Terms and Conditions of Business

Our Terms of Engagement contained herein explain the basis on which ACT Acoustics Ltd. will carry out all acoustic consultancy work.

Fixed fee additional costs

The costs provided in our quotations to you will apply until the quote expires. The expiry date of the quote is given at the top of any quote we provide to you.

Additional work not covered by fixed fees

For additional work that is not covered either by our initial quotation or the works described, our work is based upon our the time spent dealing with your project. Our hourly rates for these services are detailed in the table below. We will add VAT to our charges at the rate that applies when the work is done.

Level Rate (GBP excluding VAT)
Principal Consultant / Director 95
Associate Consultant 70
Technician 50

Other relevant fees:

  • Virtual meeting attendance is charged at a reduced flat rate £70+VAT per hour (e.g. for design team meetings or similar).
  • In-person meetings will be quoted separately.
  • As a courtesy to our clients, we do not charge for phone calls.

Payment Terms

  • We accept all major credit cards.
  • Payment is required within 30 days from invoice date.
  • Invoices will not be raised until we issue our draft report.

Note that any variation or alteration to the conditions and specifications may increase the quoted price. Please also note that we reserve the right to charge interest on overdue invoices at an annual rate of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate on all overdue invoices. For noise surveys, we require a minimum 48 hours notice for cancellation. Cancellation on shorter notice may incur an additional fee.

Disbursements and expenses

Generally, we will include disbursements and expenses in your quote. However, if additional work is required that is not covered by the scope of your quotation, you will be liable to pay any disbursements and expenses that are required to carry out your instructions (e.g. travel costs and accommodation as needed). You will be notified of these charges before work is undertaken unless otherwise agreed. Additional fees may also be charged for additional administration requirements that are not covered by the scope of the project. These may include fees for filling out new supplier forms.

Communication Between You and Us / Complaints

We are confident of providing you with the high quality service you expect. However, if you have any concerns, however small, please raise them with us as soon as possible so that we can do everything we can to put the situation right.

Speed of Response

Speed of response can be critical, particularly in matters related to planning applications. We therefore aim to provide you with a response to your queries as quickly as possible. However, there may be times when delays occur. If this is likely to be the case, we will always keep you advised of progress. We aim to deal with correspondence within 2 working days and ideally within 24 hours. If you do not receive an immediate response to an urgent or important message we recommend that you contact our office directly on 01392 248111 for an immediate response. Unfortunately, we cannot accept liability for any email which fails to reach us for whatever reason.

Bank Details

Due to the increased incidence of email fraud, it is important to check that you are sending funds to the correct bank account. We will never notify you by phone or email that our client account details have changed.

If you are asked to send money to a new bank account, please contact us by telephone on 01392 248111 and speak to the person dealing with your matter. We cannot accept any liability in relation to monies sent to an incorrect bank account. Our bank details for future payments are:

  • Bank: Starling Bank
  • Account no: 44649019
  • Sort code: 608371
  • IBAN: GB54SRLG60837144649019
  • SWIFT/BIC: SRLGGB2L

Cheques should be made payable to ACT Acoustics Ltd. We also accept payment by debit or credit card if required.

Fees and charges

Unless you have been given a fixed-fee quotation, our charges are based on the time we spend dealing with your project. This can include:

  • meetings with you and others;
  • travelling time;
  • time spent considering, preparing and working on reports;
  • correspondence by email and letter; and
  • time making and receiving telephone calls.

We will notify you of the hourly rate for the fee earners engaged on your matter and the date on which such rates will be reviewed.

If we have to work outside normal office hours, we reserve the right to increase our hourly rate. We well always notify you of additional charges in advance.

How You Can Help Us

You can help us by;

  • promptly providing all relevant architectural drawings, details and any other information that may be useful;
  • providing prompt replies to request for further information; and
  • ensuring that other professionals act quickly.

Quotations

We will generally provide you a fixed fee estimate in the initial stages of your project as well as a realistic estimate of future costs. These will be based on our experience of similar projects. However, unless we expressly state otherwise, we cannot be bound by our estimate given the large number of variables involved such projects. If a project turns out to be exceptionally time-consuming, we reserve the right to treat the fixed quotation as an estimate. We will advise always notify you in advance if a fixed quotation is likely change.

You may wish to set a limit on the charges and expenses to be incurred. If would like to do this, please ensure that this request is completed in writing.

Budgeting

We will deliver bills to you when we provide key project deliverables, such as a written report. For larger projects, we will typically provide more regular bills which will typically be every month.

Interest on Outstanding Accounts

Our invoices are provided on strict 30 day terms. Overdue accounts will be charged interest on the balance outstanding at an annual rate of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate for each month the account is overdue (or such other rate as may be notified to reflect the rate currently allowed by the Court).

Termination of Instructions by us

In the event of payment not being made, we reserve the right to decline to act for you further, and will charge the full amount of work done up to that date.

Professional Indemnity

In the interest of our clients we maintain professional indemnity insurance to the level of £3,000,000.00.

Conclusion

These terms of business apply to any and all future instructions you give us. By providing continuing instructions you agree that you accept to be bound by these Terms and Conditions of business.

If you have any questions about the above, please contact us on

ACT Acoustics Ltd. is registered as a company in England and Wales. No. 10569267. Registered company address The Old Carriage Works, Moresk Road, Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, TR1 1DG. VAT No.: 267852854.