Terms of business

These terms apply when H & R Home Improvements quotes for or carries out work for you. They're written in plain English. If anything isn't clear, ask us before you go ahead. Nothing in these terms affects your legal rights as a consumer.

1. Who we are

Your contract is with Jordan Young, trading as H & R Home Improvements. "We" and "us" means H & R Home Improvements. "You" means the person we're doing the work for. You can reach us by phone or WhatsApp on 07824 396383 or by email at homehrimprovements@gmail.com. Our postal address is on your written quote.

2. Quotes

• Quotes are free and there's no obligation to go ahead.
• We'll give you a written quote (usually by text, WhatsApp or email) setting out the work, the materials, the price, any deposit, and any guarantee.
• A quote is a fixed price for the work it describes. It's valid for 30 days unless it says otherwise, because material prices change.
• The price only covers what's written on the quote. If you ask for extra work, we'll agree a price for it with you before we do it.

If we find a hidden problem

Some problems can't be seen until work starts, such as old concrete footings under a fence line, buried rubble or tree roots, or rotten timber behind a finish. If we find something like this, we'll stop, show you (with photos if you're not home), explain your options and agree any extra cost with you before carrying on. The only thing we'll do without asking is make the site safe and secure.

3. Agreeing to the work

A contract between us starts when you accept our quote, in writing or by telling us. These terms and the written quote together make up the whole agreement. If the quote and these terms disagree, the quote wins.

4. Your right to cancel

Because we usually agree work with you at your home, or by phone or message, the law gives you 14 days to change your mind. The 14 days start the day after you accept our quote.

• To cancel, tell us clearly by phone, text, WhatsApp, email or letter. You can use the cancellation form below, but you don't have to.
• If you cancel, we'll refund anything you've paid within 14 days, using the same payment method unless you agree otherwise.
• We won't start work within the 14 days unless you ask us to. If you do ask us to start sooner and then cancel, you'll need to pay for the work done up to the point you told us. Once the work is finished, you can no longer cancel.
• If you ask us to visit specifically to carry out an urgent repair (for example, to make a storm-damaged fence safe or secure), there's no right to cancel that repair once agreed. Any other work we quote for on that visit still has the 14-day right to cancel.

5. Deposits and payment

• For larger jobs we may ask for a deposit, usually to order materials. If we do, the amount will be on your quote. A deposit is refunded in full if you cancel within the 14-day cancellation period.
• Unless your quote says otherwise, the rest is due when the work is finished. We'll give you an invoice, and ask that you pay within 7 days.
• You can pay by bank transfer, or another way agreed on your quote. We'll always give you a receipt.
• If you're unhappy with any part of the work, please tell us straight away rather than holding back payment, and we'll come back and look at it. It's reasonable to hold back a fair amount for the part in dispute, but please pay the rest.

6. Before we start

To help the job go smoothly, we ask you to:

• give us safe access to the garden and the area we'll be working in, and let us know about any parking restrictions;
• move cars, garden furniture and anything fragile away from where we'll be working;
• let your neighbours know if we'll be working on a shared boundary, and agree access with them if we need to work from their side;
• let us use an outside tap and a power socket if we need them;
• tell us about anything we should know, such as underground pipes or cables, known asbestos, a listed building or conservation area, or estate rules about fencing.

If the work needs planning permission, building regulations sign-off, a party wall agreement or a neighbour's agreement about a boundary, we'll tell you when we quote. Getting these is your responsibility unless the quote says we'll handle it.

7. Boundaries

We'll build the fence where you tell us the boundary is. We can't settle where a legal boundary lies, so if you're not sure, or a neighbour might disagree, please sort that out before we start. If skips, scaffolding or materials have to go on a pavement or a neighbour's land, a council licence or the neighbour's permission may be needed. We'll let you know, and any council fee will be shown on the quote.

8. Dates and the weather

Any start date or length of job we give you is our best estimate. Outdoor work depends on the weather, and we won't work in conditions that are unsafe or would harm the work (for example, setting posts or laying paving in heavy frost), so dates can move. We'll keep you updated and leave the site safe and secure at the end of each day.

9. Our work

We'll carry out the work with reasonable care and skill, use materials that are of good quality and fit for purpose, and do what we've described in the quote. These are also your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. If something isn't right, tell us as soon as you can and we'll come back and put it right at no cost to you. If that isn't possible, you may be entitled to a price reduction or refund.

10. Guarantees

If we give a guarantee on your job, how long it lasts and what it covers will be written on your quote and invoice. A guarantee covers the work we did and the materials we supplied. It doesn't cover:

• parts of the fence, garden or building we didn't work on;
• damage from severe storms, falling trees, or other events outside our control;
• damage caused by other people after we've finished, such as a neighbour fixing things to a fence;
• problems caused by a lack of normal upkeep, such as timber left untreated for years or soil piled against panels.

Any guarantee is in addition to your legal rights, not instead of them.

11. Tidying up

We'll clear away our waste and old materials and take them away for proper disposal, unless the quote says otherwise, and leave the site tidy. Fencing and garden work can sometimes disturb plants or mark a lawn along the working area, and we'll do our best to keep this to a minimum and protect anything you point out to us.

12. If something goes wrong

• If we damage your property through our fault, we'll repair it or pay the reasonable cost of repair.
• We're not responsible for defects that were already there, such as weak or rotten parts of the building we haven't been asked to repair, as long as we've told you about them when we saw them.
• We're responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us breaking these terms or not using reasonable care and skill. We're not responsible for losses that weren't foreseeable, or for loss of business or profit.
• Nothing in these terms limits our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn't allow us to limit.

13. Photos of the work

We may take photos before, during and after the job, to keep a record and show you what we've found. We may also use photos of the work on our website and social media, but never anything showing your house number, your face or your belongings. If you'd prefer we didn't use them at all, just say.

14. Complaints

If you're not happy, please call 07824 396383 or email homehrimprovements@gmail.com and tell Jordan what's wrong. We'll reply within 5 working days and aim to put things right quickly. If we can't agree, you can get free, independent advice from the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 or at citizensadvice.org.uk.

15. General

• We may update these terms from time to time. The version on this page when you accept your quote is the one that applies to your job.
• If a court decides part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute can be dealt with in the courts of England and Wales.

Cancellation form

Only fill in and send this form if you want to cancel within the 14-day cancellation period. You can copy it into a text, WhatsApp message or email, or print it and post it to the address on your quote.