Terms Of Service
TERMS OF SERVICE
1.
How these Terms Apply You are taken to have exclusively accepted and are immediately bound, jointly and severally (where there is more than one purchaser), by these terms of service when any one of the following occurs:
a.
b.
c.
2.
Our Contract Your acceptance of the Quote/Cost Estimate and these general terms together constitute our agreement with you (this Contract). This Contract governs the agreement between INSPECTED RESIDENTIAL LIMITED (COMPANY NUMBER 8466019) (“we” “us” and “our”) and you, the named client in the Quote/Cost Estimate, in respect of the Services.
3.
“Business Days” Any reference to ‘Business Days’ in these terms means a day on which banks are ordinarily open and excludes a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday. Any other reference to a ‘day’ shall mean a calendar day.
4.
“Healthy Homes Standards” are the applicable standards set out in s13B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and the Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019.
5.
“Premises” means the residential dwelling or commercial premises at which Services are to be performed (as the context requires).
6.
“Report” means any category of building inspection report and/or a healthy homes report (as the context requires).
7.
“You” Means the purchaser buying the Services as specified in any invoice, order, Quote/Cost Estimate or any other document. If the purchaser comprises more than one person, each of those persons’ liability and agreement is joint and several.
8.
“Us, “Our,” or We” includes any contractor, employee, assignee, agent, transferees or approved subcontractor that we use.
9.
Statutory References In these terms, a reference to a statute or statutory provision includes a reference to that statute or statutory provision as modified, consolidated and/or re-enacted from time to time and any subordinate legislation made under that statute or statutory provision.
OUR SERVICES AND OBLIGATIONS
10.
Services Our Services include:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Sufficiency of Time to Perform Services We will use our reasonable judgment to advise you of the estimated time to complete the Services you have requested at the time of booking. However, such timeframes are indicative only.
OUR SERVICES AND OBLIGATIONS
17.
Authority for Approval Decisions You must nominate a single individual with authority to give instructions or approval to us, and where you are working with a third-party (including but not limited to a property agent, a facilities or building manager or a key-holder) that you wish to delegate approval and authority to, you must provide us with written confirmation of their contact name, status and basis on which approval or instructions can be accepted by us.
18.
Consents You must make your own enquiries relating to the requirement of any consents required to enable us to access the applicable Premises to perform the Services including, but not limited to,
a.
building owner consent where you are a commercial tenant; or
b.
landlord consent where you are a residential tenant; or
c.
any other consent from a third party in connection with the Premises,
d.
and you must arrange for all such consents to be obtained at your sole cost.
19.
Sub Floor and Roof Cavity Access You must provide unobstructed access to opening access doors or hatches to crawl spaces to enable us to perform sub-floor and roof cavity inspections.
20.
Premises Preparation You must arrange the following in advance of us commencing the Services:
a.
Access you must arrange access to the Premises including, where applicable, gate access; and
b.
Deactivate alarm systems you must deactivate alarm systems; and
c.
Secure dogs you must ensure dogs are adequately restrained, crated or located in a closed environment (e.g. a garage, kennel) while the Services are being performed; and
d.
Remove obstructions this includes the removal of obstructions to access to the Premises and applicable opening access doors for sub-floor and roof cavities and at the exterior for access to roof.
BUILDING INSPECTION REPORT SERVICES
21.
Report Compliance Written building inspection reports are carried out in accordance with NZS Standard 4306:2005 Residential Property Inspection (published by Standards New Zealand) on an “exceptions or information” basis and are not a statement that a property complies with the requirements of any statute, act, regulation or bylaw.
22.
General Reliance Building inspection reports are intended to be relied upon as a general guide to you. They represent the overall condition of the Premises, and a Report does not constitute a warranty or guarantee of the current or future performance or fitness for purpose of the building, structure, systems or component parts comprising the Premises. To avoid doubt, such reports do not include any statements or confirmations as to the following:
a.
the fitness for purpose or workmanship quality of any system, including but not limited to, electrical, air conditioning, heating, plumbing, septic tank, solar, alarm, fire protection, audio visual or any other system (Systems); and/or
b.
the quality of the design of such Systems; and/or
c.
the quality or appropriateness of the components or placement or location of such Systems.
23.
Visual Inspections A Report is assessed on the basis of a visual and non-invasive inspection only on specific areas of the Premises including, but not limited to, the following:
a.
Exterior roof; and
b.
Foundation and subfloor; and
c.
