Terms & Conditions

1. Definitions and Interpretation

• In these Terms and Conditions, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings:
  • “Consumer” is as defined in the Consumer Rights Act 2015;
  • “Contract” means the contract formed when you accept our Quotation or place an order with us;
  • “Customer/you/your” means you, the Consumer or business accepting our Quotation or placing an order with us;
  • “Materials” means the materials required for the provision of the Services as specified in the Quotation;
  • “Property” means the property at which the works detailed in the Quotation are to be carried out;
  • “Quotation” means our verbal or written quotation to provide the Services, which unless otherwise stated, remains open for acceptance for a period of 30 days and constitutes our entire scope of works; and
  • “Services” means the plumbing and heating services we will provide as specified in the Quotation.
• Each reference in these Terms and Conditions to:
  • “writing” and “written” includes emails and text messages;
  • a statute or provision of a statute is a reference to that statute or provision as amended or re-enacted at the relevant time;
  • “these Terms and Conditions” is a reference to these Terms and Conditions as may be amended or supplemented at the relevant time; and
  • a clause is a reference to a clause of these Terms and Conditions.
• The headings used in these Terms and Conditions are for convenience only and do not affect their interpretation. Words signifying the singular number will include the plural and vice versa. References to persons includes corporations.

2. Quotations

• We will provide you with a Quotation before carrying out any Services. For emergency and small one-off works, this may be over the phone and you can accept our Quotation verbally. For all other works, our Quotation will be in writing, via email or via our accounting software, and you will need to accept it in writing.
• When you accept our Quotation, or place an order with us, a legally binding Contract will be formed, which will include these Terms and Conditions.
• No terms or conditions referred to by you in any way will vary or add to these Terms and Conditions unless we agree otherwise in writing.
• Our Quotation is based on the information you provide to us at the time we prepare it. If any errors become evident which affect the price we have quoted, we reserve the right to make changes to it.
• Our Quotation is based on our Services being carried out during normal working hours (Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm excluding public holidays). Works required outside of these hours will incur additional costs.

3. Services

• We will ensure that our Services are rendered with reasonable care and skill, in accordance with our accepted Quotation.
• If we agree a programme with you, this is to be treated as an estimate only and unless we state otherwise in writing, we will have no obligation to complete our Services by a specific date.
• We will ensure that no parts of the Property suffer damage as a result of our Services. Any damage that may occur will be made good at no additional expense to you before the Services are completed. However, if existing sanitary ware needs to be removed and later reinstated, we cannot be held responsible for any unavoidable damage which might occur.
• Please be aware that central heating flushing to remove debris from a central heating system can, on rare occasions, expose previously undetected faults, weak points or breaches in the system. We cannot be held responsible for any such pre-existing conditions which might be revealed, or for any resulting damage which might occur, unless we caused it.
• We will dispose of all waste that results from our Services, unless otherwise agreed.
• When we start the works, we may discover that extra works are needed that we could not have foreseen when we sent our Quotation, for example, if we discover asbestos in the area. In this case, we will provide you with a further Quotation to carry out the extra work. If you do not accept the revised price or any proposed changes within 14 days, the Contract between us will be cancelled. You will only be liable to pay for the works we carried out up to the date of cancellation, except as set out in clauses 8 and 9.

4. Materials

• If we provide Materials as part of the Services, then the responsibility (also known as the “risk”) for the Materials remains with us until they have been delivered to the Property, at which point it will pass to you. Once the risk in the Materials has passed to you, you are responsible for storing them safely and for insuring them against their full replacement value. You will only own the Materials once we have received payment in full for our Services in accordance with clauses 5 and 6.
• If you are supplying any Materials, we accept no responsibility for them or for any faults in them. If we are delayed in carrying out our Services because of such Materials (if, for example, their delivery is delayed or we need extra labour to install them), we reserve the right to charge for costs incurred by us as a result. Any return visits required due to faults in any Materials supplied by you will be chargeable.

5. Fees and Payment

• When you accept our Quotation, you will need to pay a deposit of 25% of the quoted price, unless we agree otherwise. We will not be able to arrange a date for the Services to be carried out until the deposit is paid in full.
• The final amount is payable on the day the Services are complete. However, we reserve the right t0 invoice by way of staged payments as the works progress and in this case, we will detail this in our Quotation.
• Payment is to be made by bank transfer, card, cash or cheque.
• All invoices are payable no later than 7 days from the date of invoice, without set-off, withholding, retention or deduction.
• All our fees include VAT, unless otherwise stated. If the rate of VAT changes, we will adjust the amount of VAT that you must pay.
• If payment is not made by the due date, we will have the right to charge interest on the outstanding amount at a rate of 4% per annum above the Bank of England base rate, accruing on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment.
• We may refuse to provide any further Services until the outstanding payment has been received and we cannot be held liable for any delays caused as a result.
• Any variation must be agreed in writing before we can proceed with the works and any changes in price as a result will be payable as set out above.

6. Finance

• ACF Plumbing and Heating Limited is an Introducer Appointed Representative (Financial Services Register No. 804648) of Phoenix Financial Consultants Limited (Phoenix). Phoenix is a credit broker, not a lender. Phoenix is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 539195) and offers finance from its panel of lenders. All finance subject to status and credit checks.
• https://www.phoenix-fc.co.uk/finance_landing?b=B52E448A33AF40E9&t=815A379BAA644CA09468089A

7. Your Responsibilities

• You are responsible for ensuring that:
  • the Property is suitable for our Services to be carried out (we cannot be held responsible for any pre-existing faults or damage in or to your Property that we may discover while providing the Services);
  • we can access the Property on the agreed dates and at the agreed times to provide the Services. Our price is based on being able to complete our Services in one continuous visit or where we are carrying out our Services in phases, each phased visit is to be continuous;
  • if any consents, licences or other permissions are needed from any third parties such as landlords, planning authorities, local authorities or similar, these have been obtained by you before we begin the Services; and
  • we have access to welfare facilities, gas and water, at no cost to us, to enable us to carry out our Services.
• If you fail to comply with any of your responsibilities outlined in clause 7.1 above, we will not be liable for any delays as a result and we reserve the right to recover any costs incurred by us, such as for storage of Materials or non-productive visits to the Property.

