1. About these terms
These terms apply to your use of the PlumbLedger website (plumbledger.com.au), to enquiries submitted through it, and to estimating services we agree to provide. PlumbLedger (ABN 73 634 719 706) provides plumbing estimating services from Sydney, New South Wales. By using this website or submitting an enquiry, you agree to these terms. How we handle your information is set out separately in our Privacy Policy.
Sections 1 to 4 and 20 to 22 deal mainly with website use. The remaining sections deal with paid estimating engagements.
2. Website use
- Use this website only for lawful purposes connected with enquiring about or engaging our estimating services.
- Do not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the website, the administration area, stored enquiries or stored documents.
- Do not upload material that is unlawful, harmful, or that you do not have the right to share with us.
- We may change, suspend or withdraw the website or any part of it at any time.
This website is provided on an "as is" basis. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted, error free or available at all times, and information on it is general in nature.
3. Tender enquiries and submitted documents
Submitting a tender enquiry is a request for us to review your project documentation. It does not create a contract and does not constitute acceptance of estimating work by PlumbLedger. Following a review we will discuss the estimating scope, our fee and a proposed turnaround before any work begins. We may decline an enquiry.
By uploading documents you confirm you are entitled to provide them to us for the purpose of preparing an estimate. We treat tender documentation and pricing information as confidential and store it privately, as described in our Privacy Policy. There are practical limits on file types and upload sizes, which are shown on the enquiry form; larger packages can be sent directly to tenders@plumbledger.com.au.
4. Website enquiry is not an engagement
Submitting an enquiry through this website, uploading a tender, or emailing documents to us does not create an estimating engagement and does not reserve our time.
An estimating engagement begins only after all of the following have occurred:
- We have reviewed the project.
- The scope of estimating services has been agreed.
- The estimating fee has been confirmed in writing.
- The proposed turnaround has been agreed.
- You have accepted the engagement in writing, and we have accepted it.
Acceptance by email is sufficient. Until that point, no work is on foot and no deadline is committed to.
5. Nature of estimating services and basis of estimate
Estimates and pricing information prepared by PlumbLedger are professional estimating guidance. They are prepared for your own commercial assessment and decision-making, based on the information available to us at the time, which may include:
- Drawings.
- Specifications.
- Schedules.
- Bills of quantities (BOQs).
- Addenda.
- Supplier quotations.
- Client-provided rates.
- Project information supplied by you or others.
- Estimating assumptions.
- Stated exclusions.
- Other information available to us at the time of preparation.
An estimate is an assessment of anticipated project costs based on that information. It is not a guaranteed final project cost, and actual costs may differ.
6. Drawings, specifications and document discrepancies
Tender documentation is often incomplete, inconsistent or still developing. We use reasonable care and skill when reviewing the documents provided, but we are not responsible for errors, omissions, inconsistencies or ambiguities contained in documentation supplied by you, consultants, builders, suppliers or other third parties.
Where documentation conflicts, or where information is unclear or missing, we may make reasonable estimating assumptions so the estimate can be completed. Where reasonably practicable, those assumptions will be identified in the estimating deliverable.
You remain responsible for reviewing and accepting those assumptions, and for raising anything you disagree with, before submitting your tender.
7. Quantities and take-offs
Quantities and take-offs are prepared from the documentation available at the time of preparation and may differ from the quantities actually installed on site. Quantities can be affected by matters including:
- Drawing scale and accuracy.
- Design development.
- Coordination changes.
- Site conditions.
- Installation methods.
- Wastage.
- Routing of services.
- Dimensions.
- Undocumented work.
- Revisions and variations.
Take-offs are estimating quantities, not guaranteed quantities. You must review material quantities and allowances before relying on them for purchasing, ordering or your final tender submission.
8. Site conditions and installation
Unless a site inspection is specifically included in the agreed scope, we do not undertake a physical inspection of the site. Estimates may therefore rely entirely on the tender documentation and information you supply. Actual costs may be affected by matters including:
- Site access.
- Permitted working hours.
- Staging and sequencing.
- Excavation and ground conditions.
- Existing services.
- Heights and access equipment.
- Traffic management.
- Cranage.
- Permits, inductions and security requirements.
