Terms of engagement

About these terms

They describe how Datum Forge Ltd (company number 17350432) works with clients, in plain English. Each piece of paid work is done under its own written agreement, and that agreement, not this page, sets the terms of that work. Where this page and an agreement differ, the agreement wins.

This website

It is information, not advice. We try to keep it accurate and we correct it when it is not. Nothing on it is an offer to do work at a price, and nothing on it warrants that any system will produce any particular result.

The free call

The first call is free, lasts about forty-five minutes, and carries no obligation on either side. The build ballpark we give on it is an estimate given in the room to size the problem, not a quotation, and we say which one you are holding.

The design stage

Paid design work is done under a design agreement signed before it starts. Its main terms, which the agreement sets out in full:

• The fee for the design stage is set out in the agreement, agreed in writing before any work starts, and is paid before we start rather than invoiced on delivery; for larger fees the agreement may split payment between the start and delivery.
• The fee buys the design document: a written specification of what the system is, what it does, what it costs to build and what it costs to run.
• Until the fee is paid in full, the document is ours and you have no licence to use it, including putting it into any AI model or machine-learning system. On payment in full, all rights in it pass to you automatically, and you may do what you like with it, including having someone else build from it.
• The fee is not refundable and is not credited against any build, with one exception: if we fail to deliver the document, we refund what you paid for what you did not receive.
• A recommendation not to build is a legitimate outcome of the design stage and is given with reasons.
• We promise reasonable skill and care and our honest professional judgement. We do not promise that the system will be built, that it will produce any particular saving or return, that any estimate will prove accurate, or that the document is exhaustive. Running-cost figures depend on third-party prices we do not control and are illustrative at the date of the document.
• Any build is a separate agreement on separate terms, and nothing in the design agreement pre-agrees them.

The build

Done under a separate written agreement, quoted against the design document. On handover the system is yours and the software it runs on is licensed to you, as described on our How we work page and in our Ownership and IP position; the build agreement sets the exact terms, including the licence and the handover of the accounts.

Care

Optional, under its own terms, priced separately from the build, and never a condition of the system continuing to work.

Confidentiality

Each side keeps the other’s confidential information confidential and uses it only for the work. What you tell us about your business is yours; our methods and our pricing are ours.

Liability

Nothing limits liability for anything the law does not allow to be limited.

Who we work with

We work with businesses.

Tax

Amounts in any agreement are stated exclusive of VAT where VAT applies.

Law

England and Wales, and its courts.