Sheet 03 · Legal

Terms and conditions

Last updated 10 September 2026

1. The quote

Every quote is written, itemised by stage, and names the materials by manufacturer and specification. It is valid for 60 days from the date on it. After that we will re-price it rather than honour a figure that no longer covers the timber.

The quote is fixed. The price on the quote is the price on the invoice. The only things that move it are set out in clause 3, and each of them is agreed with you in writing before the work is done.

Site visits and quotes are free within thirty miles of the workshop in Dollar. Beyond that we will tell you before we set off whether there is a charge.

2. Accepting the quote

A job is booked when you accept the quote in writing, by email or by signing and returning it. A date in the diary held over the phone is a pencil line, not a contract, and we will say so at the time.

You are entering into a contract at your home rather than at a business premises, so under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you have 14 days to cancel without giving a reason. If you ask us in writing to start inside that 14 days and then cancel, you pay for what has already been done and for any materials cut, ordered or made to your specification.

3. When a fixed price moves

Three things, and only three.

1. You change the scope. Another socket, a different worktop, a wall that was going to stay. We price the change, you agree it in writing, and it goes on the invoice as its own line.
2. Something was hidden. Rot under the floor, a lintel that is not there, a drain where the drawings said there was none. We stop, show you, price the extra and wait for your answer. We do not carry on and put it on the bill.
3. A provisional sum is settled. Where the quote could not fix a figure it says provisional against that line, with the assumption we used. When the real figure is known you get it in writing, and the difference goes either way.

Anything else is ours to absorb. A job that takes us longer than we thought is our problem, not yours.

4. Payment

• We never ask for money for labour before we start.
• On larger jobs there is a materials payment once the order is placed, for kitchen units, steels, windows or made-to-order joinery. It is the actual cost of those materials and the order confirmations come with the request.
• Stage payments fall due as each stage on the quote completes, invoiced within a week of that stage finishing.
• The final payment is due after the snag list is signed off, not before. We write the snag list ourselves and clear it before we issue the invoice.
• Invoices are payable within 14 days by bank transfer. Late payment may carry statutory interest, and we will tell you before we apply it.

5. Programme and access

We give you a dated programme showing what happens in which week, and we start on the day we said. We work 7.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and we are on one job at a time.

We need access on the agreed days, a working supply of water and power, and somewhere to put a skip or a van. If the property cannot be got into on a booked day, or the drive is blocked, we may charge for the wasted day at cost.

Weather, a supplier failure, a building warrant sitting with the council or illness can move a date. We will ring you the same day it happens rather than let a Monday go quiet.

6. Building warrants and approvals

Where a building warrant is required we prepare the drawings and submit the application on your behalf, and the local authority fee is passed on at cost. Approval is the council's decision and its timing is the council's, typically eight to twelve weeks. We cannot promise a date for it and we do not start warrantable work before it is granted.

Planning permission, listed building consent, factor consent, shared-gable agreements and party-wall style arrangements with a neighbour remain your responsibility unless the quote says in writing that we are handling them.

7. Drawings

Setting-out drawings, elevations and warrant drawings we produce stay our copyright. You get a full set for the job, and you may use them for anything to do with that job, including any future work on the property. Passing them to another contractor to price or build the same job is not covered, and we would ask you to commission your own set instead.

8. Materials and timber

Timber is a natural material. Colour, figure and grain vary between boards, and a fitted floor or a worktop will move slightly with the seasons. Small movement, shrinkage gaps opening in a dry winter and doors needing easing are normal and are not defects.

Where you supply the materials, we will fit them, but we cannot guarantee anything about the goods themselves, and if a unit arrives damaged or short the lost day is not on us.

Materials remain our property until they are paid for.

9. The guarantee

We guarantee our workmanship for ten years from the date of the final invoice, in writing, as a real document issued with the handover pack. If something we did fails in that time, ring us and we come back and put it right at no charge.

Manufacturer warranties on the products we install, appliances, windows, doors, ironmongery, are separate and we hand you the paperwork for all of them.

The guarantee does not cover fair wear and tear, accidental or impact damage, damage from a leak or a failure elsewhere in the building, work altered by somebody else afterwards, or the normal seasonal movement of timber described in clause 8. Nothing here affects your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

10. Insurance and liability

We carry £5m public liability and £10m employers' liability insurance, and we will email the certificates with the quote if you ask. We are registered waste carriers and we take our own waste away.

We are responsible for loss or damage we cause. We are not responsible for pre-existing defects we did not touch, or for losses that were not a foreseeable result of something we did. Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud.

11. If something goes wrong

Ring the workshop first, on 01632 960118, or email [email protected]. We answer within one working day. Most things are settled with a visit.

If we cannot settle it between us you may take it to an alternative dispute resolution scheme, and we will tell you which one applies. These terms are governed by Scots law and the Scottish courts have jurisdiction.

12. This website

The enquiry form on this site is a demonstration. It validates and answers entirely in your browser, sends nothing and stores nothing beyond the two values listed in the privacy policy. Prices shown on it are indicative starting figures from the date above and are not an offer. The only binding figure is the one on a written quote with your name on it.