1. Acceptance of These Terms
By requesting a quotation from TYH CONSTRUCTIONS LTD, by instructing the Company to carry out work, or by continuing to use this website, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service together with any written contract that the Company issues for a specific engagement. If you do not agree with any part of these terms, you should not proceed with an instruction and you should stop using the site.
These terms govern the professional relationship between the client and the Company. They should be read alongside the Privacy Policy, which explains how the Company handles the personal data collected during an engagement, and alongside any project specific specification or method statement that the parties agree for the works.
Where a written contract for a particular project exists, the specific terms of that contract take precedence over these general terms to the extent of any conflict. Where no separate contract exists, or where a question falls outside it, these terms apply in full.
2. The Company and the Client
TYH CONSTRUCTIONS LTD is a company with its principal place of business at 3A The Vale, London - NW11 8SB, United Kingdom (GB). Where these terms refer to the Company, we or us, they mean TYH CONSTRUCTIONS LTD and the persons we lawfully engage to perform the services.
Where these terms refer to the client, you or the customer, they mean the person, firm, company or organisation that requests and pays for the services. The client may act for itself or as the authorised agent of a building owner, and where the client acts as an agent, the client confirms that it holds the authority of the owner to enter the engagement.
Nothing in these terms creates an employment relationship, partnership or joint venture between the Company and the client. Each party remains independent and responsible for its own people, its own plant and its own liabilities under the law.
3. Scope of Services
The Company offers a defined family of services in the fields of construction, structural design and building systems. These include structural design and calculations, build project management, renovations and extensions, site surveying and setting out, building information modelling and digital construction systems, and safety and compliance reviews.
A precise scope of services for any engagement is set out in the written contract, quotation or method statement issued for that project. The scope records what will be produced, to what standard, over what period and for what price, so that both parties share a single, written understanding of the job.
The Company will not carry out work outside the written scope without a documented variation, and the client should not rely on a verbal request to extend the services. Any request for additional work that is accepted gives rise to a fair additional charge in line with section 7 of these terms.
4. Quotations and Estimates
A quotation issued by the Company for a building project is based on the information available at the time it is prepared, together with measured quantities, stated assumptions and current supplier prices. Every quotation should be read together with its stated assumptions and exclusions.
A quotation remains open for acceptance for the period stated on the document, and where no period is stated, for thirty days from the date of issue. After that period, the Company may withdraw or revise the quotation to reflect changes in market prices and in the condition of the works.
An estimate is a looser indication of probable cost, given before a full survey or design is complete. An estimate is not a fixed price and is subject to confirmation through a formal quotation once the detail of the works is known.
If material information that the quotation relied upon proves to be wrong, or if the site reveals conditions that could not reasonably have been foreseen, the Company may adjust the quoted price fairly to reflect the true situation before the works proceed. Any such adjustment is explained to the client in writing before it takes effect.
5. Fees and Payment Terms
All fees for the services are stated in pounds sterling or in another currency agreed in writing, and are exclusive of value added tax unless the quotation says otherwise. The client is responsible for any tax that applies to the supply.
Payment terms are stated on each invoice. Unless the parties agree otherwise, invoices for completed stages of work fall due for payment within the number of days stated on the invoice, and the Company applies the payment dates that the written contract records.
For larger or longer projects, the Company may invoice in stages that track the progress of the works, such as a design stage, a construction stage and a completion stage. A stage invoice is payable even where a later stage has not begun, because it reflects work already done.
If the client does not pay an invoice when it falls due, the Company may suspend work on the project after giving written notice, and the Company may charge interest on the overdue sum at the rate that the law allows. The suspension of work does not waive the right to the outstanding payment.
The client may not withhold a payment pending a dispute about a minor point, without the agreement of the Company. Any genuine dispute is raised promptly and settled through the routes described in section 19 before it becomes grounds for a withholding.
6. Client Obligations
For the works to run safely and on time, the client agrees to provide certain things. The client must grant the Company and its subcontractors reasonable access to the site at the times agreed in the programme, including access for surveys, deliveries and inspections.
The client must provide accurate and complete information that the works depend upon, such as title boundaries, service locations, planning permissions, building regulation approvals and any restrictions recorded on the title. Where the client is unsure of such matters, the client should say so rather than guess.
The client must obtain, or must confirm in writing that it has obtained, any approval from its own lenders, insurers or leaseholders that the proposed works require. The Company relies on the client to manage those third party consents unless the written scope allocates that task to the Company.
The client must designate a single point of contact for the project who has the authority to make timely decisions. Slow decisions on design, materials and finishes delay the programme, and where a delay results from a missed decision date, it will be treated under section 8.
7. Variations to the Works
A variation is any change to the scope, design, materials or sequence agreed in the written contract. The Company supports sensible variations, because buildings improve when a client responds to what the site reveals.
