BBC Guidelines - Delivering Quality

DQ Help and Compliance

Compliance

DQ Policies Ref 02
Compliance with policies and standards within Delivering Quality is mandatory. Any proposal to step outside the policies and standards needs to be discussed and agreed with the appropriate authority / approval body.

Referrals

Technology Delivery is fraught with legal risks, such as data protection and copyright. Many legal issues can be resolved by ensuring that the correct contract is in place, or that proper consultation has occurred. The BBC has lawyers who can assist with contractual, programme, copyright and data protection issues, and they need to be consulted at the earliest stage about areas which may run legal risks. Please see Matters of Law.

In addition, a number of sections within DQ give details of specific specific referrals of who should be contacted and when.

Other Issues and Requests

If there any potential areas of conflict, or where necessary guidance is not given, in the first instance you should contact the relevant BBC or Technology Representative as early as possible.

Enquiries for interpretation and clarification should be made direct to the Content Authority (or their nominated contact). If the CA is not known or for general enquiries & help requests can be made via the DQ Team (dqm@bbc.co.uk)

who will refer as follows:-:

the appropriate Content Authority & Contacts, for interpretation and clarification
the Chief Technology Officer if there is no current Content Authority
Technology Investment Approval Group if there is the potential for a long-term issue

Enquiries may result in a change request to the existing policy / standard, or the need for an exception to be approved.

Exception Requests

1) Change Requests

If the exception is to a change currently going through DQ Change Control,

The request for an exception, with reasons, must be submitted through the CR Form
The request will then forwarded to the Content Authority.
The Content Authority will then assess the request and respond appropriately, informing the DQ Team of the decision
The decision will be ratified by the Technology Representative for Strategy as part of approving the overall change

2) Project Exceptions

The project manager should contact the relevant Content Authority (CA), and work together to develop a solution
The Investment Proposal (IP) must include details of the requested exception and the response of the CA
The IP will then be evaluated by the appropriate Divisional Technology Representative and then by TIAG

3) Existing DQ Content

The request should be sent to the Content Authority, and copied to the DQ Team for information.
The Content Authority will then assess the request and respond appropriately, informing the DQ Team of the decision.

Further Advice

The DQ Content Manager is responsible for ensuring that advice is given on a timely basis. The role of the DQ Content Manager in respect of advice is:

to ensure Delivering Quality remains up-to-date
to ensure all changes to Delivering Quality content are tracked and implemented according to the accepted procedure
review the potential for enhancements to Delivering Quality
to ensure all links are correct and all changes to linked material is reported.

If the required advice is not given in the time scales agreed with DQ Content Manager, referral should be to the DQ Manager.

Keeping External Parties up to date with Changes

At the time of signing the contract, the details of the Supplier, the relevant areas of DQ, the name of the Contract Managers should be sent tothe DQ Team (dqm@bbc.co.uk). Appropriate notifications will then be sent out about potential and actual changes:-

Contract Managers will then be notified of potential changes so they can carry out an impact assessment;
and then Contract Managers will be notified of actual changes.

Suppliers may be able to obtain an exemption if there are appropriate reasons for non-compliance with the changes.

How to Obtain Further Information

Only a limited number of standards are published within this site. All relevant standards & information will made available to third parties and suppliers at an appropriate stage of the work being "commissioned" e.g. as part of an Invitation To Tender.

However, if you think you need access to specific standards and/or information not currently available to you, access will be granted provided that

there is a valid business reason ; and
approval is granted from the owner of the standard and a business contact within the BBC ; and
if appropriate, a suitable NDA has been signed

Please make your request through your BBC contact.

If you do not have a contact, or you wish some further clarification or general information, please send your request to the DQ Team by e-mailing dqm@bbc.co.uk, subject "DQ Enquiry", not forgetting to include the reasons for your request.