Terms and Conditions

1. Interpretation. In these Terms and Conditions of Business unless the subject or context otherwise requires, the words standing in the first column of the table next hereinafter contained shall bear the meaning set opposite to them respectively in the second column thereof:
Word Meaning
The Company: The Jobbing Plumber Ltd
The Customer: The person, business, firm, partnership or corporate body issuing instructions to The Company.
Materials: Any materials, services, supplies, advice or information supplied by, or work carried out or undertaken by The Company as part of its normal business activities.

2. The Company shall at all times provide competent personnel in carrying out the service.

3. The Company shall provide the service between the hours of 8.00 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday exclusive of statutory holidays at the current standard rates of the Company.

4. The Company shall provide the service outside normal hours at the current overtime rate of the Company.

5. The service shall be offered on the basis that it will be provided as quickly as is reasonably possible within the confines of current workload, availability of personnel, weather and traffic conditions, transport and fuel availability, availability of parts and other conditions on which the Company is dependent but outside their direct control and which from time to time do arise. Consequently, no liability or responsibility shall be accepted for delays caused by conditions, events, acts, omissions or states of affairs beyond the Company's direct control.

6. Charging Basis. The charge made shall be based on either:
(a) A time and materials basis calculated on current rates and prices of the Company.
(b) A fixed price quotation.
All charges shall be based on time and materials unless a fixed price has been agreed in writing before the work commences.

7. Time and Materials. Labour charges are calculated from the point of arrival at the Customer's premises to the point of finishing the work and are calculated on an hourly basis or half hourly basis as the case may be to the next half hour. Chargeable time shall include time used collecting parts from suppliers, whether collected en route to the Customer's premises or collected during the work.

8. Minimum Labour Charge. The company shall charge a minimum labour charge during normal working hours of one hour. The minimum account labour charge shall be one hour.

9. Provision Sums. Variations and Additions t Contract. Where the quotation included a Provisional Sum for meeting the cost of provisional or specialists' work to be done or materials or apparatus to be supplied, such sums shall be expended or used either wholly or in part, at the discretion of the Customer and entirely as he may desire or direct.

10. Charging Period. Where charging rates overlap, the rate charged shall increase or decrease accordingly for the relevant periods.

11. Materials and Part Charges. Parts and fittings stocked on the Company's vans shall be charged at the current selling list prices of the Company and shall not be subject to any discount except by way of confirmed written agreement. Materials collected from merchants shall be charge at cost price plus mark up.

12. Fixed Price Quotations. A fixed price quotation shall be supplied in writing or a fixed price shall be agreed on site and written in on the job record sheet and signed by the Customer.

13. Fluctuations. Invoices are strictly nett and the quoted price will be adjusted to meet any price variations in labour or materials occurring after the date of quotation.

14. Water Heating. Quotations for water heating installations are based on the assumption that the existing plumbing system is in a satisfactory condition. No responsibility is accepted for defects arising from water tanks, pipes etc. during or subsequent to installation work by the Company.

15. Travelling Time. The Company shall not charge any travelling time during normal hours (except when this involves collection of materials from suppliers) but shall reserve the right to charge travelling time when:
(a) The work shall be carried out in an area not within the normal work area.
(b) When adverse weather, traffic or access conditions shall cause additional travelling time to that which is reasonable during normal conditions, or
(c) When the total amount of travelling to any job shall be uneconomic in relation to the job being carried out.

16. Hire Charges. The Company shall not charge for the normal small trade tools but shall pass on any other charges incurred through hire of special tools and Plant, and shall itself apply reasonable charges for the use of its own Plant and specialist equipment and specialist tools.

17. Position of Fittings etc. Position of lighting points, switches, plant etc. if not provided for in the quotation or an associated drawing are to be determined before the work is commenced and any charge required therin shall be notified to the Customer by the Company, in writing in sufficient time not to impede the progress of the work. Any extra work necessary to meet such changes will be chargeable to the Customer in addition to the quoted price.

18. Waiting Time for Payment. Payment shall be due in full immediately upon completion of the work and the Customer shall ensure payment is made available without unnecessary delay otherwise the Company shall be entitled to charge for waiting time.

