These terms apply to work we carry out at your home. Please read them before you accept our quotation. If anything here is unclear, ask us and we will explain it.
1. Who we are
1.1
Seastone Driveways & Patios Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16421160. Our registered office is 12g Bath Road, Pitchcroft Lane, Worcester, England, WR5 3EJ. In these terms we call ourselves “we”, “us” or “our”, and we call you “you”.
1.2
You can contact us by telephone on 01905 886785, by email at seastonedriveways@gmail.com, or by post at the address above. If we need to contact you we will use the telephone number, email address or postal address you gave us when you accepted the quotation.
1.3
Where these terms say something must be “in writing”, email counts.
2. Our quotation and how the contract is made
2.1
Our quotation sets out the work we will do (the “Works”), the address where we will do it (the “Property”), the materials we will use and the total price. The quotation and these terms together form our contract with you.
2.2
Our quotation is valid for 30 days from its date. After that we may need to re-quote, because material prices change.
2.3
A contract is formed when you accept the quotation in writing, or pay a deposit, whichever happens first. We will confirm your acceptance in writing and send you a copy of these terms, our guarantee and the cancellation form at the same time.
2.4
The quotation is based on the site as we saw it and on the information you gave us. Clause 8 explains what happens if we find something underground that we could not reasonably have known about.
3. Your right to change your mind
3.1
If this contract was made at your home, or at a distance (for example by telephone, email or through our website), you have the right to cancel it within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period ends 14 days after the day the contract was made.
3.2
To cancel, tell us clearly that you have decided to cancel — by post, telephone or email using the contact details in clause 1.2, or by completing the cancellation form we gave you with these terms. You do not have to use the form. To meet the deadline it is enough that you send us your message before the 14 days expire.
3.3
If you cancel we will refund all payments we have received from you, without undue delay and in any event within 14 days of the day you tell us. We will refund using the same method you used to pay, and there will be no fee for the refund.
3.4
Clause 4 explains the one situation in which you may still owe us something: where you asked us to start work inside the 14 day period.
4. Starting work during the cancellation period
4.1
We will not start work during the 14 day cancellation period unless you expressly ask us to, in writing. If you would like us to start sooner, please sign the request at the foot of the cancellation form.
4.2
If you ask us to start early and then cancel within the 14 days, you must pay us a fair proportion of the price, reflecting the work we had actually done up to the moment you told us you were cancelling. We will set that out for you clearly, itemised.
4.3
You will not have to pay anything for work done during the cancellation period if you did not make that request in writing, or if we failed to give you the cancellation information in clause 3.
4.4
Once the Works are fully completed, and if you asked us to start early having acknowledged that you would lose your right to cancel on completion, the cancellation right in clause 3 comes to an end. Your other legal rights — including your rights if the work is faulty — are unaffected.
5. Permissions, planning and site access
5.1
Some driveway work needs permission from someone else. Depending on the job, that may include planning permission, a vehicle crossing (dropped kerb) licence from the highway authority, building regulations approval for drainage, or consent from a landlord, freeholder, management company or neighbour.
5.2
Surface water drainage. In England, laying more than five square metres of impermeable surfacing in a front garden needs planning permission unless the rainwater is directed to a permeable area within the boundary of the Property. Permeable materials such as gravel, permeable block paving, porous asphalt and resin-bound surfaces do not normally need permission. We will tell you, before you accept the quotation, whether the surface we have quoted for is permeable and whether in our view permission is likely to be needed.
5.3
Obtaining the permissions is your responsibility, but we will tell you which ones we believe are needed and we will help you with the technical information you need to apply. If we become aware during the job that a permission is missing, we will stop and tell you.
5.4
You agree to give us reasonable access to the Property during normal working hours (08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Saturday) while the Works are being carried out, and afterwards if we need to come back to inspect or put something right.
5.5
Please tell us before we start about anything under the ground that we would not be able to see — private drains, soakaways, water pipes, electricity or gas supplies, irrigation, cabling, septic tanks, wells or old foundations. We use standard detection equipment and take reasonable care, but we cannot be responsible for damage to buried services that you knew about and did not tell us about, or that were installed at a non-compliant depth or in a non-standard position.
6. How we will carry out the Works
6.1
We will carry out the Works with reasonable care and skill, using materials of satisfactory quality that match the description in the quotation.
6.2
We will keep disruption to a reasonable minimum, keep the site tidy, and remove our waste lawfully. You should expect some noise, dust and disturbance to the Property and its access routes while we are working — this is unavoidable on groundwork of this kind.
6.3
We will follow your reasonable instructions provided they are consistent with the quotation and with these terms.
6.4
We may make minor changes to the specification to reflect improvements in materials or methods, or to comply with a change in law or safety standards. We will only do this where the change does not reduce the quality, performance or appearance of the finished Works. If a change would make a noticeable difference, we will tell you first and you may cancel without charge for the part not yet done.
