Terms and conditions
These terms and conditions apply to all contracts between "Hot Sand Design" and every customer, "The Client", for design work of every nature provided by Hot Sand Design. By accepting our quotation either in writing, verbally or by email, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions, set out below.
Definitions
"Services" means the design service provided by Hot Sand Design to the client.
"Work" means the product of the service provided by Hot Sand Design to the client which encompasses; web design, logo design, all design for print and any other design related product provided.
"Client" means any customer be they a person, or a business placing an order with Hot Sand Design.
"Contract" means the document provided by Hot Sand Design to the client detailing the particulars of the order, either by or through a combination of hard copy, faxed copy, or email.
"Project" means the process of executing the work proposals detailed in the contract.
Application of the Terms and Conditions
The terms and conditions set out herein shall apply to all contracts for the sale of design services by Hot Sand Design to the client.
No other terms and conditions shall be binding upon the parties; this contract embodies the entire understanding between the parties.
There are no promises, terms, conditions, obligations, oral or written, expressed or implied, other than those contained herein, or confirmed in writing by Hot Sand Design.
Hot Sand Design reserves the right to alter, add and subtract from these terms and conditions at any time. The most up to date terms and conditions are available to view online at www.hotsanddesign.co.uk. These online terms and conditions replace any previously agreed and it is the responsibility of the client to make themselves aware of the latest terms and conditions.
Any variation to these terms and conditions (including any special terms and conditions agreed between the parties) shall be inapplicable unless confirmed in writing by Hot Sand Design.
All orders for services shall be deemed to be an offer by the client to purchase services in accordance to these terms and conditions.
Provision of Materials
Where necessary the client agrees to provide us with the specific copy, images and information we require in order to create your product, or to advise us as to where we can locate such materials. We accept no responsibility for a site not being put live/product being completed by a specific date if we are unable to secure necessary and/or suitable information and/or materials from you. Where Hot Sand Design writes the copy on your behalf we accept no responsibility for errors, omissions or discrepancies which may be present on the final product, as these may arise through our lack of specialist knowledge regarding the content of the client's product.
If the client cannot supply the information they wish to feature in their product, we will do what we can to obtain it, but we accept no responsibility for errors, omissions or discrepancies which may be present on the final product, as these may arise through our lack of specialist knowledge regarding the content of the client's product. The time taken to compile the data, as well as any time required to correct errors, omissions or discrepancies which have arisen through the client not providing us with adequate materials, will be charged to the client at our standard rate. We accept no responsibility for the delay caused in providing the final product as a result of the client supplying us with insufficient or unsuitable materials. This does not apply if the additional cost could have been avoided but for unreasonable delay on the part of Hot Sand Design in ascertaining the unsuitability of the materials with which the client provide us. Where the client supplies or specifies materials, we will take every care to secure the best results in the finished product, but we accept no responsibility for imperfect work caused by defects in or unsuitability of materials so supplied or specified.
Printing Terms and Conditions
Print proof agreement. If Hot Sand Design provides the client with a proof (electronic or printed), the clients acceptance, in whatever form, confirms agreement to the design and contents of the document as depicted on the proof. By signing this agreement (or accepting its contents by email), the client absolves Hot Sand Design of all liability for any errors, omissions or discrepancies which may be present on the proof. Once the client have signed this agreement and proof, if supplied, the client are not able to make any changes to the final product, nor are they able to hold Hot Sand Design responsible for anything you are unhappy with. This contract revokes the clients right to take any kind of action against Hot Sand Design for any aspect of the work with which they are later dissatisfied. Agreeing to this contract means that, as long as the finished product is as discussed is consistent with the proof if supplied, the client must pay in full for the work. This fact applies whether or not the client later takes issue with any aspect of the product. These terms are final and non-negotiable.
Making changes after proof stage (print only). If a change is requested, Hot Sand Design will do everything they can to make the correction before the printing starts, but they cannot guarantee this. Hot Sand Design accept no responsibility, under any circumstances, for any mistakes present on the completed work, as the signing-off of a proof absolves Hot Sand Design of all liability (see "Proof Agreement" above). Once the proof is signed off or agreed, whether verbally or via email, Hot Sand Design incur a film / plate(s) charge and this is passed on to the client as part of the total charge.
Any changes made after a proof is signed off will result in a further film / plate(s) charge.
Print quality. Every effort will be made to obtain the best possible colour reproduction on customer's work but because of the nature of the processes involved, Hot Sand Design cannot guarantee an exact match in colour or texture between any materials with which the client supply us, and the printed article.
