NAFD Funeral Arranging and Administration (FAA) Certificate common mistakes
NAFD Funeral Arranging and Administration (FAA) Certificate · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Quoting a single total figure to the family at the arrangement interview without itemising the professional services charge separately from third-party disbursements (cremation fee, doctor's/medical referee fees, minister's honorarium, newspaper notice, flowers).
Candidates treat the estimate as one number because that is how the family asked ('what will it all come to?'), and they have not internalised that disbursements are pass-through costs that can change and must be shown separately and identified as third-party payments.
What to do instead
Practise building a written estimate line by line: professional services, coffin, transport, then each disbursement named individually with a note that third-party costs may vary. Before the interview ends, read the breakdown back to the family and confirm the total is understood as an estimate, not a fixed price.
Treating the signed arrangement form as the contract and failing to explain, or give, the terms of business, cancellation rights and the basis on which the price may change.
The form feels like the important document because it captures the family's choices, so candidates focus their preparation on completing it accurately and skip the contractual layer. Many also assume the terms are 'just standard' and need no explanation.
What to do instead
Learn the contract formation sequence as a script: what the terms of business say, when the contract is formed, how and when the price can be varied, cancellation and postponement terms, and the complaints procedure. Rehearse explaining it in plain language and always offer a copy before signature.
Describing the FCA funeral plan regime inaccurately - for example saying plans are 'regulated by the FCA so the money is guaranteed', conflating the FCA with the FOS or FSCS, or being unable to say what a plan does and does not cover.
Candidates learn headline phrases ('FCA regulated') without the underlying structure: that the FCA regulates the sale and administration of funeral plans, that complaints can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and that cover, exclusions and disbursement allowances sit in the plan terms. They also blur pre-need plans with the funeral director's own services.
What to do instead
Build a one-page comparison of what regulation does and does not do, plus a checklist of what must be explained to a plan holder (what is covered, what is not, disbursement allowance shortfalls, how to complain and to whom). Test yourself by explaining it aloud to a non-expert.
Making assumptions about religious or cultural requirements - assuming cremation is unacceptable or that a particular rite is universal - instead of asking the family what they want and checking the detail with the appropriate contact.
Candidates over-generalise from a few facts learned about major faiths and worry that asking questions looks ignorant or intrusive. This produces both wrong arrangements and families feeling their wishes were not heard.
What to do instead
Adopt an ask-don't-assume habit: use open questions about the deceased's wishes and the family's needs, note the specific requirements (timing, orientation, washing, who may attend, officiant), and confirm them back. Keep a factual reference of common requirements but treat it as prompts for questions, not answers.
Failing to confirm identity of the deceased, authority to arrange, and the location and release status of the deceased before discussing dates or booking third parties.
Candidates are keen to move to the 'arranging' content and assume the person in front of them is the next of kin and that the deceased is in the funeral director's care. Skipping these checks leads to arranging with the wrong person, double bookings or release delays.
What to do instead
Use a fixed opening checklist: confirm the deceased's full name and date of birth, who has authority and any competing claims, where the deceased is now and whether release has been agreed, and whether the death has been registered or the coroner/medical examiner is involved. Do this before any date is promised.
Giving bereavement support as advice or counselling - offering opinions on grief, telling the family how they should feel, or attempting to counsel - rather than listening and signposting to appropriate services.
Candidates want to be helpful and mistake empathy for a counselling role. They also lack a clear picture of the boundaries of the arranger's role and of local and national support routes.
What to do instead
Practise active listening and reflecting back, then signposting: name specific services (GP, Cruse Bereavement Support, Samaritans, specialist child or sudden-death support, workplace or faith-based support) and record what was offered. Learn to say clearly that you are not a counsellor while showing the family where help exists.
Handling health and safety and care of the deceased as paperwork to be completed later - for example not following infection-control precautions, moving a deceased person alone when a two-person lift is required, or leaving PPE and hazardous substances unrecorded.
Candidates prioritise the visible administrative tasks and treat mortuary and manual-handling content as background reading. Under interview pressure they also default to 'get it done' rather than following procedure.
What to do instead
Learn the practical routines as sequences: PPE and hand hygiene, correct lifting and transfer with a colleague, safe storage and labelling, COSHH awareness for chemicals, and reporting of incidents and needlestick or sharps exposure. Rehearse the steps in order so they are automatic, and know who to report to.
Booking a date and time with the family before checking the crematorium or cemetery slot, officiant availability, and any notice or paperwork lead times, then having to change it.
Candidates want to give the family certainty and treat the date as something they control. They underestimate the dependency chain (registrar, coroner, crematorium, officiant, transport, newspaper deadlines) and the distress caused by re-arranging.
What to do instead
Treat dates as provisional until every dependency is confirmed. Learn the sequence: check availability first, then confirm with the family, then book and record confirmations. Always tell the family what is still to be confirmed and when you will come back to them.
Recording the family's instructions incompletely - writing 'family to confirm' or 'as discussed' - so that music, readings, bearers, dress code, route, or the return-to address are lost or guessed at by colleagues.
Candidates rely on memory and assume the same arranger will see the funeral through. They also avoid pressing the family on details that feel trivial or awkward, leaving gaps in the record.
What to do instead
Use a structured arrangement record that forces each element to be captured or explicitly marked 'not required'. Read the completed record back to the family at the end of the interview and confirm it in writing. Treat anything not written down as not arranged.
Describing coffin and transport options inaccurately or pushing a preferred option - for example misstating what a coffin material or lining means for cremation, or what a hearse and bearers package includes - instead of presenting the range neutrally with accurate facts.
Candidates memorise product names without the practical and regulatory detail behind them (suitability for cremation, weight and handling, what is included in a transport package, who may act as bearers), and they fall into recommending what they know best.
What to do instead
Learn for each coffin and transport option: what it is made of, its suitability for burial or cremation, what is included and excluded, and any handling or capacity limits. Present two or three options with facts and costs and let the family choose, recording the choice and any upgrade or downgrade.