Our Terms and Conditions
1. DEFINITIONS
“The Contractor” means M & Sons Limited
“The Customer” means the person, firm or company who purchases Services from the Contractor.
“The Contract” means the contract between the Contractor and the Customer for the supply of Services in accordance with these terms and conditions.
“Order” means an order from the Customer to the Contractor for the Services.
“Services” means the services supplied by the Contractor to the Customer as set out in the Specification.
“Specification” means the description or specification of the Services provided in writing by the Contractor to the Customer, as agreed by the Customer.
2. OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE
2.1 An Order constitutes an offer by the Customer to purchase Services in accordance with these terms and conditions.
2.2 The Order shall only be deemed to be accepted when the Contractor issues written acceptance of the Order at which point, and on which date the Contract shall come into existence.
2.3 The Contract constitutes the entire agreement between the parties. The Customer acknowledges that it has not relied on any statement, promise, representation, assurance or warranty made or given by or on behalf of the Contractor which is not set out in the Contract.
2.4 Any quotation given by the Contractor shall not constitute part of the contact until a written approval is received and is only valid for 20 business days from its date of issue. The Contractor may withdraw any quotation without penalty at any time up to its acceptance.
2.5 Acceptance of any order by the Contractor shall be subject to investigation of the Customer’s credit status. The Contractor reserves the right to vary the payment terms under Clause 6 at any time on the basis of a revised credit opinion.
3. METHOD OF WORK
The Contractor shall use its reasonable endeavours to work in a tidy, careful workmanlike and efficient way, shall provide dust covers for furniture and passage-ways and shall aim to control the flow of dust and debris as far as possible. However the Customer has to accept a certain degree of inconvenience whilst the Services are being performed. The Contractor advises the Customer, wherever possible. to remove from the property any items of value including, but not limited to antiques.
4. TRADING HOURS
Unless specifically stated to the contrary, the normal trading hours of the Contractor are Monday to Friday 8.00am – 6.00pm on site. No work is undertaken on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.
5. PRICES
5.1 Unless otherwise expressly stated in the quotation all prices quoted are based upon the costs of labour and materials and all other costs prevailing at the date of quotation. The Contractor reserves the right to charge the Customer any additional costs incurred, as per clause 19.
5.2 Prices quoted are exclusive of Value Added Tax which will be charged at the rate or rates applicable at the date of invoice.
6. CHARGES AND PAYMENT
6.1 In consideration of the Contractor providing the Services, the Customer shall pay to the Contractor the amount of its charges as follows:
i) 10% on acceptance of the Contractor’s estimate; and
ii) According to the Contractor’s payment schedule (as contained within the Contractor’s response to the Order).
6.2 Payments should be made within 7 working days of the date of the Contractor’s invoice(s), together with VAT at the appropriate rate.
6.3 In the event of default in payment by the Customer 14 days from the date of the invoice, the Contractor shall suspend all work and will have a right to charge the Customer interest on any amount outstanding, at a rate of 12% per annum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (interest) Act 1998
6.4 If payment is not made in full in accordance with these Terms and Conditions the Contractor will place matters in the hands of its debt collection agents and all collection charges/legal fees etc. will be charged to the Customer. The Contractor reserves the right to withhold any guarantees, safety or compliance certificates etc. until the invoiced amount is paid
6.5 In the absence of any specific estimate the Contractor shall charge at an agreed hourly rate of £[ ] plus VAT.
7. CANCELLATION
If the Customer cancels their instructions prior to any work being carried out or materials supplied then the Customer shall be liable for any related expenditure by the Contractor had the work been carried out and/or materials supplied
8. LEGAL
This Contract shall be subject to and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts, wherein any dispute shall be finally determined.
9. INSURANCE
The Contractor is fully insured for public liability claims up to £10,000,000.00.
10. LOCAL AUTHORITY/STATUTORY
The Customer is responsible to the Contractor for gaining local authority and other statutory approvals to carry out the work and for ensuring the accuracy of any specification, design or drawings provided to the Contractor and for giving the Contractor any necessary information in relation to the Contract.
11. PROGRAMME
11.1 Where the date and/or time for Services to be performed is agreed by the Contractor with the Customer, the Contractor shall use its best endeavours to ensure that the necessary operative shall attend on the date and at the time agreed. However the Contractor accepts no liability in respect of the non-attendance or late attendance on site of the Customer’s direct supplier or operative/engineer or for the late or non-delivery of materials supplied by the Customer.
