will be based on the unit costs per day of the “foot fall” consulting element required or anticipated in the risk being managed.

Design
A specialism in property services and surveying typically, this skill is usually available at a premium and for new projects typically.  Where risk management is the driving feature of a new project, compliance specialists will manage the full design project, although more typically they will partner with building surveyors (ie fire safety).

Dispute Resolution/Courts/Tribunals/Case Management
Most compliance events are managed by courts, tribunals and inspectorates where formal legal qualification is often secondary to specialist knowledge of the regulatory environment and the industry involved. Few lawyers have this “tactical” knowledge in depth, while most consultancies offering tribunal representation, incident investigation, case management or support with enforcement actions do (often backed by an in-house solicitor or barrister team). Disputes which go to the High court and beyond typically require solicitors, but compliance is all about avoiding this eventuality, not excelling at it.

Education & Qualifications
A key component of the compliance process can be the maintenance of qualifications for internal staff. Residential, day release or distance learning programs are available aplenty designed to exam levels set independently (certificate, diploma, masters, PhD, etc). Independent suppliers should usually be very happy to disclose such qualifications as their consultancy or technical teams have.

Inspection
Most compliance specialists will offer both the facility of managing inspection events from regulators.  Equally most will in effect mirror the inspection process in their audit services to ensure that should such inspection happen, clients are prepared and supported.

Insurance
Some firms offer legal expenses insurance as a key component of their service, some rely on their professional indemnity cover as a firm, and some explicitly act as brokers or financial services advisers for insurance sold on to clients.

International
Smaller firms typically start with specialist services in their locality, grow to expand the service nationwide, then add related or complementary services before expanding overseas. Best of breed versus one stop shop remains the clients’ choice. Only in specialist sectors such as global clients, environmental safety or international food or construction safety are overseas capabilities common.

Laboratory & Testing Services
Related market specialisms, some safety consultancies retain lab capabilities, but it is rarely central to the quality of service overall. Often a commoditised service, testing and lab work are usually components of an overall service, rarely an end in themselves.

Management Systems
The major steps in professional compliance require not only the identification of risks but the establishment of a management system up to the task of managing them.  Most are well documented and backed with software updating and reviews, and a court will appreciate the fact that it has been independently established.

Outsourcing
Some like the whole compliance issue to go away, some want help in managing technical aspects of it. Whole or partial outsourcing is now common, often on a fixed fee basis as regulatory complexity grows.

Publications
Magazines, books, loose-leafs, journals, CDs, On-line, emails, Blogs, precedents and forms abound. The nature of the regulatory environment means updating should be a critical capability of any publisher, as should those who can differentiate between qualified, unqualified and casual readerships and write accordingly.

Risk Assessments
The initial step, it can range from a questionnaire process to a full on-site review with prices varying accordingly.  Occasionally offered free to attract new clients, and increasingly offered via on-line checklist processes – you get what you pay for.

Software
Web enabled, .Net, SQL and enterprise system compliant services abound. Services range from a CD you can plug in to a global Sarbannes Oxley compliant document management system.

Standards
Set by independent bodies, typically Institutes or Associations, their independence is key.  Self certification is common, but ineffectual.

Training & e-Learning
In-house training on specific issues for your industry and firm, class room based day or half day courses, and even international events abound.  E-learning is typically either turnstile based expert system based systems or variations on a theme of distance learning.