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Draft, under review These terms are not in force. They are with a solicitor and will change.

Terms

Terms of Business

While these terms are in draft

This document is a working draft and is still with our solicitor. Clauses will be added, reworded and renumbered before it is finalised.

Anything not covered below is not yet settled. If a point matters to your project, scope, liability, turnaround, what is and is not included, ask us directly before instructing and we will confirm it in writing for your job. A written confirmation from us takes precedence over anything on this page. Email [email protected] or call +44 7496 058095.

The short version

  • What you send us: Drawings, dimensions, floor and roof build-ups, and photographs of the existing structure.
  • What we send you: Structural calculations for the beams or elements you have instructed, suitable for a Part A submission.
  • When you get it: Within 48 hours, two working days, of your payment and of our receiving everything we need.
  • What we do not do: Site visits, surveys, temporary works or propping design, and we do not verify the condition of the existing structure.
  • Who submits to Building Control: You do. If they query our calculations we revise until they are accepted, at no extra charge.

This summary is for orientation only. The numbered clauses below are the terms that apply.

1Scope of Service

We prepare structural calculations only, for the elements you instruct, suitable for submission under Part A of the Building Regulations.

The service is delivered entirely remotely. It does not include site attendance, inspection, survey, measurement, or verification of the existing structure. Anything not listed in your quotation is excluded and will be quoted separately.

2Turnaround

Calculations are issued within 48 hours (two working days) from confirmation of payment and receipt of all information reasonably required to complete the design.

Where information is missing or unclear, the 48 hours begins when that information is supplied. Working days exclude weekends and English public holidays.

3Information Supplied by the Client

We rely entirely on the information you provide. You are responsible for its accuracy and completeness. As a minimum we require:

  • Dimensions and spans
  • Floor, roof and wall build-ups
  • The existing structural arrangement and load paths
  • The nature and condition of supporting walls and foundations
  • Any imposed or unusual loadings

We do not verify the information supplied and accept no liability for the consequences of information that is inaccurate or incomplete.

4CDM 2015

[WORDING TO BE CONFIRMED BY SOLICITOR]

As a designer under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, we are required to make the Client aware of their duties under those Regulations.

We assume the Principal Designer role is fulfilled by another party, and that the Client, Principal Designer or Principal Contractor provides the pre-construction information we require, including floor spans, loadings, existing structural details and known hazards.

Principal Designer and Principal Contractor duties are undertaken by others. We do not accept appointment as Principal Designer.

5Where Details Are Not Provided

If floor spans, build-ups or existing member sizes are not supplied, we design for a reasonable worst case.

You accept that this is deliberately conservative and may result in larger sections, heavier steel, bigger padstones or greater foundation requirements, and therefore a higher construction cost. Supply the actual details and we can produce a more economical design.

6No Site Visits

We do not attend site under any circumstances.

Where in our professional judgement a design cannot responsibly be completed without inspection, we will say so, decline the instruction, refund any payment made for that element, and recommend a practice that attends site.

Where a competent person on site, contractor, architect, architectural technologist, Principal Designer or Principal Contractor, is willing to measure and confirm the required details, we can proceed on that basis. That person is responsible for the accuracy of what they supply, and our design is valid only for the information given.

7Deliverables and Payment

On completion we confirm the design and issue any drawings or details required to describe the works.

The full calculation package suitable for Building Control submission is released on receipt of payment, unless the work has been paid for upfront or is on agreed account terms.

All intellectual property in the calculations, drawings and details remains with HEC Consultants Ltd until payment has been received in full.

8Building Control

Submission is the client's responsibility. We do not submit, and we do not liaise with Building Control, the local authority or an Approved Inspector, unless separately instructed and quoted.

The calculations are prepared in accordance with the relevant British Standards and Eurocodes and are suitable for a Part A submission. Acceptance is at the discretion of the individual Building Control body and cannot be guaranteed.

If they raise a technical query on our calculations we will revise until accepted at no extra charge, provided the query does not arise from information that was inaccurate, incomplete or has since changed, and provided the scope has not changed.

9Exclusions

The following are excluded unless separately instructed and quoted:

  • Temporary works, propping, needling and construction sequence, the contractor's responsibility
  • Site attendance, inspection, survey or measurement
  • Assessment of the adequacy or condition of existing structure, foundations or ground
  • Ground investigation, bearing capacity, subsidence, trees and heave
  • Party Wall etc. Act 1996 matters
  • Drainage, below-ground works and services
  • Thermal, fire, acoustic, damp, ventilation or any other non-structural performance
  • Asbestos and hazardous materials
  • Planning permission
  • Construction drawings, fabrication drawings and steelwork connection design unless expressly stated
  • Principal Designer and Principal Contractor duties
  • Certification or sign-off of built work
  • Attendance at meetings

10Liability

[FIGURES TO BE SET BY SOLICITOR AND PI BROKER]

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

Our total liability arising out of or in connection with the appointment is limited to £2,000,000, being the limit of our professional indemnity insurance, for any one claim.

We accept no liability for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, delay, or the cost of construction work.

Our liability is further limited to the just and equitable proportion of any loss having regard to the responsibility of other consultants and contractors for that loss, on the assumption that they have provided contractual undertakings on terms no less onerous than these and are insured for their liability (a net contribution clause).

11Variations

Any variation to the agreed scope is raised with you, together with the additional cost, before the extra work is carried out.

Variations should be instructed in writing. Work sanctioned verbally is deemed to have incurred additional fees unless expressly excluded in writing.

12General

The calculations are prepared for the sole benefit of the named client for the stated project. They are not to be relied on by any third party without our written agreement.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts.

Beam Calcs Direct is a trading name of HEC Consultants Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company no. 14569620, registered office C/O Online Account Filing Limited, 42-44 Bishopsgate, London, United Kingdom, EC2N 4AH.