Terms of Business

GENERAL

In these terms of business ‘we’, ‘us’ ‘our’, ‘ourselves’ or ‘our team’ refers to the Design Chambers Ltd or a ‘third party contractor contracted by us to deliver work as instructed. ‘You’ or ‘your’ means the person or company purchasing goods and/or accepting services from the Design Chambers. Ltd.

In agreeing to receive goods or services from Design Chambers you agree to these terms of business.

1. Services provided

We will supply you with marketing, advertising, event management, copy writing, digital and design services including (but not necessarily limited to) the following:

a) Guidance on effective strategy, market research and planning
b) Design, copy writing and production of advertisements and marketing collateral
c) Media advice, evaluation, scheduling and booking
d) Account management and administrative support
e) Design and production of support products including employee communications, candidate literature, brochures, exhibition materials, website design and build
f) Specification, design and management of advertising campaigns
g) Regular reviews of service and effectiveness

2. Payment terms

The price for the supply of goods and / or services are set out in our quotation document / email. An invoice will be raised once the creative has been signed-off or 30 days from requested sign-off (whichever is soonest).

Payment of invoice is expected by the due date shown on the invoice.

We reserve the right to tender additional invoices surcharged monthly on outstanding balances which have not been paid within 30 days of receipt of our invoice. Statutory interest at the prevailing rate plus the Bank of England base rate will be applied.

You will also be liable for debt recovery costs on late payments as detailed in the UK government’s late payment legislation.

We reserve the right to demand full or part-pre payment for services as we feel appropriate to do so.

Should you stall a project for in excess of 30 days an invoice for work completed to that date will be raised an payment will be due in accordance with the terms set out on the invoice.

The price of the goods and services, unless stated otherwise, is exclusive of Value Added Tax which shall be charged at the rate prevailing at the relevant tax point.

3. Disputes

Should you need to dispute an invoice, we ask that you confirm to us in writing the item(s) under query within 7 days of the invoice date. If the matter relates to charges levied by ourselves we will propose a resolution within 3 days. If, however, the dispute is a result of media or other third party charges we will use our best endeavours to achieve a speedy settlement. In the event of any dispute we have to insist that payment of any other monies owing, unrelated to the item under dispute, must be made in accordance with the normal payment terms.

4. Cancellations

We understand that from time to time projects need to be cancelled or postponed after go-ahead has been given. Our concern on these occasions is to ensure that your exposure to cancellation charges is minimized but also that costs already incurred are recouped. We would particularly draw your attention to cancellations of media space. One some occasions when space is booked it is after the publication’s cancellation date. This means that in the event of an advertisement needing to be postponed or withdrawn after go-ahead has been given; the publication will be within its rights to levy a cancellation charge. Whilst we always seek to minimize or nullify these charges, no guarantee is able to be given by us.

5. Confidentiality

We undertake that all information made available to us in the course of our work with you shall be treated by us as confidential. However, once projects are completed, unless explicitly stated in writing by you, we reserve the right to use our work for the purposes of portfolio and/or self-promotion and marketing.

6. Copyright

As originators, copyright for work created by us remains with us in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The copyright for work created by us can be transferred to you once a copyright fee has been agreed and paid for in full and in accordance with the terms set out in point 2 above. In the case of materials or services provided by third parties (e.g. stock photographs), rights remain with those third parties, unless agreement is specifically made to the contrary.

7. Indemnity

In the absence of default or neglect on our part, we would require that you indemnify us against any loss or costs resulting from any form of proceedings brought by anyone as a result of advertising approved by you or by other work carried out on your instruction.

ADVERTISING

1. Approvals and Authority

As much of our work is conducted to critical timetables it is important that we understand the basis on which approval is given. You will need to ensure that the person instructing us to publish is authorized to do so.

In the case of advertising, the approvals process is as follows;

i. Your approval of copy, layouts etc, is our authority to purchase production materials and prepare proofs for publication
ii. Your approval of media schedules or estimates is our authority to make contracts and reservations for space or time under the terms & conditions by the media or other suppliers
iii. Your approval of proofs is our authority to buy space and arrange for publication

We would encourage your instructions to be by email particularly with regard to the purchase of media, but because of time pressure we expect certain instructions from you to be by telephone and we record your go-ahead in our own files as part of the administration process.

