Terms & conditions

01Using this website

This website is run by Stonevanta Construction Ltd (company no. 17338443, registered office First Floor, Office R05, 35 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4HA). By using it you accept Part A of these terms. You may browse, print and share pages for your own, non-commercial use. Please don't copy the site's design, code or text for another business, try to break its security, or use it for anything unlawful.

02Content and pictures

The site describes our services in general terms. It is not a quotation, and nothing on it is an offer that can be accepted. Programmes and typical timings are illustrative; yours are set out in your own quotation. Photographs illustrate the kind of work we do and are not necessarily of our projects. The plan drawing on the home page is an illustration, not a design for any real site.

03Our liability for the website

We keep the site accurate and available, but can't promise it will always be either. We aren't responsible for websites we link to. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

04How a contract is made

A contract is formed when you accept our written quotation (by signing it, or confirming acceptance in writing). It consists of the quotation, the drawings, specification and programme it lists, and Part B of these terms. For larger projects we may agree a standard-form building contract, such as a JCT Homeowner, Minor Works or Intermediate contract; where we do, its terms prevail over these.

If you're contracting as a business (a developer or a company, for example), clauses marked "business clients" apply to you; clauses marked "consumers" apply when you're an individual having work done to your own home.

05Quotations and prices

• Quotations are valid for 60 days and are based on the drawings and information listed in them.
• The price is fixed for the work described. Items that can't be priced until they're uncovered are shown as provisional sums, and we agree how they'll be valued before we start.
• Anything not listed is excluded. Typical exclusions are stated in the quotation (for example: fees for planning, Building Control or Party Wall surveyors; utility connection charges; furniture and decoration you supply).
• Prices to consumers include VAT where it applies. Prices to business clients exclude VAT unless stated.

06Consents and approvals

Unless the quotation says otherwise:

• You are responsible for planning permission (or confirming the work is permitted development), listed building and conservation consents, and serving Party Wall notices on your neighbours.
• We arrange Building Regulations inspections during the work, register new homes with a structural warranty provider, and apply for build-over agreements and utility connections on your behalf.

We won't start work that needs a consent you haven't obtained. Delay or extra cost caused by a missing consent is treated as a change under clause 9.

07Health and safety

On domestic projects we act as principal contractor under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, and the client's duties under those regulations pass to us. We plan and manage the work safely, keep the site secure and provide welfare facilities. Please keep children, visitors and pets out of the working area, and don't enter it without one of our team.

08Access, site and neighbours

• You give us access to the site, a water supply and electricity during working hours, and somewhere to store materials as agreed.
• Normal working hours are 8:00–18:00 Monday to Friday and 8:00–13:00 on Saturday, or as the local authority requires. Noisy work keeps to the council's hours.
• We protect your existing house where we work next to it, keep the site tidy and the street clear, and deal with neighbours politely and promptly.
• We may put up a company site board while the work is in progress.

09Changes and the unexpected

A variation is any change to the work, whether you ask for it or something on site requires it. We'll give you the cost and time effect in writing and only proceed once you agree, except where immediate work is needed to keep the building safe or weathertight — in which case we do the minimum and tell you the same day.

Conditions nobody could reasonably have known about — poor ground, old foundations, hidden drains, rot, or asbestos-containing materials — are dealt with as variations. If we find suspected asbestos we stop work in that area until it's been tested and, if necessary, removed by a licensed specialist.

10Programme and delays

The programme shows our planned start and completion dates. We'll do everything reasonable to keep to it and tell you early about anything that threatens it. The completion date moves by a fair amount where delay is caused by variations, exceptionally bad weather, late information or decisions, a missing consent, statutory bodies or utility companies, or events outside our control.

11Payment

• You pay in stages against work completed, as set out in the payment schedule in your quotation. We don't take large deposits; a deposit may be asked for long-lead items (such as windows or a kitchen) when they're ordered.
• Consumers: each stage invoice is payable within 14 days. If an invoice is late we may charge interest at 4% a year above the Bank of England base rate on the overdue amount, and after 7 days' written notice we may suspend work until it's paid.
• Business clients: the payment provisions of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 apply. Payment is due on the date of each application and the final date for payment is 14 days later. If you intend to pay less than the notified sum you must give a pay less notice no later than 5 days before the final date. Late payment carries interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and we may suspend work on 7 days' notice.
• Any retention is agreed in the contract and released in two halves: at completion and at the end of the defects period.

12Your right to cancel (consumers)

If you're a consumer and the contract was agreed away from our office (for example at your home) or at a distance, you may cancel within 14 days of the day the contract was made, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. Tell us in writing — an email is fine. If you've asked us to start work within those 14 days, you'll pay for the work done and materials ordered for you up to the time you cancel.

13Materials and ownership

Materials become yours when they're fixed into the building or paid for, whichever is first. We look after the site and the work until handover. Natural stone and reclaimed materials vary in colour and texture — that's part of their character — so we lay a sample panel for your approval before ordering. Surplus materials and waste are removed by us at the end of the job unless agreed otherwise.

14Completion and defects

The work is complete when it's finished apart from minor items that don't stop you using the building, and Building Control has signed it off. We walk through it with you, list any snags, and put them right promptly.

For 12 months after completion (the defects period) we return and put right, at our cost, any defect caused by our workmanship or materials. This doesn't cover fair wear and tear, normal shrinkage cracks in new plaster (which we'll fill once at the end of the period), or damage caused by alterations made by others. New homes also carry the structural warranty provider's cover on its own terms, typically for ten years. Your rights under the law are not affected.

15Insurance

We hold employer's liability insurance as the law requires, public liability insurance, and contractor's all-risks insurance for the works; certificates are available on request. For extensions and alterations, the existing house remains your insurer's responsibility — please tell your home insurer about the work before we start.

16Liability

Consumers: we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or failing to use reasonable care and skill, and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to our work. We aren't responsible for loss that wasn't foreseeable, or for business losses.

Business clients: our total liability under or in connection with the contract is limited to the contract sum or, if greater, the amount recoverable under our insurance, and we are not liable for loss of profit, revenue or other indirect loss.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.

17Complaints and disputes

If something isn't right, tell your site manager or write to info@stonevanta.co.uk. We acknowledge complaints within 2 working days and give a full response within 14 days. If we can't agree, either of us may refer a dispute to adjudication (business clients have this right by statute; for consumers it's by agreement), to mediation, or to the courts.

18General

We may use trusted subcontractors for parts of the work, but remain responsible for it. Neither of us may transfer the contract to someone else without the other's agreement. If a court finds part of these terms invalid, the rest still applies. These terms and any dispute about them are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction (if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings there).