Accessory units and buildings; and
d.
Site improvements; and Roof space/ceiling cavity; and
e.
Exterior wall cladding and joinery; and
f.
General Interior; and
g.
Plumbing system; and
h.
Electrical system; and
i.
Landscaping/hardscaping; and
j.
Pest and potential
24.
Multi-Unit Premises Building inspection reports on multi-unit Premises exclude items listed at sub-clauses (a) to (e) inclusive above except for accessible parts of immediate exterior of the unit to be inspected
25.
Sample Components We may report on a sample set of components only and are not an exhaustive report on all building components.
26.
Floor Level Readings All readings taken for the purposes of a Report are indicative only and are not warranted to be a true floor level of the Premises.
27.
Moisture Readings. We shall use our reasonable industry knowledge to assess moisture levels at the Premises. All and any moisture testing performed as part of the Services shall be non-invasive and we do not warrant that moisture ingress is not present at the Premises. Where we identify and recommend that invasive moisture testing is required, this is subject to an additional scope of services.
28.
Limited Inspections Where we cannot access an area of your Premises, we shall exclude such area(s) from our final Report.
29.
Building Inspection Report Exclusions A Report shall exclude inspection or reporting on the following (this list is not exhaustive, and any additional exclusions shall be stated in the building inspection report):
a.
Destructive testing; and
b.
Invasive testing (for example: wall opening); and
c.
Weathertightness; and
d.
Excavation; and
e.
Roof areas where access exceeds use of a 3.6m ladder; and
f.
Testing under furniture or appliances; and
g.
Disassembly of equipment or appliances; and
h.
Asbestos testing; and
i.
Live borer, termites or other infestation; and
j.
Concealed, submerged, buried, camouflaged, embedded or otherwise inaccessible components or areas (including but not limited to plumbing, drainage, septic/sewerage, private water, heating, air conditioning, ducting, framing, ventilation, insulation, wiring or reticulated services); and
k.
commentary, reporting or analysis of minor defects or maintenance requirements (including wear and tear); and
l.
common areas (including at cross-lease Premises, unit titles, multi-unit dwellings); and
m.
sheds and outhouses; and
n.
solar and PV systems; and
o.
building code compliance or other regulatory compliance (including local or territorial consent or resource consents); and
p.
seismic activity; and
q.
any other matter we elect to limit in the Report.
30.
Specialist Recommendations We reserve all rights to include recommendations in a Report for specialist advice or assessments to be performed in respect of matters noted for concern. The contents of our Report are not reliant on such additional independent advice, and you undertake such additional services at your own cost and discretion.
INTRUSIVE TESTING SERVICES
31.
Intrusive Testing Where we recommend intrusive testing to identify locations of water ingress or water leakage and you engage us to perform this service, the following shall apply:
a.
You shall be required to confirm your consent on behalf of you and all other homeowners to remove core samples of framing to perform the testing; and
b.
our intrusive testing shall not be relied upon as a weathertightness report, assessment or opinion in any way.
HEALTHY HOMES REPORT SERVICES
32.
Report Compliance Healthy homes inspection Reports are prepared in accordance with the Healthy Homes Standards.
33.
Visual Inspection Healthy homes inspections are based on visual inspections only and are limited to the nominated aspects of the Premises as prescribed by the Healthy Homes Standards, these being:
a.
Heating; and
b.
Insulation; and
c.
Ventilation; and
d.
Moisture Ingress and drainage; and
e.
Draught stopping.
34.
Healthy Homes Report Exclusions A healthy homes inspection is limited to the five aspects listed above and does not comment or report on the following (this list is not exhaustive, and any additional exclusions shall be stated in the healthy homes Report):
a.
other identifiable issues that may affect wellbeing or health of occupants of residential tenancy Premises.; and
b.
probe or destructive testing; and
c.
Testing under furniture or appliances; and
d.
Disassembly of equipment or appliances; and
e.
any other matter we elect to limit in the Report.
USE OF REPORTS
35.
Reliance The information and contents of any Report is confidential and is for your exclusive use and that of any nominated additional addressee and is valid as at the date of issue only. We disclaim all responsibility and accept no liability for use of a Report by any party other than you or a specified addressee agreed as at the date of the Cost Estimate/Quote or as later agreed by us in writing.
36.
Report-Addressee You are prohibited from altering the addressee of a Report and must obtain our express consent to re-issue any Report to alternative or additional addressee. This may be subject to an additional fee.