Every variation is confirmed in writing before it is priced or carried out. The written confirmation records the change, its effect on the programme and its effect on the price, so that no variation is ever a surprise on the final invoice.
An instruction given orally is noted by the Company and confirmed to the client, and where the client does not correct that note, the note is treated as an accurate record of the instruction. This keeps the written trail reliable without demanding paperwork at every site meeting.
A variation that requires a fresh building regulation approval or a planning consent becomes effective only when that approval is obtained, unless the parties agree to proceed at risk in writing. The programme is adjusted to reflect the time needed to obtain the approval.
8. Programme and Delays
The programme is a best current plan of the sequence and timing of the works, not a guarantee of a completion date. The Company prepares programmes honestly and updates them as the reality of the job develops.
The completion date may be extended where a delay arises from a cause outside the reasonable control of the Company, including adverse ground conditions, extreme weather, a failure by the client to give access or a decision on time, a change requested by the client, a delay by a public authority or an event of force majeure.
Where a delay event occurs, the Company notifies the client, explains the cause and sets out the expected effect on the programme. The parties then work together to recover lost time where that is sensible and priced.
The Company will not accept liability for a delay that results from the failure of the client to perform its own obligations under section 6, and the client will not accept a claim against the Company for a delay that arises from an event the contract expressly places at the client risk.
9. Design and Intellectual Property
All designs, drawings, calculations, models, specifications, method statements and other documents that the Company produces for a project are protected by copyright and by other intellectual property rights that belong to the Company unless a written agreement transfers them.
When the Company completes a project and receives payment in full, the client receives a licence to use the documents for the purpose of the specific building on the specific site, including operation, maintenance, alteration and future extension of that building by the client or the building owner.
The licence does not extend to reusing the documents for a different site, a different building or a different owner without the prior written consent of the Company. Reuse of design work always carries risk, because ground conditions and regulations differ between places, so the Company reserves the right to charge for adapting documents to a new use.
Where a project is abandoned before completion, the client receives no licence to use incomplete design documents, because incomplete documents can mislead a later contractor. If the client wishes to use partial work, the parties agree a written scope for completing and licensing that work.
10. Site Conditions and Surveys
Every building sits on ground of its own character, and no survey can reveal every hidden condition before excavation begins. The Company prices and programmes its works against the conditions revealed by the surveys commissioned for the project and stated in the quotation.
Where excavation, demolition or opening up reveals conditions that differ materially from what the survey suggested, such as unexpected drains, made ground, buried obstructions or a hidden structure, the Company notifies the client and prices the additional work under section 7 before proceeding.
The client is responsible for commissioning any specialist survey that the project needs, such as a contamination study, a drainage test or an ecology report, unless the written scope places that duty on the Company. The results of such surveys are shared with all parties who rely upon them.
A level or setting out datum provided by the client is used by the Company in good faith, and any error in that datum is notified to the client as soon as it comes to light so that the parties can agree a correction.
11. Health and Safety on Site
Health and safety sit at the centre of every engagement. The Company operates in line with the Construction Design and Management Regulations and applies the duties that attach to its role on each project, whether as designer, principal designer, contractor or principal contractor.
Where the Company acts as principal contractor or principal designer, it produces and maintains the documents that the law requires, including the pre construction information, the construction phase plan and the health and safety file, and it coordinates the duty holders accordingly.
The client acknowledges that a construction site is a controlled working environment. Visitors to the site comply with the site rules, wear the protective equipment that the site rules require and follow the instructions of the site management at all times.
Nothing in these terms transfers a statutory duty from one party to another, because such duties are personal and cannot be contracted away. Each party remains responsible for the health and safety obligations that the law places on it.
12. Subcontractors and Supply Chains
The Company is free to engage subcontractors and specialist suppliers to carry out parts of the works, and it does so through written agreements that pass on the relevant obligations and protections of these terms.
The Company selects subcontractors on the basis of their competence, their safety record and their capacity, and it supervises their work to the same standard it applies to its own direct labour. The engagement of a subcontractor does not remove the responsibility of the Company to the client for the quality of the completed works.
Where the client names a particular supplier or subcontractor, the client accepts responsibility for the competence and delivery of that named party. The Company will still coordinate and check the interface between the named party and the rest of the works wherever it is reasonably able to do so.
13. Warranties and Performance
The Company warrants that its services are carried out with the reasonable skill and care of a competent professional in the same field, and that the materials and workmanship supplied by its own people are of a proper standard and free from latent defect for a reasonable period.
The Company further warrants that its design services will be suitable for the purpose that the client disclosed in writing before the design began, where the design relies upon that disclosed purpose. Where a purpose is not disclosed, the works are designed for the ordinary and expected use of the building type.
The manufacturer guarantees on proprietary products and systems are passed on to the client to the extent that they are transferable. The Company does not warrant products or systems that it does not manufacture, but it will assist the client to pursue a valid manufacturer claim.