- Storage and material handling.
- Temporary works.
- Coordination with other trades and builder requirements.
- Weather, delays and productivity.
- Other site-specific conditions.
Where these matters are unknown at the time of pricing, reasonable assumptions or allowances may be used.
9. Labour
Labour allowances are estimates based on assumed productivity, assumed installation methods and the project information available at the time. Actual labour requirements can vary due to site conditions, worker productivity, supervision, sequencing, access, coordination, rework, delays and project management.
PlumbLedger does not guarantee actual labour hours or labour productivity.
10. Material and supplier pricing
Material and supplier pricing used in an estimate may be based on:
- Current supplier quotations.
- Quotations provided by you.
- Historical pricing.
- Market pricing.
- Estimating databases.
- Reasonable allowances where no pricing is available.
Unless expressly stated otherwise in the deliverable, supplier prices and material costs are not guaranteed. Actual pricing can change due to supplier increases, availability, freight, lead times, quantity requirements, escalation and general market conditions.
You should confirm important supplier and subcontractor quotations directly before submitting your final tender.
11. Subcontractors, plant and third-party costs
Subcontractor, plant, equipment and specialist contractor allowances are estimates unless they are supported by a current written quotation provided to us. We are not responsible for a third party subsequently changing, withdrawing or refusing to honour a quotation, or for a quotation expiring before your tender is submitted.
12. GST
Each estimating deliverable will clearly identify whether pricing is shown excluding or including GST. Unless the deliverable states otherwise, pricing is shown excluding GST.
You remain responsible for applying GST correctly to your final tender and for obtaining your own taxation advice where required.
13. Addenda and revised documents
You must provide us with all tender addenda and revised documentation you receive, before the estimate is completed. Documents or addenda received after estimating work has commenced may constitute additional scope.
Repricing or revising completed or substantially completed work because of new or revised documentation may incur an additional fee and may affect the proposed turnaround. We are not responsible for addenda or revisions that were not provided to us.
14. Turnaround and tender deadlines
Any proposed completion date is based on the agreed scope and the information available when the engagement is accepted. Turnaround may be affected by:
- Missing or incomplete information.
- Client response times.
- Revised documents.
- Addenda.
- Scope changes.
- Availability of supplier quotations.
- Circumstances outside our reasonable control.
We will endeavour to meet agreed turnaround dates. We do not guarantee that an estimate will be completed before a tender deadline where circumstances outside our reasonable control prevent this.
You remain responsible for managing your tender programme and submitting your tender before the applicable deadline.
15. Client review before submission
The client remains responsible for reviewing, verifying and approving its final tender or quotation before submitting it to any third party.
That review should include:
- Quantities.
- Labour.
- Materials.
- Supplier quotations.
- Subcontractor allowances.
- Plant and equipment.
- Preliminaries.
- Exclusions.
- Assumptions.
- Provisional allowances.
- Overheads.
- Margins.
- GST.
- The final tender price.
PlumbLedger does not submit your tender and does not make the final commercial decision on your behalf, unless separately agreed in writing.
16. Questions and suspected errors
If you identify a potential error, omission or discrepancy in an estimating deliverable, please notify us as soon as reasonably practicable so we can look into it. We ask to be given a reasonable opportunity to review and, where appropriate, correct the deliverable before you rely on the disputed item.
Nothing in this section limits any rights you have that cannot lawfully be limited.
17. Client responsibilities
- Provide complete, current and legible tender documentation, and promptly advise of addenda or changes.
- Advise us of any commercial requirements, assumptions or exclusions you need reflected.
- Check the estimating package against the tender documents and your own commercial position before submission.
- Comply with the conditions of tender applying to your project.
18. Fees and payment
Our standard process for an engagement is:
- We review the tender enquiry.
- The estimating scope, fee and proposed turnaround are confirmed in writing.
- You accept the engagement in writing.
- We undertake the agreed estimating work.
- An invoice is issued in accordance with the agreed engagement.
- For new clients, payment of the agreed fee is required before the completed estimating package is released.
Fees are agreed before work commences. For new clients, the agreed estimating fee must be paid before the completed estimating package is released.