7. Appearance, natural variation and weathering
7.1
Paving, stone, resin and aggregate are not manufactured to a single uniform appearance. Slight differences in colour, shade, texture and size between batches, and between the sample you saw and the finished surface, are normal and are not a defect. Where we can, we will show you a sample of the actual batch before we lay it.
7.2
Efflorescence — a temporary white bloom that appears on the surface of products containing cement — is a natural process. It is not harmful, does not affect performance, and weathers off over time. It is not covered by our guarantee, though the manufacturer’s own warranty may apply.
7.3
Some elements are laid or cut by hand. Very occasionally a small mark is made during installation. We will point out anything of that kind at handover and put right anything that is more than superficial.
7.4
Nothing in this clause 7 affects your legal right to a surface that is of satisfactory quality and matches the description we gave you.
8. Ground conditions and unforeseen work
8.1
Our price assumes normal sub-soil and no hidden obstructions. If when we excavate we find something we could not reasonably have anticipated — rock, running sand, unstable ground, made ground, contaminated material, an unmarked service, inadequate existing foundations, a spring or a high water table — extra work may be needed.
8.2
If that happens we will stop, explain what we have found, and give you a written price for the additional work before we carry it out. We will not charge you for additional work you have not agreed to in writing.
8.3
If the agreed additional cost would take the total more than 10% above the quoted price, you may cancel the contract. If you do, you pay only for (a) the work properly carried out up to that point, (b) making the site safe and reasonably reinstated, and (c) materials already ordered specifically for your job that we cannot return or reuse. We will provide evidence of those costs. We will not charge you a cancellation fee on top.
8.4
If you ask us to do additional work beyond the quotation — extra square metreage, steps, walls, drainage, lighting — we will agree a written price for it first. Those additions are then carried out on these same terms.
9. Price, VAT and measurement
9.1
The total price is the figure shown on the quotation. The quotation states whether VAT applies and, if it does, the price shown includes it.
9.2
The price is fixed except where clause 8 (unforeseen ground conditions) or clause 8.4 (work you ask us to add) applies. We will not increase the price for any other reason after you have accepted the quotation.
9.3
We measure the site ourselves before quoting. Where we have had to rely on measurements you supplied and those turn out to be materially wrong, we will re-measure, tell you the corrected price, and give you the choice of proceeding at the corrected price or cancelling and paying only for work already properly done.
9.4
Where the quotation includes walling, the area is measured from the footing rather than from ground level, because the footing is the part we build. We will show this on the quotation so you can see how the figure is made up.
10. Payment
10.1
Unless the quotation says otherwise, payment is due as follows:
(a)
a deposit on acceptance, in the amount shown on the quotation, to secure your place in the schedule and cover materials ordered specifically for your job;
(b)
a stage payment on completion of the groundwork and sub-base, in the amount shown on the quotation; and
(c)
the balance within 7 days of the date we complete the Works.
10.2
We accept payment by bank transfer to the account shown on our invoice. We will never ask you to send money to a different account by email — if you receive a message that appears to be from us giving new bank details, do not pay it; telephone us on 01905 886785 to check.
10.3
You may withhold a reasonable and proportionate amount from the final payment if there is outstanding snagging work, provided you tell us in writing what it is. You should not withhold the whole balance for a minor item.
10.4
If a payment is more than 14 days late we may charge interest on the overdue amount at 3% a year above the Bank of England base rate, accruing daily from the due date until payment. We may also recover the reasonable costs we actually incur in recovering the debt, up to a maximum of £150, on production of evidence of those costs.
10.5
We will not enter the Property to remove or damage completed work because payment is outstanding. If you do not pay, our remedy is to pursue the debt through the courts.
11. Timing
11.1
We will give you an estimated start date and an estimated duration. These are estimates, and groundwork is weather-dependent, so they may move.
11.2
We will begin the Works within a reasonable time and in any event no later than 8 weeks after the estimated start date, unless clause 12 applies or you ask us to delay. If we have not started by then, you may cancel and we will refund everything you have paid.
11.3
We will contact you before we intend to start. If you need to postpone, tell us as soon as you can — we will accommodate a delay of up to 14 days where our schedule allows.
11.4
We will carry out the Works within a reasonable time.
12. Events outside our control
12.1
We are not responsible for delays caused by events genuinely outside our reasonable control — for example severe or prolonged adverse weather, flooding, industrial action, failure of utility or transport networks, or a supplier’s failure or late delivery where we cannot reasonably source elsewhere.
12.2
If such an event happens we will tell you as soon as we can and agree a revised timetable with you. If the delay lasts longer than 4 weeks, either of us may cancel the contract; you pay only for work properly carried out up to that point and we refund the rest.
12.3
This clause does not cover things within our control, such as us taking on too much work, our own equipment maintenance, or changes you have asked us to make. Those are dealt with under clause 11.