37.
No Future Warranty A Report provides our opinion as at the date of the applicable inspection. Any Report or assessment provided in connection with the Services is not a warranty against any issues, defects or problems which may have not been identified via a visual inspection or that may develop after the date of performance of the Services.
BUILDER’S WALKTRHOUGH SERVICE
38.
No Report Basis Our ‘builder’s walkthrough service’ is an accompanied tour of a property nominated by the Client. Any observations of works or remedial actions made by us or our Personnel are supplied on an ‘as is’ basis via a visual inspection and is supplied on a ‘no report basis’. You accept and acknowledge that we or our Personnel shall not supply any written report in connection with this category of service. To avoid doubt, this service is not a Building Inspection Report Service and shall not be supplied to the level of detail to meet the NZS Standard 4306:2005 Residential Property Inspection (published by Standards New Zealand).
39.
No Reliance We accept no responsibility for your reliance or that of any third-party in respect of our verbal comments and observations supplied during a ‘builder’s walkthrough’ service.
PAYMENTS AND INVOICING
40.
Amounts Owing Payable on Due Date All amounts specified in an invoice will require payment on the due date specified in the invoice (Amounts Owing).
41.
Invoice Payable Prior to Report Release All amounts specified in your invoice are payable in advance of release of a Report unless expressly agreed otherwise by us in writing.
42.
Third Party Card Handling Fees We reserve the right to on-charge any third-party transaction fees associated with online card payment to your invoice or online payments. These may be subject to change without notice and the applicable % shall be published on our website or invoices. This shall be current as at the date of the applicable booking.
43.
No Set Off or Deduction Payment of Amounts Owing Amounts Owing which are due and payable must be made without set-off or deduction of any kind.
44.
If You Dispute the Amount Owing If you receive an invoice and you consider you owe us a lesser amount than the sum stated as the Amount Owing, you must notify us within five (5) Business Days of receiving our invoice.
45.
Duty to Pay Undisputed Amounts Owing You acknowledge and agree that you will not be entitled to withhold payment in respect of any undisputed Amount Owing.
46.
Overdue Amounts Owing If you do not pay an Amount Owing by the Due Date or any later date we have agreed in writing, this becomes an Overdue Amount Owing. After a period of 5 (five) Business Days, we shall have the right to apply late payment interest at a rate of 5%. This shall be calculated daily and compound monthly at that rate if we elect to do this. This applies before and after any judgment (if applicable).
47.
Debt Collection or Recovery Costs If an Overdue Amount Owing remains unpaid for 14 (fourteen) Business Days or more, we reserve our rights to engage the services of a debt collection agency or solicitor to take proceedings to recover the Overdue Amount Owing. You will be liable for the costs incurred by us in the collection of any unpaid amounts including but not limited to legal costs, debt collection fees and internal administration fees.
48.
Administration Fees In the event we are obliged to perform any additional actions to recover any monies owed by you, we reserve the right to apply reasonable administrative fees for phone calls, texts, emails and in-person visits to follow up and recover any Overdue Amount Owing in addition to any costs or expenses stated in any clauses above.
VARIATIONS
49.
Variations to Price We reserve the right to issue a Variation Order to change the price to complete the Services where an extension to the Premises area is requested that extends the number of dwellings at the Premises on which we have provided our Quote/Cost Estimate.
CANCELLATION AND MISSED APPOINTMENT FEES
50.
Missed Appointment Fees Where we attend your Premises on the agreed date and time, and you fail to make the necessary arrangements or meet your Customer Obligations to enable us to perform our Services, the Missed Appointment Fee published on our Cost Estimate/Quote issued to you shall be invoiced to you.
51.
Cancellation by You Where you request a cancellation of a Service, you must provide us with no less than forty-eight (48) hours’ notice. Where such notice is not supplied, we reserve the right to deduct an amount equivalent to the Missed Appointment Fee published on our Cost Estimate/Quote issued to you and shall refund the balance to you.
52.
Cancellation by Us Without prejudice to our other remedies at law, we reserve our rights to terminate this Contract (which includes any part the Services that remain unfulfilled) and shall not be liable to you for any delay, loss or damage suffered by you due to us exercising our rights under this clause, where:
a.
Inability to Access Premises we are denied access to or are unable to access the Premises to carry out the Services for whatever reason and we cannot reschedule to access at a later date; and
b.