19. Payment Collection. Where, for whatever reason, the Customer is unable or unwilling to make payment on completion of the work, the Company shall be entitled to charge for additional time expended on the collection thereof.

20. Advance Payments. The Company shall reserve the right for whatever reason to require advance payments or deposits before or during work.

21. Cheques. The Company reserves the right for whatever reason to refuse cheques unless supported by a current cheque guarantee card and/or to require the Customer to make payment by cash.

22. Dishonoured Cheques. Should payment be offered by the Customer which subsequently on presentation for payment is dishonoured for whatever reason, a charge of £60.00 shall be made to the Customer for each and every presentation to offset the administration charges suffered by the Company.

23. Account Facilities. By prior arrangement only, the Company shall allow account facilities. Only signed official orders shall be accepted in lieu of payment, and it shall be a specific condition of the Company granting account facilities that this Company's terms and conditions shall take precedent over all others.

24. Account Terms. Payment is due within 14 days unless otherwise stated.

25. Overdue Accounts and/or Late Payment. Overdue accounts and late payers shall be liable to late payment charges at 8% statutory interest from the due date pursuant of S69 County Court Act 1984 and continuing at a daily rate until payment is received.

26. Legal/Collection Expenses. Should, after 30 days from date of invoice, the Company have not secured payment of any debt owed to it, the Company shall be entitled to employ the services of a solicitor and/or collection agencies and shall be entitled to charge and recover from the Customer all and every reasonable outward in obtaining settlement of the debt.

27. The Company retain a lien upon materials, plant and machinery, even though installed or delivered on site, for the whole of any unpaid balance due to the Company hereunder.

28. Wayleaves. The Customer shall be responsible for obtaining and retaining any necessary consents, easements or wayleaves and for any reinstatements of disturbed ground, in the case of extensions to underground distributing mains or of overhead distributing lines which are within the Customer's own property or are on privately owned property over which the Customer has rights of access or attendancy.

29. Licenses. Any licence, permit or other authority necessary for the execution of the work shall be obtained by the Customer.

30. Liability. Much of our work is dirty by its very nature and spillages of water and marking do occur from time to time, usually unavoidably. The Company employs thoughtful and careful personnel and dirt, wet and damage shall be kept to a minimum but by virtue of the fact that Company is often dealing with awkward/emergency situations over which it has little (if any) choice or control, the Company has clear limitations as to liability (if any).

31. Making Good etc. Whilst every care will be taken by the Company, it accepts no responsibility for any damage to plasterwork, decorations, flooring etc necessarily consequent upon the execution of the work unless specifically provided for in the quotation. Cuts or holes made to allow for equipment will be made good, but not permanently finished or decorated. Floorboards will be replaced but special flooring will not be permanently re-fixed.

32. The Customer shall prepare the work areas and walkways and fully protect or remove carpets, furniture or valuables and should the work areas and walkways not be fully protected or removed the Customer shall accept all risks of spillage, leaks, stains, breakages or damage.

33. The Company shall not be liable for any damage caused through the Customer not having taken adequate precautions by removing or protecting carpets, furniture or valuables in the work areas or walkways that are unprotected and unremoved items shall be regarded as of nil value.

34. Consequential loss or damage. The Company shall not be responsible for any consequential damage or loss arising out of the performance of the Contract otherwise than by the negligence of the Company or its employees, or agents.

35. The Company shall remove furniture, carpeting or valuables if so requested specifically by the Customer but shall not be responsible for any damage caused by carrying out such work nor be responsible for their reinstatement or the cost thereof.

36. The Company shall move/dismantle/re-assemble/re-fix/replace cupboards, units, floorboards and the like if so requested by the Customer but shall not be responsible for any damage caused by carrying out such work nor be responsible for their re-instatement or the cost thereof.

37. The Company shall not be responsible for scorch marks, stains, spillages or any other event causing damage which it deems as unavoidable in the circumstances prevailing at the time of work.

38. The Company shall not undertake any work for any Customer proposing to hold the Company responsible for any damage caused by events covered in conditions 33-40.
Indemnity 30 except for liability for death or personal injury arising from the negligence of the Company's personnel, the Company's obligations concerning the work done shall constitute the full extent of its liability in respect of any loss or damage suffered the Customer where by negligence of the Company or arising from any cause whatsoever and the Company shall not be responsible for any losses consequential or otherwise.