13. Looking after the Works after we finish
13.1
When we finish we will walk the job with you, hand over written aftercare instructions, and tell you the curing and trafficking times for the materials we have used. Please follow them — driving or parking on a new surface too early is the most common cause of avoidable damage.
13.2
From completion, day-to-day care and maintenance of the Works is your responsibility. That includes cleaning, re-sanding joints where relevant, keeping drainage clear, occasional re-pointing, and removing weeds and moss.
13.3
Airborne weed and moss seed settling into jointing sand is a fact of every paved surface and is not a defect.
14. Photographs, signage and your personal information
14.1
We would like to photograph or film the finished Works for our portfolio, website and social media. We will only do so if you tick the consent box on the quotation. You can say no, and it will make no difference to the price or to how we do the job.
14.2
If you do consent, we will obscure house numbers, street names and vehicle registrations, and we will not identify you. You can withdraw your consent at any time by telling us, and we will remove the images from our own website and social media channels within a reasonable period.
14.3
We would also like to display a board at the Property while we are working. Again, this is optional and there is a box on the quotation.
14.4
We handle your personal information in line with our privacy notice, a copy of which we will give you on request. In short: we use your details to quote, carry out the job, honour the guarantee and comply with our tax and legal obligations, and we do not sell them.
15. Our responsibility to you
15.1
If we fail to comply with these terms we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it is obvious that it will happen, or if we both knew at the time we made the contract that it might.
15.2
We are not responsible for loss or damage that is not foreseeable, and we are not responsible for business losses — this contract is for domestic work, and if you use the Works for a business purpose we have no liability to you for loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or lost business opportunity.
15.3
We do not in any way limit or exclude our liability for:
(a)
death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees, agents or sub-contractors;
(b)
fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
(c)
any breach of your legal rights in relation to the Works, including the right to a service carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time and for a reasonable price, and the right to materials that are of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described; or
(d)
any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
15.4
We are not responsible for damage to the Works caused by: impact or accident; misuse or neglect; use inconsistent with a domestic driveway, such as heavy commercial vehicles or plant, where you have not told us to design for that; chemicals, oils, fuels, bleach, de-icing salt or other contaminants applied by you or a third party; alteration or repair carried out by someone other than us or a contractor we have approved; ground movement, subsidence, tree root activity or heave originating outside the Works; or your failure to follow the aftercare instructions we gave you.
15.5
We maintain public liability insurance. We will show you the certificate on request.
16. Guarantee
16.1
We give a 5 year guarantee on our workmanship, on the terms set out in our separate guarantee document. We will give you a signed copy of it when you make the final payment.
16.2
The guarantee is in addition to your legal rights and does not replace them. If something is wrong with the Works you can rely on your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 whether or not the guarantee applies.
17. If something goes wrong
17.1
Please tell us as soon as you can — telephone 01905 886785 or email seastonedriveways@gmail.com. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and give you a substantive response within 28 days.
17.2
If we cannot resolve it between us, we will tell you in writing when we give you our final response, and at that point we will tell you what dispute resolution options are available to you, including any independent alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme we belong to.
17.3
Using a complaints procedure or an ADR scheme does not affect your right to take court proceedings.
18. Cancellation by us
18.1
We may cancel the contract before we start if, having carried out our site survey, we reasonably conclude on technical grounds that the Works cannot be carried out satisfactorily at the Property. We will explain our reasons in writing, share the survey findings with you, and refund everything you have paid in full within 14 days.
18.2
We may also cancel by giving you at least 14 days’ written notice before the start date, in which case we refund everything you have paid in full within 14 days and, if you have incurred reasonable and evidenced costs as a direct result of our cancellation at short notice, we will cover those too.
18.3
We may cancel or suspend if you are in serious breach of these terms — for example if you do not give us access after we have asked in writing, or a payment is more than 30 days overdue — but only after we have written to you explaining the problem and given you at least 14 days to put it right.
19. Other important terms
19.1
We may use sub-contractors to carry out part of the Works. We remain responsible to you for the whole of the Works, including anything a sub-contractor does.
19.2
We may transfer this contract to another business, but only if we tell you in writing first and it does not affect your rights. You may transfer your rights under our guarantee to a person who buys the Property — see clause 11 of the guarantee.
19.3
This contract is between you and us. Except as set out in clause 11 of the guarantee, no other person has any rights to enforce it under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
19.4
If a court decides any part of these terms is unlawful or unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.
19.5
If we do not insist immediately that you do something you are required to do, or delay in taking action against you, that does not prevent us from doing so later.
19.6
The contract consists of the quotation, these terms, our guarantee and the aftercare instructions. If there is a conflict between them, the quotation takes priority, then these terms. This does not affect anything we told you before you signed that you relied on in deciding to go ahead — if we said it, you can hold us to it.
19.7
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and you can bring court proceedings in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland you may also bring proceedings in Scotland, and if you live in Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in Northern Ireland.