Terms & Conditions

 

1. Structural Consulting Services Ltd, also known as SCS, is registered in England as a limited liability company with registration number 12318878. Registered office address is 71-75 Shelton Street, London, Greater London, WC2H 9JQ.

2. Any work undertaken by SCS will be in the form of a ‘Contract for Services’ and will be initiated in writing via a written design brief or detailed specification clearly identifying the scope of works and design criteria to be adopted. For clarification, the use of ‘work’ in this document is the intellectual undertaking carried out by SCS or its personnel for the purpose of completing (in full or in part) a written request of the Customer. “Work" means the (construction) project in respect of which the Services are to be provided.

3. It remains the responsibility of the Customer to clearly identify the scope and their requirements. Where SCS are required to interpret requirements due to poor or missing information any presentation will be a ‘best guess’ of requirements and as such will not be liable for subsequent revisions or omissions in any way, in whole or in part.

4. Work undertaken by SCS will take the form of permanent works design and will be undertaken in accordance with relevant industry standards and codes of practice.

5. In no circumstances shall the liability of the Company to the Client (or any third party claiming through the Client) whether in contract or in tort (including but not limited to negligence) or for breach of statutory duty or otherwise (except in respect of death or personal injury) exceed the lesser of:

   • ​5 times our Fee; or

   • an amount equal to the proportion of the loss or damage suffered by the Client which is caused by the Company’s negligence or breach of contract calculated on the basis that all other consultants and contractors engaged in relation to the Project shall be deemed to have provided contractual undertakings on terms no less onerous than those of the Company in respect of their respective services or work and shall be deemed to have paid the Client the contribution for which each of them would have been liable pursuant to those undertakings;

   • the amount recoverable under our professional indemnity insurance.

6. We currently maintain the following insurance policies: Professional Indemnity: £1,000,000. Information concerning the Company’s professional indemnity insurance will be supplied upon request.

7. SCS Ltd and employees shall not be liable for any lost profits or any claim or demand against Client by any other party.  In no event shall SCS Ltd be liable for special, consequential, or exemplary damages, or for damages due to delay in work.  No action, regardless of form, arising out of the service under this Agreement, may be brought by the client for more than two (2) years after the act or omission giving rise to a cause of action has occurred.

8. SCS Ltd  shall have no liability to the Client (or to any third party claiming through the Client) whether in contract or in tort (including but not limited to negligence) or for breach of statutory duty or otherwise for any claim arising in connection with:

   • pollution, contamination, terrorism, asbestos or any related risk or

   • designs or reports prepared by other professionals and specialist sub-contractors/suppliers.

9. Work will usually take the form of, but may not be limited to, site visits, full design calculations and preparation of PDF drawings.

10. Where work is initiated via a site visit or inspection this event will be deemed to be limited to a site orientation exercise for SCS, and in no way represents an exercise to record, capture or survey all design relevant information unless specifically advised in advance by the client to SCS.

11. SCS cannot be held responsible for any decision made by approved Building Control Officers or delegated service providers and the liability of SCS is limited to the design of the specific elements designed.

12. SCS cannot be held responsible for any other parts of the structure other than the specifics we have designed for.

13. All dimensions should be obtained or verified by accurate site measurement.

14. If, once the work commences on site it is discovered that the details and form of construction and span direction of floors and roofs differ from the assumptions made within the design calculations, we are to be informed immediately and prior to undertaking any further works, in order to advise on how to proceed.  No liability will be assumed for construction which is not in accordance with our design.

15. If queries are raised on the design related to the work undertaken by SCS are raised by the Building Control officer, we will deal with these as quickly and efficiently as possible. There will not normally be any additional charge for this work.

16. SCS design liability is explicitly limited to the scope of work as described within the design brief or specification. Departures from SCS documents without prior consent of the SCS engineering director may invalidate the design liability of SCS.

17. SCS design will not be issued retrospective of any activity described within it commencing on site. In such circumstances, an ‘As-Built’ status can be requested, however SCS reserve the right not to design indemnify such structures where they feel the structure significantly departs from current standards and codes of practice.

18. If your project involves the design of a foundation or retaining wall and you have not communicated to us what the existing ground conditions are like on site, then we will assume a typical ground type/strength (e.g. firm clay or medium dense sand). It is the responsibility of your Building Control Officer to inspect the ground conditions prior to the commencement of work. For larger projects (e.g. new-build developments) it may be advisable to carry out a site investigation prior to instruction. Unless specifically noted, the quote does not allow for "engineered" e.g. piled or raft type foundations. It allows for spread type foundations only.

19. All work undertaken by SCS is liable to be charged at the advised hourly rate unless otherwise agreed in advance in writing.

20. Work can be terminated without notice at any stage by either party in writing. In this instance an invoice will be raised for work undertaken to date and the work will remain incomplete.

21. All work remains the property of SCS and must not be copied, disclosed, or distributed without the written consent of an SCS director.

22. All work will be issued in PDF format via e-mail for efficiency.

23. SCS reserve the right to retain work and not issue it or any associated information in the event of non, incomplete, or late payment.

24. Our payment terms are strictly 20 days from date of invoice or application for payment.

25. Any invoice queries are to be raised in writing to SCS within 7 working days of the invoice issue date.

26. SCS reserves the right to charge late payment compensation as well as interest on overdue amounts, the latter at the rate of two percent per month above current base rate to run from the due date for payment until receipt by SCS of the full amount, including any such interest charged, whether or not after judgement

27. The Agreement shall be governed by English law.