11.2 If progress or completion of the Services is delayed for any reason outside the Contractor’s control, the Contractor may give notice and request a fair and reasonable extension of time for completing the works pursuant to the Contract. The Customer may then be liable to pay the Contractor for all additional costs resulting from the delay.
12. COMPLETION DATE
The Contractor will exercise all proper care and ensure that the work is soundly and adequately performed by the agreed date. However, the Contractor will not be liable for late completion due to weather conditions, late delivery of materials ordered by the Customer and any other unforeseen circumstances which are beyond the Contractor’s control.
13. CUSTOMERS OBLIGATIONS
13.1 The Customer Shall:-
i) Co-operate with the Contractor in all matters relating to the Services;
ii) Provide the Contractor and any of its employees, agents, consultants or subcontractors with access to the premises;
iii) Provide the Contractor with such information and materials the Contractor may reasonably require in order to supply the Services and ensure that such information is accurate in all material respects;
iv) Prepare the Customer’s premises for the supply of Services;
v) Allow storage of all materials, equipment’s, documents and other property of the Contractor in the premises and should not dispose of or use the Contractor’s material unless authorised to do so;
vi) Gain all necessary “Party Wall” agreements;
vii) Obtain all necessary licenses, permissions and consent which may be required; and
viii) Take photographic evidence of the condition of premises before the Contractor commences work. If there are any damages claimed by the Customer during or after performance of the Services, the Customer will need to provide evidence of this.
14. CUSTOMERS DEFAULT
14.1 If the Contractor’s performance of any of its obligations under the Contract is prevented or delayed by any act or omission by the Customer or failure by the Customer to perform any relevant obligation:
i) The Contractor shall without limiting its other rights or remedies have a right to suspend performance of the Services until the Customer remedies the Customer default.
ii) The Customer shall reimburse the Contractor on written demand for any costs or losses sustained or incurred by the Contractor arising directly or indirectly from the Customer’s default.
15. TERMINATION
Without limiting its other rights or remedies, the Contractor may terminate the Contract with immediate effect by giving written notice to the Customer if the Customer commits a material breach of any term of the Contract and (if such a breach is remediable) fails to remedy that breach within 7 days of that party being notified in writing to do so.
16. INSOLVENCY OF CUSTOMER
If the Customer commits an act of bankruptcy or makes an arrangement with his creditors or, being a company enters into liquidation, whether compulsory or voluntary (other than for the purpose of amalgamation or reconstruction) or if a receiver or manager is appointed of all or part of its assets or undertakings or if he suffers any execution whether legal or equitable to be levied upon his property or obtained against him, then the Contractor may, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies by written notice forthwith determine the Contract and shall have the right to recover or lo deduct from or set off against any such amount otherwise due under this or any other contract the amount of damage suffered and loss and expense incurred by the Contractor by reason of such determination under this clause.
17. SUPPLY OF SERVICES
17.1 The Contractor shall supply the Services to the Customer in accordance with the Specification in all material respects.
17.2 The Contractor shall have the right to make any changes to the Services which are necessary to comply with any applicable law or safety requirement, or which do not materially affect the nature or quality of the Services and the Contractor shall notify the Customer in any such event.
18. SUPPLY OF MATERIALS
18.1 Except as expressly agreed, the Contractor shall provide all labour, materials and equipment necessary for the proper execution of the Services. Guarantees on materials used run in accordance with the relevant manufactures’ warranty periods where applicable.
18.2 The Contractor will be responsible for the re-installation of lighting, fixtures and fittings, electrical components, switches, doors, ironmongery, sockets, plumbing and pipes in the event that they prove to be defective/faulty, provided that the such materials come with a warranty and they are within the manufacturer’s period of warranty.
18.3 Sanitary-ware and kitchen related items will be subject to the manufacturer’s warranty.
18.4 Following the expiry of the Contractor’s warranty, as per clause 24, callout charges will be applied according to each job for any further installations or repairs.
18.5 All appliances purchased pursuant to the Contract will need to be registered for guarantee or warranty by the Customer, and any faults or defects within the warranty period that are not associated with installation will be dealt with between the Customer and manufacturer.
18.6 In the event that the Customer provides any materials, they shall deal with any third party that supplied them in the event that the material proved to be defective and/or faulty.