8. Cooling Off Period – Consumers Only

• If you are a Consumer, you have a statutory right to a cooling off period. This period begins once the Contract is formed (as set out in clause 2) and ends at the end of 14 calendar days after that date.
• If you wish to cancel the Contract within the cooling off period, you should inform us immediately using the contact details provided with our Quotation. You may use our model cancellation form but you do not have to.
• You will meet the cancellation deadline as long as you have sent your cancellation notice before the 14 days have expired.
• If you cancel within this period, you will receive a full refund of any amount already paid to us under the Contract. Any refunds will be made within 14 days after the day on which you inform us of the cancellation, using the same method used to make the payment, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise. In any case, you will not incur any fees as a result of the refund.
• If the start date for the works falls within the cooling off period, you must make an express request for the Services to begin within the 14 day cooling off period. By making such a request, you acknowledge and agree to the following:
  • If the Services are completed within the 14 day cooling off period, you will lose the right to cancel once the works are completed;
  • If you cancel the Contract after the Services have begun or after Materials have been purchased, you will be required to pay for those Materials and for any Services supplied up until the point at which you inform us of your wish to cancel.
• Clause 9 applies to cancellation of the Contract after the 14 day cooling off period has elapsed.

9. Other Cancellation Rights

• If you are not a Consumer, or if you are a Consumer and you cancel the Contract after the expiry of the cooling off period above, we need a minimum of 24 hours’ notice before the agreed start date.
• If you do not give us this notice, we reserve the right to retain 10% of the deposit paid and will return the remainder of the deposit to you within 14 days. We will also charge for any Materials we have purchased before the cancellation, and for any other costs and expenses we have incurred.
• We reserve the right to cancel the Contract at any time and will confirm this in writing. If we cancel because you have failed to make any payment to us on time as required under clauses 5 and 6 or because you otherwise materially breached the Contract, we will invoice you for any Services we have provided or Materials we have purchased that you have not yet paid for.

10. Warranty

• We will pass on any manufacturer’s warranty in the Materials to you, where applicable. In the case of boilers, boiler parts and gas cylinders, we will register the warranty once the installation is complete. If those items are removed or changed, the warranty will be void.
• We also provide a 12-month guarantee on labour. If any defects appear due to no fault of yours during this period, you must notify us immediately and allow us access to rectify any and all such defects at no cost to you. Any repair work carried out within the guarantee period will also be covered by the guarantee, but only for the remainder of the original guarantee period. Our guarantee exists in addition to your rights as a Consumer, where applicable. The guarantee is not transferrable.
• Any guarantee and warranty we provide is subject to payment having been received by us in full in accordance with clauses 5 and 6.

11. Events Outside of Our Control (Force Majeure):

We will not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations where the failure or delay results from any cause that is beyond our reasonable control. Such causes include, but are not limited to: adverse weather, power failure, internet service provider failure, industrial action by third parties, riots, civil unrest, fire, flood, storms, earthquakes, acts of terrorism or war, natural disaster, or any other event beyond our reasonable control.

12. Liability

• Subject to this clause 12, we will be responsible for any foreseeable loss or damage that you may suffer as a direct result of our breach of these Terms and Conditions or as a result of our negligence. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence of the breach or negligence or if it is contemplated by you and us when the Contract is entered into. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.
• Nothing in these Terms and Conditions is intended to or will limit or exclude our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
• We will not be liable to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, interruption to business or for any loss of business opportunity.
• Nothing in these Terms and Conditions is intended to or will limit your legal rights as a Consumer, where applicable. For more details of your legal rights, please refer to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.

13. Complaints:

We always aim to ensure that your experience as a customer of ours is positive, however, if you have any cause for complaint, please make this to us in writing. We are members of the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (“APHC”) and will follow their complaints procedure if this occurs. We will need you to grant us access to investigate and/or remedy any complaint. If we do not resolve the issue to your satisfaction, you can raise this directly with the APHC.

14. How We Use Your Personal Information:

All personal information that we may collect (including, but not limited to, your name and address) will be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016.

15. Other Important Terms

• We may transfer (assign) our obligations and rights under these Terms and Conditions (and under the Contract, as applicable) to a third party (if for example, if we sell our business). If this occurs you will be informed by us in writing. Your rights under these Terms and Conditions will not be affected and our obligations under these Terms and Conditions will be transferred to the third party who will remain bound by them. We are also free to us sub-contractors and we will be responsible for each act and omission of any sub-contractor as if it were an act or omission of ours.
• You may not transfer (assign) your obligations and rights under these Terms and Conditions (and under the Contract, as applicable) without our express written permission.
• The Contract is between you and us. It is not intended to benefit any other person or third party in any way and no such person or party will be entitled to enforce any provision of these Terms and Conditions.
• Any part of these Terms and Conditions found to be unlawful, invalid or otherwise unenforceable would be severed from our Contract. The validity and enforceability of the remaining parts of the Contract would not be affected.
• If the rights under these Terms and Conditions are not exercised or enforced following a breach of contract by you or us, this does not mean that either of us has waived our right to do so at a later date.

16. Law and Jurisdiction

• These Terms and Conditions and the relationship between you and us will in all respects be subject to and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
• Any dispute, claim or proceedings between you and us relating to the Contract or these Terms and Conditions will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.