Quantity supplied. Every effort is made to produce the exact quantity of items ordered. However, some variation is inherent in the print process and so the client accepts that minor variations in quantity are possible. These do not affect the price charged.
Contract
Quotes given expire 30 days after the issue date on the contract after which time all proposed work will have to be re-quoted. We take no responsibility for a re-quoted price differing from an original quote.
VAT is charged at the current Customs & Excise rates and according to current regulations, irrespective of whether or not it is included in a price quotation.
Payment
The client is legally required to pay the full amount determined above within the timescale stated on the invoice provided on completion of the work.
If any payment is not made on or before 30 days after the invoice date, Hot Sand Design is entitled to charge interest thereafter per day on the value owed at the rate of 4% P.A. above the current Bank of England base rate.
In the case of print work new clients agree to pay a deposit of 40% of the final bill upon ordering, and to pay the outstanding balance on delivery of the completed work. Existing clients agree to adhere to the terms stated on the invoice. All deposit payments are non-refundable.
The client is not permitted to make any deductions from the final amount for any reason; any deductions will be at the discretion of Hot Sand Design.
Copyright
The client is liable for any copyright breaches on any content provided by the client to Hot Sand Design.
The copyrights of general artwork, commissioned artwork, illustrations, website design, programming and copy belong to Hot Sand Design until the work has been paid for. The ownership then reverts to the client, however we reserve the right to charge you for supply of full versions of the artwork should you request them for use elsewhere.
If you supply us with material, it is your responsibility to obtain all necessary copyrights for its use, and we assume that you possess these. In such cases, the copyright belongs to you. You agree to indemnify Hot Sand Design from any claim which arises regarding the use of material with which you supply us.
We reserve the right to use any artwork or printing we produce for the purposes of promoting our services unless you request otherwise in writing.
Integral artwork on the website www.hotsanddesign.co.uk is copyright Hot Sand Design and cannot be used without written permission from Hot Sand Design.
Deadlines & Delay
Hot Sand Design cannot be held responsible for delayed delivery on any work that is due to client fault, for instance: Delay in signing off proofs, delay in providing any content that has been specified as a requirement or any change in the content that has already been provided. Hot Sand Design also cannot be held responsible for any delays that are not solely the fault of Hot Sand Design, this includes printing delays.
After work has commenced if the client needs to shorten an agreed deadline or specify a new deadline it is not guaranteed that Hot Sand Design will be able to meet the requirements. Hot Sand Design is entitled to make any amendments deemed necessary to the quotation provided under these circumstances.
In the unlikely case that Hot Sand Design fails to meet the agreed deadline the client has the option to cancel the contract with no extra fee. However copyright conditions will still apply. If the client still wishes to use the work, the contract must stand and the client must pay the full amount quoted on completion of the work.
Claims (Print Only). Advice of damage, delay or partial loss of goods in transit or of non-delivery must be given in writing to Hot Sand Design within three clear days of delivery (or, in the case of non-delivery, within 28 days of dispatch of the goods) and any claim in respect thereof must be made in writing to Hot Sand Design and the carrier within seven clear days of delivery (or, in the case of non-delivery, within 42 days of dispatch). All other claims must be made in writing to Hot Sand Design within 28 days of delivery. Hot Sand Design shall not be liable in respect of any claim unless the aforementioned requirements have been complied with except in any particular case where the customer proves that (i) it was not possible to comply with the requirements and (ii) advice (where required) was given and the claim made as soon as reasonably possible.
Termination
Jobs put on hold or cancelled by the client during production will be invoiced at current stage and materials. This invoice must be paid in full together with any VAT that falls due accordingly.
Insolvency
Any customer ceasing to pay their debts in the ordinary course of business or proving unable to pay their debts as they become due or, being, a company, is deemed to be unable to pay its debts, or has a winding-up petition issued against it or, being a person, commits an act of bankruptcy or has a bankruptcy petition issued against it, Hot Sand Design, without prejudice to other remedies, shall (i) have the right not to proceed further with the contract or any other work for the customer and be entitled to charge for work already carried out (whether completed or not) and materials purchased for the customer, such charge to be an immediate debt due to it, and (ii) in respect of all unpaid debts due from the customer, have a general lien on all goods and property in its possession (whether worked on or not) and shall be entitled on the expiration of 14 days' notice to dispose of such goods or property in such manner and at such price as we think fit and to apply the proceeds towards such debts.
