Terms & Conditions

About us and how to contact us

These Terms are issued by Ward’s Welding & Fabrications Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 04113011. We trade as Wards Welding & Fabrications and Wards Additive. In these Terms, “Wards”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean that company.

Scope, acceptance and order of priority

These Terms apply to:

• use of our websites, forms, upload facilities and online content;
• requests for quotations, estimates and technical reviews;
• welding, fabrication, CNC machining, laser cutting, folding, structural work, repair work, design assistance, 3D printing, finishing, assembly, delivery and related services;
• goods and services ordered online, by email, by telephone, in person or through a purchase order; and
• marketing offers, discount codes and email or SMS communications.

By using a Website, submitting an order, accepting a quotation, asking us to begin work or taking delivery, you agree to the version of these Terms provided or made available before the contract was formed.

If there is a conflict, the following order of priority applies: (1) a written contract signed by both parties; (2) our written order acknowledgement or quotation, including any special conditions; (3) these Terms; and (4) other descriptive material on a Website. A customer’s purchase order or standard terms do not override these Terms unless we expressly agree to that change in writing.

Separate website policies, including an applicable Refund Policy, Shipping Policy and Privacy Policy, form part of the relevant contract where they are displayed or linked before an order is placed. A signed non-disclosure agreement, quality agreement or data-processing agreement applies to its specific subject matter.

Important definitions

References to “writing” include email, but not informal social-media messages unless we expressly confirm acceptance there.

Website access and acceptable use

Website content is provided for general information and to help customers understand our capabilities and products. Unless included in a quotation, order confirmation or Contract, Website content is not a binding technical specification, engineering opinion, warranty or promise of availability.

You must not:

• use a Website for unlawful, fraudulent, abusive or misleading activity;
• attempt unauthorised access, test vulnerabilities without permission, interfere with security or introduce malware or harmful code;
• scrape, copy or harvest data at a level that places an unreasonable load on our systems;
• impersonate another person, submit false contact or payment details, or misuse our upload tools; or
• upload material that is unlawful, defamatory, confidential without authority, infringing, malicious or connected with prohibited goods or activity.

We may suspend, restrict or withdraw Website access for maintenance, security, legal or operational reasons. We do not promise uninterrupted availability or that every error will be corrected immediately. Third-party links are provided for convenience; we do not control and are not responsible for third-party websites, content, availability or terms.

Product images, renders, colours and videos are illustrative. Screen settings, material batches and manufacturing processes may produce reasonable differences in shade, texture and finish. Dimensions and performance are governed by the agreed Specification, not by visual scale in an image.

Quotations, estimates and contract formation

Quotations

Unless stated otherwise, a quotation is open for acceptance for 30 days from its date and may be withdrawn before acceptance. A quotation is based on the information available at the time. It may be revised where drawings, quantities, materials, tolerances, finishes, access arrangements, delivery requirements, taxes or other assumptions change.

An estimate is an indication only and is not a fixed price. We will seek approval before materially exceeding an estimate where reasonably practicable, but urgent safety work, hidden defects or customer-authorised additional work may be charged at the agreed or reasonable rate.

Orders

Your online order, purchase order or acceptance of a quotation is an offer to buy. An automated email or acknowledgement confirms receipt and does not necessarily mean acceptance. A Contract is formed when we expressly accept the order in writing, issue an order acknowledgement, begin procurement or manufacture at your request, or dispatch the Goods, whichever occurs first.

We may refuse or cancel an order before acceptance for reasons including an obvious pricing or description error, unavailable material, capacity or delivery restrictions, failed payment, suspected fraud, sanctions or legal concerns, unsafe design, prohibited item or inability to meet the requested Specification. If we do not accept an order after taking payment, we will refund the amount taken.

Business Customers confirm that the person submitting or approving an order has authority to bind the named business. We are entitled to rely on instructions received from the customer’s usual authorised contacts unless told otherwise in writing.

Specifications, drawings and customer approvals

You are responsible for giving us complete, accurate and current information, including final drawings, revision numbers, units, dimensions, quantities, tolerances, materials, grades, finishes, performance requirements, standards, intended use, delivery requirements and any safety-critical features.

Unless we expressly accept design responsibility in writing:

• we manufacture to the agreed Specification and do not independently verify the adequacy, legality or fitness of the customer’s design;
• a manufacturability review, quotation, suggestion or file-processing step is not engineering certification, design validation or approval for a particular use;
• you remain responsible for calculations, load cases, tolerances, interfaces, clearances, regulatory approvals, risk assessment and validation in the final application; and
• we are not responsible for an error in a customer-supplied file, measurement, text, logo, drawing, material choice or instruction that we have reproduced correctly.

You must check proofs, drawings, samples, models, nesting layouts, text, spelling and order confirmations before approval. Approval authorises us to proceed and makes later changes subject to availability, revised price and revised lead time.

Where information conflicts, we may pause work and ask for clarification. Lead times extend by the period reasonably caused by missing decisions, approvals or information. We may make minor manufacturing changes that do not materially affect the agreed function or appearance, such as tooling, workholding, print orientation, support strategy, weld sequence, nesting or machine allocation.

Prices, VAT, deposits and payment

Prices and taxes

Prices are those shown at checkout or stated in the applicable quotation or order confirmation. Consumer-facing online prices include VAT where required. Business quotations exclude VAT unless stated otherwise. VAT and other applicable taxes are charged at the rate in force at the relevant tax point.

Delivery, installation, packaging, certification, inspection, special tooling, design work and finishing are included only where expressly stated. An obvious pricing error does not bind us where the customer knew or could reasonably have recognised it as an error; we may offer the correct price or cancel and refund the affected order.