Health and safety where we assess that the means of access to the Premises or the whole or part of the Premises is unsafe and would breach the relevant safety requirements under applicable health and safety legislation, and such safety concerns or issues cannot or will not be remedied by you.
c.
No consent Where we cannot obtain consent from you to perform invasive testing (where applicable).
53.
Payment of a Missed Appointment Fee Where this clause is relied upon, we reserve the right to do one of the following:
a.
If no re-booking is made deduct an amount equivalent to the Missed Appointment Fee published on our Cost Estimate/Quote issued to you from your fee and shall refund the balance of any pre-payment to you if the service is not re-booked at a later date.; or
b.
If you re-book your appointment to issue an invoice to you for our published Missed Appointment Fee which shall become immediately due and payable prior to our attendance at your re-scheduled appointment.
LIMITATION OF OUR LIABILITY
54.
Limit of Liability Our total aggregate liability to you arising out of or in connection with the Services whether in contract, any indemnity, tort (including negligence) by statute or otherwise at law or in equity is limited to an amount equivalent to the value of the applicable Services performed under these terms.
55.
Exclusion of Our Liability To the fullest extent permitted by law, and subject to our obligations under any applicable law that imposes guarantees on us, we exclude all liability to you for any indirect claims, expenses, losses, damages and costs (including any incidental, special and/or consequential damages or loss of profits, loss of anticipated savings or loss of expenses suffered or incurred by you resulting (either directly or indirectly) in connection with the Services.
56.
When Limitations of Liability Cannot Apply These clauses do not limit our liability to the extent that it cannot be limited at law and/or arises out of or in connection with any wilful default, fraud or criminal conduct by us.
57.
Force Majeure We shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform the Services due to a force majeure event. For the purposes of these terms, “force majeure” means an event or circumstance which leads to a default of either party under this Contract due to any act of God, war, terrorism, strike, lock-out, industrial action, fire, flood, storm, port closure or border closure plus any national or global pandemic effects, including, for the avoidance of doubt, any default due to any implementation of any regulation, directive, rule or measure by any government, state or other authority under the governing law of this Contract.
DISPUTE
58.
Details of the Dispute must be Supplied If you or we consider that a dispute has arisen in relation to any matter governed by this Contract, you must give us written notice outlining the basis of the dispute within ten (10) Business Days of the date of the Report.
59.
Remedy Where we agree a remedy is available, your remedies are limited to a re-performance of the Services or a refund of the amounts payable (at our discretion).
PRIVACY
60.
You authorise us and our agents to collect, use, retain and disclose “personal information” (as defined in Part 1, section 7 of the Privacy Act 2020) about you and your personnel that you or they provide to us for the following purposes:
a.
assessing creditworthiness and exercising our rights and/or performing our obligations under this Contract; and/or
b.
direct marketing purposes (including by email and other electronic means), unless you notify us that you do not wish to receive direct marketing from us; and/or
c.
using the services of credit reporting and debt collection agencies and you consent to us disclosing personal information (including any information about default and repayment; and/or
d.
history) to a credit reporter, who may hold that information and use it to provide its credit reporting services; and/or
e.
registering any Security Interest under this Contract; and/or
f.
the use or transfer of personal information to a Related Company (as such term is defined by Companies Act 1993) in connection with the performance of our obligations or exercise of our rights under this Contract.
61.
The clause above is authority and consent from you in accordance with sections in Part 3, Part 7, subpart 1 and all other relevant sections in the Privacy Act 2020.
62.
You (if you are an individual) have the right under sections in Part 4, subpart 1 and Part 4, subpart 2 of the Privacy Act 2020 to access, and request correction of, any of your personal information held by us and if you provide any personal information about a third party (including your Personnel) to us, you confirm that you are authorised to do so by the relevant individual and you have informed the relevant individual that they have the right to contact us to access and, if applicable, request correction of any personal information that we hold about them.
GENERAL
63.
Governing Law This Contract shall be governed by the laws of New Zealand and the parties irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand.
64.
Severability If and to the extent any provision or part of a provision is illegal or unenforceable, such provision or part of a provision will be severed from this Contract and will not affect the continued operation of the remaining provisions of this Contract.
65.
Entire Agreement This Contract sets out the entire agreement between the parties.
66.
Electronic Acceptance The parties agree that any legal requirement may be met by using electronic means in accordance with the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017. In this clause the term “legal requirement” has the meaning given to it by section 219(2) of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.
END OF TERMS