14. Limitation of Liability
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits the liability of either party for death or personal injury caused by its negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any liability that the law does not allow a party to limit or exclude.
Subject to the above, the total liability of the Company to the client for all claims arising out of or in connection with an engagement, whether in contract, tort, negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise, is limited to the total fees paid by the client for that engagement.
Neither party is liable to the other for loss of profits, loss of business, loss of goodwill, loss of anticipated savings, loss of use or any indirect or consequential loss, whether arising from a breach of contract, from negligence or from any other cause.
The client confirms that the allocation of risk in this section is fair and reflects the fees charged, and that it has had the opportunity to take independent advice and to insure its own exposure through contractor insurance or latent defect cover.
15. Insurance Cover
The Company maintains insurance cover appropriate to its business, including public liability insurance, employers liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance, each at levels that reflect the size and risk of the projects it undertakes.
Evidence of the current insurance cover is available to the client on request, and the Company will supply certificate copies in confidence before a major project mobilises. The client should note that insurance terms change at each renewal and that the level of cover in force at the time matters, not the level implied by an older certificate.
Nothing in these terms makes the Company an insurer of the client risk. Where the client wishes to protect its own interest in the building works against fire, theft or weather during construction, the client should maintain the appropriate works insurance for the full reinstatement value.
16. Defects and Rectification
At the completion of an engagement, the parties carry out a joint inspection of the works and agree a snag list of minor items that remain open. The Company completes the listed items within a reasonable period and keeps a record of the clearance of each item.
Where a defect appears within the agreed defects liability period and is reported to the Company in writing, the Company will investigate the cause. A defect caused by the works or materials of the Company is rectified at the cost of the Company, unless the repair is prevented by a change the client made to the building after handover.
A defect caused by use of the building beyond its design limits, by a lack of maintenance, by an alteration by a third party or by fair wear and tear is not the responsibility of the Company, although the Company can often advise on the best remedy as a paid consultancy task.
17. Termination of an Engagement
Either party may terminate an engagement for the convenience of the parties through an agreed notice period recorded in the written contract, with the client paying for all work done and all commitments irrevocably placed up to the date of termination.
Either party may terminate a written engagement immediately if the other party commits a material breach that it does not remedy within a reasonable written notice, or if the other party becomes insolvent, enters administration or is unable to pay its debts as they fall due.
On termination, the client pays the Company for the value of the work carried out to the date of termination and for any goods already ordered that cannot reasonably be cancelled. The Company returns to the client any client supplied materials and any payments held that exceed the value of the work done.
Termination does not affect any right or obligation that has already accrued, and the sections of these terms that deal with limitation of liability, intellectual property, payment and disputes continue to apply after termination.
18. Website Content and Use
This website is provided by the Company as a source of general information about its services. The content is provided for guidance only, does not form a contract, and should not be relied upon as professional advice without a direct written engagement.
Visitors may view and download small amounts of content for personal use, but they may not reproduce, redistribute or commercially exploit the text, images or layout of the site without the prior written consent of the Company.
The Company does not warrant that the website will be available at all times or that it is free from errors. Access may be interrupted for maintenance or for reasons outside the control of the Company, and such interruption does not create a liability to any visitor.
Visitors must not attempt to disrupt the site, to access restricted parts of our systems, to submit malicious code or to collect data from other visitors. A person who misuses the site may be denied access and may be reported to the relevant authority.
19. Disputes and Governing Law
These terms and every engagement to which they apply are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute, except where a binding rule of the law applicable to the client requires otherwise.
Before proceedings are issued, the parties aim to resolve any dispute through honest negotiation between senior representatives, and they will consider mediation through a recognised provider. Nothing forces a party to mediate, and nothing delays a party right to urgent injunctive relief.
Where the parties have agreed a stage payment or adjudication scheme in a written contract, that scheme applies to the payment disputes it covers before the courts are involved. This reflects the speed that the construction industry requires for cash flow disputes.
20. General Provisions
If any clause of these terms is held by a court to be invalid or unenforceable, that clause is severed and the remaining clauses continue in full force. No single judgment that a clause is unenforceable affects the other terms.
A failure by either party to enforce a right or a term does not waive that right or term, and a waiver of one breach does not waive a later or different breach. Rights can only be waived in writing by the party that holds them.
These terms do not create any rights for a third party under the Contracts Rights of Third Parties Act, and only the client and the Company may enforce their terms. The Company may assign these terms and an engagement to an affiliated business with written notice to the client, but the client may not assign an engagement without consent.
These terms are published and updated from time to time by TYH CONSTRUCTIONS LTD. The version that governs an engagement is the version in force when the engagement is accepted in writing. Enquiries about these terms should be sent to inbox@tyhconstruct.lol or raised by calling +19146165947.