39. Damage in transit. Where the price quoted includes delivery, the Company will repair or replace, free of charge, goods damaged in transit, provided the carriers and the Company receive notification of such damage within three days of delivery and that such notification is confirmed in writing within seven days, but not otherwise.

40. Scope of conditions of contract. These conditions of contract will apply in full to all quotations and work carried out (and) or apparatus or equipment supplied by the Company under such quotations except where specifically agreed in writing to the contrary.

41. Work not guaranteed. The Company will, within reason (unless clearly dangerous or hazardous), carry out any work on instruction of the Customer, whether against our advice, of temporary nature, incomplete or unlikely to last etc. but on the strict irrevocable understanding and agreement of the Customer that the Company carried out such work only at the insistence of the Customer that the Company carried out such work totally and absolutely without liability or responsibility. While the Company will carry out such works as professionally as possible within the limitations imposed on it by the Customer's instructions and the nature of the work, any such work carried out will be at the Customer's sole risk and any subsequent failure of the work and any further work, repetitious or otherwise requested by the Customer will be subject to additional normal charges irrespective of how short a period the work lasts or the costs involved, and neither will the Company pass on any guarantee with regard to parts used in the course of such work.

42. The Company does not accept responsibility for the failure of any fire protection equipment in the event of a fire.

43. Removal/retention/of parts/rubbish/scrap. Parts and rubbish will normally be removed from the Customer's premisses free of charge on completion of the work, unless bulky or heavy and likely to cause disposal costs when the Customer will be advised of any extra cost. Parts may be retained by the Customer unless a warranty claim is involved or unless they have to be returned to the main supplier/manufacturer on an exchange basis. If the Customer wishes to retain parts it is the Customer's responsibility to ensure this request is made to the tradesman on site and the Customer's responsibility to ensure the parts are retained. Once removed from the site disposal is likely to be immediate and the Company will be unable to recover such items once removed from the Customer's premises.

44. Removal of drain deposits. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the Customer will be responsible for the removal from the site of deposits extracted from the site by our operators from drainwork, pipework or sewer systems

45. Customer's liability. the Customer shall be liable for all loss, damage or injury (whether direct, indirect, or consequential) resulting from the failure or delay in the performance of his obligations under these terms.

46. Frozen piped. We will not be liable for any fractured or frozen pipes and cannot guarantee to clear blockages occurring in a frozen pipe or drain.

47. Traffic control. The Customer will make all necessary arrangements with the proper authorities for traffic controls and signals required in connection with the carrying out of the work. If these are not provided or are inadequate, the Customer shall be liable for all loss, damage or cost resulting therefrom.

48. Water and power. The Customer shall be responsible for providing all necessary power and a clean water supply from a mains or fire hydrant (our units are normally equipped with hydrants and standpipe and key).

49. Damage to equipment. The Customer will accept responsibility for any damage that might be caused to Jetting machine(s) should the work require them to operate away from a normal Tarmac or hard surfaced road. The Customer will also be responsible for equipment lost or damaged due to fractured pipes, drains or conduits.

50. Deposits. When the Customer gives a deposit by credit card as detailed overleaf they will also give authority to collect the final balance. This shall be a non-redeemable mail order sail, i.e. the balance of our invoice shall be collected by our engineer on completion of the work r termination of contract b Customer on their credit card, whether the Customer is present or not and has not signed a sales voucher. This will constitute "full and final payment" and shall be non-refundable by our company or the credit card company.

51. Inspection of work. The Customer shall inspect the work as far as is reasonable possible immediately on completion of it and shall within 30 days give written notice to us in detail of any grounds on which he alleges that the work is not in accordance with the contract. If the Customer fails to give such notice the work shall conclusively deemed to be free from any defect which would be apparent on reasonable examination of the work.

DISPUTES. Please read - Quote: If a price was given on the out-set and agreed, you cannot complain later that it was unreasonable. If you agree a fixed cost it is usually called a quotation. A fixed price is binding whatever it is called. When an hourly or half hourly charge is agreed before an engineer is despatched. Also signing an invoice agreeing to the Company's material and labour charges when the engineer is on site, you have authorised the contract to carry out and complete the work to our terms and conditions.