For approved account clients, our intended standard payment term is 7 days, unless otherwise stated in the engagement confirmation or on the invoice. Account facilities are offered entirely at our discretion — they are not automatic, new clients are not entitled to account terms, and we may decline, vary or withdraw account facilities at any time.
Additional or changed scope may incur additional fees. Substantial revisions caused by revised tender documentation or addenda may be treated as additional work. Where reasonably practicable, we will advise you of additional fees before that work is undertaken.
19. Cancellation
If you cancel an estimating engagement after work has commenced, we may invoice for the work reasonably performed up to the date of cancellation, together with any unavoidable third-party costs incurred. Any cancellation amount will be reasonable and will reflect work actually performed or costs actually incurred.
20. One client per tender, confidentiality and competing tenders
PlumbLedger operates on a one-client-per-tender basis. Once we have formally accepted an estimating engagement from a plumbing contractor for a specific tender or project, we will not accept an estimating engagement from another plumbing contractor competing for the same tender, for the duration of that tender process.
Receiving an enquiry alone does not reserve or secure this exclusivity. Exclusivity begins only when:
- We have accepted the estimating engagement; and
- you have accepted the agreed scope, fee and engagement terms in writing.
Multiple contractors may enquire about the same tender before an engagement is accepted, and we may choose which enquiry, if any, we accept. However, once exclusivity has begun as described above, there is no option for us to accept an estimating engagement from another competing contractor for that same tender under a confidentiality arrangement or on any other basis, for the duration of that tender process.
We will not disclose that another contractor has enquired about a project, except where disclosure is required by law. We will not use one client's confidential pricing, rates, tender strategy or commercially sensitive information for the benefit of another client. Confidential information includes:
- Client pricing.
- Labour rates.
- Supplier pricing.
- Margins.
- Tender strategy.
- Estimating assumptions.
- Commercial information.
- Other confidential information obtained through an engagement.
These obligations sit alongside our Privacy Policy. If you have questions about how this applies to a particular tender, please raise them with us before accepting an engagement.
21. Intellectual property
You retain ownership of the drawings, specifications, schedules and other material you supply to us. We do not claim ownership of that material.
PlumbLedger retains ownership of its:
- Estimating templates.
- Calculation methods.
- Internal worksheets.
- Estimating systems.
- Databases.
- Pricing methodologies.
- Proprietary tools.
On completion of an engagement, you receive the right to use the final estimating deliverable for the project it was prepared for. The content of this website, including text, layout, graphics, logos and the PlumbLedger name and branding, is owned by or licensed to PlumbLedger and may not be copied, reproduced or used without permission.
22. External links and services
This website may link to or rely on third-party websites and services. We are not responsible for their content, availability or practices, and a link does not imply endorsement.
23. No guarantee of tender success
PlumbLedger does not warrant or guarantee:
- That a tender will be successful or that a project will be won.
- Project profitability or any commercial outcome.
- The final construction cost of a project.
- Supplier pricing, quotations, rates or their availability at any future time.
- Material availability, lead times or supply conditions.
- Actual labour productivity or installation rates.
- Actual installed material quantities.
- The accuracy, currency or completeness of drawings, specifications, schedules or other documentation supplied by the client or third parties.
24. Limitation of liability
This section limits our liability and should be reviewed by an Australian lawyer before these terms are published in final form.
Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right, guarantee, warranty or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified, including under the Australian Consumer Law. Where a consumer guarantee applies and our liability may lawfully be limited, our liability is limited as set out below.
Website. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for loss or damage arising from use of, or inability to use, this website, or from reliance on general information published on it.
Estimating services. To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with an estimating engagement, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statute or otherwise, is limited to re-supplying the relevant estimating services or paying the cost of having them re-supplied, or, at our option, refunding the fee paid for the relevant services.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, opportunity, contract or anticipated savings, including loss arising from an unsuccessful tender or from pricing, quantities, productivity or site conditions differing from those estimated.
Our liability is reduced to the extent that loss is caused or contributed to by you or by a third party, including where documentation supplied to us was incomplete, inaccurate, superseded or not provided.
25. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia.
26. Contact
General enquiries: jake@plumbledger.com.au
Tender enquiries: tenders@plumbledger.com.au