2. Charges

a) Media price

All media is charged at a gross cost to the agency unless discounts have been negotiated and accepted by the client. In the case of overseas press, a fee equivalent to 20% of rate card will be charged to reflect the higher costs, including bank charges/currency fluctuations.

b) Advertising production

All typesetting produced in house by our own facilities will be charged in accordance with an agreed tariff. Other production work undertaken on your behalf will be charged on the basis of estimates provided in the course of assignments.

c) VAT

Charges quoted will be net of VAT unless otherwise stated. VAT is charged on invoices at the current prevailing rate.

3. Invoicing

Where stringent payment terms are enforced upon us we have no choice but to adhere to them. We must therefore ensure that we are paid by you before we pay for orders made on your behalf.

a) Invoices raised will show the gross media price payable together with all known production charges relating to the assignment
b) Payment terms are as outlined in section General – point 2 above.
c) Where a publisher fails to notify us of a price increase, we reserve the right to issue a supplementary invoice.

4. Standards

It is your responsibility to ensure that all work produced on your behalf meets the relevant standards and codes and does not contravene legislation within, for example, Race Relations Act, Sex Discrimination Act, Disability Act and other current legislation.

5. Liabilities

In the absence of default or neglect on our part, we cannot be liable for any delay, omission, misinformation or error in the publication of any advertisement or other published material. Where compensation is gained, we will retain the same fee for media services that would be gained, at the original cost of the advertisement.

CREATIVE AND PRINT WORK

1. Approvals and Authority

For all design/print work, we require written go-ahead on the basis of proposals submitted before we incur costs on your behalf. In the case of printed materials we require you to sign printer’s proofs or for expedience, you can email your authority to proceed.

2. Charges

For all design and print services we will work on either a project or hourly basis. This will be agreed with you in advance of the project. We therefore provide a fee estimate in advance and will always ensure that such fees are agreed before any commitments are entered into. Where we believe the fee will exceed the initial estimate we will inform you before proceeding further with the project.

Estimates are based on our current costs of design and production and are subject to amendment at any time after acceptance to meet any rise or fall in such costs.

3. Preliminary Work

All work carried out at your request, whether experimentally or otherwise, will be charged. Creative ideas remain our property. If those submitted ideas are rejected by a client, we reserve the right to use as we see fit.

4. Proofs

In respect of any submitted proposal, author’s corrections will be charged extra. Proofs of all work may be submitted for your approval, and in the event no responsibility will be accepted for any errors in them not corrected by yourselves. When style, type of layout is left to our judgement, changes thereafter made by you shall be charged extra.

5. Printing

The printers we contract to carry out work on your behalf adhere to Standard Conditions of Contract as issued by the British Printing Industries Federation, which cover areas such as price and quality variation, delivery and force majeure. Full details can be forwarded to you. We are therefore obliged to accept these conditions on your behalf.

6. Delivery

Delivery of artwork from Design Chambers is by electronic format unless explicitly agreed otherwise in the contract.

Unless otherwise specified, a delivery price will be quoted for the delivery of the work to your premises or other designated address.

We cannot accept any liability for any loss or damage to the goods once they have been delivered in accordance with your delivery instructions (unless this is caused by our negligence). We will aim to deliver the goods by the date quoted for delivery but delivery times are not guaranteed. If delivery is delayed due to any cause beyond our reasonable control, the delivery date will be extended by a reasonable period and we will contact you to arrange an alternative time.

As soon as we have delivered the goods or services, you will be responsible for them and we will not be liable for their loss or destruction. If you delay a delivery, our responsibility for everything other than damage due to our negligence will end on the date we agreed to deliver them.

We advise that you should arrange your own insurance cover where appropriate as we will not be liable for any loss, damage or consequential loss once your work has left our premises.

7. Claims

In the unlikely event of unsatisfactory work, complaints should be made in writing within 7 days of receipt of goods. No complaint will be entered into unless all relevant materials are returned for our inspection.

8. Ownership

All goods and services will remain the property of Design Chambers until settlement is made in full. Design Chambers retains the right to use designs for the purposes of self-promotion in both print and electronic media.

Updated January 2017