Indemnity
The client shall indemnify Hot Sand Design, keep Hot Sand Design indemnified and holds Hot Sand Design harmless from and against any breach by the client of these terms of business.
Any claim brought against the client by a third party resulting from the provision of work by Hot Sand Design to the client and the client's use of the work, without limitation, all claims, actions, proceedings, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, expenses, howsoever suffered or incurred by the client, Hot Sand Design shall not be held liable for.
Liability
Hot Sand Design shall not be held liable for failing to perform to the contract for any reason that is not solely the fault of Hot Sand Design.
In any event no claim shall be brought unless the client has notified Hot Sand Design of the claim within 6 months of it arising.
Hot Sand Design shall not be held liable in any case for any damages, loss of anticipated profits, loss of revenue, contracts or any other inconsequential damages that arise from any cause associated with Hot Sand Design or the property of Hot Sand Design, this includes design work.
All property supplied to Hot Sand Design by the client or on behalf of the client shall remain at the client's risk, unless otherwise agreed in writing, this includes; print delivery, data and equipment. The client should insure accordingly.
Hot Sand Design shall not be held liable for any leak of information or confidential material provided by the client, this includes, a leak or malpractice of any kind by a third party that Hot Sand Design has outsourced work to, domain loss due to hacking or as a result of hacking by a third party, password leaking due to theft or any circumstance that is not solely the fault of Hot Sand Design.
Hot Sand Design will not include in its designs, any text, images or other data which it deems to be immoral, offensive, obscene or illegal. All advertising material must conform to all standards laid down by all relevant advertising standards authorities. Hot Sand Design also reserves the right to refuse to include submitted material without giving reason. Any images and/or data that Hot Sand Design does include in all good faith, and then finds out that it contravenes these Terms and Conditions, the customer is obliged to allow Hot Sand Design to remove the contravention without hindrance, or penalty. Hot Sand Design is to be held in no way responsible for any such data being included.
Delivery
Hot Sand Design cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage during transit of client property (8.4) or print deliverables. It is up to the client to insure accordingly.
Web site delivery will take the form of the website going live and will be executed upon receipt of payment in full. (A CD containing files for backup is available on request.)
Force Majeure
Hot Sand Design accept no responsibility if we are unable to carry out any provision of the contract for any reason beyond our control including (without limiting the foregoing) Act of God, legislation, war, fire, flood, drought, failure of power supply, lock-out, strike or other action taken by employees in contemplation or furtherance of a dispute or owing to any inability to procure materials required for the performance of the contract. During the continuance of such a contingency you may, by written notice to ourselves, elect to terminate the contract and pay for work done and materials used, but subject thereto shall otherwise accept delivery when available.
Office Hours
Hot Sand Design's office hours are 9am – 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Telephone calls received out of hours will be diverted to our answering machine and dealt with on the next working day.
Hours worked out of this time shall be agreed in advanced and charged at time and half till 9pm on weekdays, and then double time thereafter and on weekends and Bank Holidays.
Data Protection
Hot Sand Design agrees keep the confidential information of its clients confidential, including all administration areas of websites and details of referrers and those who are referred. All such data recorded by a website will be completely secure, and all information will be treated as confidential in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
Applicable Law
This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and the client hereby submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Headings
Headings are included in this agreement for convenience only and shall not affect the construction or interpretation of this agreement.
General
othing in this agreement shall confer, nor do the parties intend it to confer, any enforceable right on any third party and the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 shall not apply.
This Contract shall be governed by the Laws of England and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts in relation to any dispute hereunder.
Notices
Any notice to be given by either party to the other may be sent by email, fax or recorded delivery to the address of the other party or such other address as the party may from time to time have communicated to the other in writing.
Special Provisions - Websites
Where Hot Sand Design has contracted to provide a Website for the client the following additional provisions will apply.
Website Updates. If the client wishes to introduce new material in the form of extra pages, additional functions, or more information than is already available on their site, this must be paid for as a new job.
Domain Registration and Renewal, Site Maintenance, Hosting & Email Accounts. A separate agreement will be provided by Hot Sand Design's chosen partner for these services as the contract for these will be direct with them.If the client is not purchasing Hosting and Domain Services with Hot Sand Design, the client must purchase both domain name and hosting before any web based work is carried out. In this case the client is the owner and is responsible for their domain and hosting.
Footnote
These terms were created as a result of legal advice primarily to protect Hot Sand Design from bad debts and the compensation culture - we are generally agreeable, understanding and flexible and will be unlikely to strictly enforce these terms and conditions with clients that are also honest, agreeable, understanding and flexible.