19. ADDITIONAL COSTS
19.1 The Customer shall accept that inevitably additional unforeseen costs can occur over and above that estimated and in particular as a result of concealed problem areas out of the line of sight such as defective floorboards, broken pipes in which case the Contractor shall inform the Customer of these as soon as possible after they have become known to the supplier.
19.2 Where quotations are based upon specifications, drawings, quantities and other information provided by the Customer, they will be subject to re-measurement, and the final account payable by the Customer shall be based upon the re-measured quantities. The Contractor reserves the right to adjust quoted prices in the event of significant variations to quantities.
20. VARIATIONS
20.1 Variations must be issued in writing by the Customer, if the Customer issues verbal instructions, the Contractor may confirm receipt of them in writing to the Customer whereupon they will be deemed to constitute accepted variations to the Contract.
20.2 The Contractor will reserve the right to alter the payment structure if the Customer makes any amendments or changes to the Specification.
20.3 Where the Contractor sends or emails the Customer a variation, the Customer has 72 hours to reply to the variation notification. If the Customer does not reply, it will be deemed that the variation has been accepted and materials will be ordered. If the Customer rejects the variation after the 72 hour time frame, any costs that have been incurred by the Contractor will be charged to the Customer.
20.4 No work shall be omitted by the Customer from the Contract if that omission is with the intention of placing the work with others.
20.5 Variations will be priced where it is reasonable to do so, on the basis of the Contract price. If this is not reasonable they will be priced against day work charges calculated in accordance with the “Definition of Price Cost of Daywork carried out under a Builder Contract.” (current edition published by R.I.C.S and B.E.C) with percentage additions as follows:
i) Labour 20%
ii) Materials 20%
iii) Plant 20%
21. INFORMATION
21.1 The Contractor shall not be liable for the accuracy of any information provided by the Customer nor for any defects arising out of incorrect drawings, specifications, calculations, quantities, dimensions or instructions etc. so provided. The costs of rectifying such defects will be charged to the Customer.
21.2 The Customer shall indemnify the Contractor from and against all actions which may arise pursuant to the Contract in accordance with information provided by the Customer where it is alleged that such information infringes a patent registered design. copyright or other exclusive right
21.3 All drawings, specifications, calculations and other information supplied by the Contractor are supplied on the express understanding that copyright is reserved by the Contractor.
21.4 Such information shall not be used by the Customer in any way except in connection with the Contract for which it is issued
22. TITLE OF GOODS
22.1 All goods and materials shall remain the property of the Contractor until the Contractor shall have recovered payment in full. Notwithstanding that the goods and materials have been delivered to the site or that they have been incorporated into the Services, the Contractor shall have the absolute right to recover such materials and goods where payment in full has not been received.
22.2 In the event that the Customer purports to have sold the materials and/or goods to a third party, the proceeds of any such sale shall be proprietary to the Contractor until payment in full has been received by the Contractor from the Customer. It is expressly agreed that the Contractor shall have the right to trace its title to the goods and materials into any such sub-sales. The Contractor may also require the Customer to assign the right to receive payment arising from such sub-sales.
23. LOSS, DAMAGE OR INJURY
23.1 Save where the Contractor is legally proved to have failed to exercise reasonable care in the performance of the Contract and such failure results in death or personal injury the Contractor shall not be liable in respect of claims arising by reason of death or personal injury in connection with the Contract.
23.2 Any liability for negligence or breach of statutory or legal duties by any of the Contractor’s employees will only be accepted by the Contractor where such negligence or breach of duty is directly connected to the performance of the Contract.
23.3 Under no circumstances whatsoever shall the Contractor be liable for the consequential loss, loss of profits or damage to property.
23.4 The Customer shall be liable for the replacement cost of any materials, whether or not properly incorporated in the Services, that have been damaged, stolen, lost or destroyed by any persons or cause whatsoever other than by the Contractor or any of its employees.
24. DEFECTS LIABILITY
24.1 In lieu of any warranty implied by law the Contractor will make good by replacement or, at the Contractor’s option, by repair any defects in the Services performed which become apparent within 6 months from the date of Completion, provided that:
i) The Contractor agrees that such defects are due solely to faulty materials or workmanship by the Contractor; or
ii) The materials and goods involved were manufactured by the Contractor; and
iii) All payments applied for and due have been received by the Contractor.
The above shall be the limit of the Contractor’s liability and the Contractor will not in any circumstances be liable for any losses, damages or expenses directly or indirectly incurred by the Customer as a result of such defects.