Deposits and advance payments

We may require a deposit, pro-forma payment, staged payments or cleared payment before buying material, reserving capacity, beginning work or dispatching Goods. A deposit is a payment on account. If a customer cancels, we may apply it against work completed and reasonable, evidenced costs and losses caused by cancellation, but any balance that we are not entitled to retain will be refunded. Consumer rights and the legal rules on fair cancellation charges remain unaffected.

Business Customer payment terms

Business Customers must pay each invoice in cleared funds by the due date stated on the quotation or invoice. If no due date is stated, payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. Time for payment is of the essence. All sums are payable without deduction or set-off except where required by law or expressly agreed in writing.

For overdue commercial payments, we may claim statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, fixed-sum compensation and reasonable recovery costs under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and related legislation, where applicable. We may also suspend further work, withhold delivery and withdraw credit facilities after reasonable notice.

Card and online payments

You confirm that you are authorised to use the selected payment method. Payment providers may carry out fraud, security and authorisation checks under their own terms. We do not ask customers to send full payment-card details by email.

Changes, postponement and cancellation of quoted work

A requested change is not effective until we accept it in writing. We may revise the price, deposit, Specification and delivery date to reflect additional design, programming, tooling, setup, material, labour, transport, storage, subcontracting, rework or lost production time.

If a Business Customer cancels, postpones or reduces a confirmed order, it must pay:

• the price of completed Goods and Services;
• the cost of work in progress, committed materials, non-cancellable subcontracts, tooling, design, programming and setup;
• reasonable storage, demobilisation, restocking, transport and administration costs; and
• other direct loss reasonably caused by the cancellation, less costs we reasonably avoid or amounts recovered by reusing or reselling materials.

These charges are intended to compensate for actual loss and are not a penalty. We will provide a reasonable calculation on request. Custom Goods and specially ordered materials may have little or no resale value.

Consumer cancellation rights for distance and off-premises contracts are explained in section 14. Where those statutory rights apply, this Business Customer cancellation clause does not replace them.

Manufacturing standards, tolerances and variation

We will supply Goods and Services in accordance with the agreed Specification and exercise reasonable care and skill. Where no tolerance, finish, standard or acceptance criterion is specified, reasonable commercial tolerances and normal characteristics of the chosen manufacturing process apply.

Unless inconsistent with the agreed Specification, the following are not defects:

• minor differences in colour, shade, grain, texture, mill finish, coating, galvanising, weld appearance or material batch;
• reasonable distortion, heat tint, tooling marks, clamping marks, witness marks, burr condition or surface variation inherent in welding, cutting, bending, machining or finishing;
• visible layer lines, seams, support marks, small dimensional variation or anisotropic properties inherent in additive manufacturing;
• reasonable differences between a prototype, sample and production run caused by changed process, tooling, material lot or scale; and
• changes necessary to meet safe or practical manufacturing requirements that do not materially change agreed function or appearance.

Specific cosmetic, inspection, certification, traceability, welding-procedure, material-certificate, first-article or quality-document requirements must be agreed before order acceptance and may affect price and lead time.

Where quantities are produced by weight, sheet yield, nesting or batch process, an agreed reasonable overrun or underrun may apply only if stated in the quotation. Otherwise, we will supply the ordered quantity.

Customer materials, tools, samples and property

Customer-supplied material or property is supplied at the customer’s risk as to suitability, identity, condition and hidden defects. You must tell us about hazards, contamination, coatings, stored energy, pressurisation, asbestos, unknown alloys and any special handling requirement before delivery.

We will take reasonable care of customer property while it is in our possession. We are not responsible for unavoidable consumption, destructive testing, cutting allowance, process scrap, pre-existing damage, hidden defects or damage arising from inaccurate customer instructions. Unless agreed otherwise, replacement material and additional work caused by unsuitable customer material are chargeable.

Special tooling, jigs, fixtures, programs and manufacturing aids made or obtained by us remain our property unless the quotation expressly states that ownership transfers. A tooling charge does not by itself transfer our intellectual property or require us to retain tooling indefinitely.

For Business Customers, we may retain customer property in our possession until amounts due under the relevant Contract are paid. If property is not collected after written notice, we may charge reasonable storage. After giving at least 14 days’ further written notice, we may sell or dispose of property that remains uncollected for 90 days, apply proceeds to sums and reasonable costs due, and account for any surplus. We will not use this right where prohibited by law.

Site work, installation and access

Where we work at a customer or third-party site, the customer must provide, in good time:

• safe and unobstructed access, parking, unloading, working space, welfare facilities and suitable working hours;
• accurate site information, drawings, surveys, utility details, structural information, permits, inductions and authorisations;
• safe isolation of machinery, electricity, gas, pressure, moving equipment and other energy sources;
• notice of asbestos, hazardous substances, contaminated areas, fragile roofs, confined spaces and other risks; and
• any customer-supplied lifting equipment, scaffolding, power, lighting or plant stated in the quotation.

We may stop or refuse work where we reasonably consider conditions unsafe, unlawful or materially different from the information supplied. Abortive visits, waiting time, additional inductions, remobilisation and extra work caused by inadequate access, unsafe conditions or inaccurate site information may be charged at the agreed or reasonable rate.

The customer is responsible for permissions, landlord consent, planning permission, building control approval and other project approvals unless the quotation expressly assigns that responsibility to us. Practical completion, testing and handover arrangements will be those stated in the Contract.

Delivery, collection, storage, risk and ownership

Dates and delays

Delivery and completion dates are estimates unless we expressly agree a guaranteed date in writing. We will use reasonable efforts to meet them. For Consumers, where no delivery period has been agreed, Goods will be delivered without undue delay and normally within 30 days, subject to rights available under applicable law.

A delay caused by missing approval, late payment, changed instructions, unavailable access or another customer-caused issue extends the date by a reasonable corresponding period. We may deliver by instalments where reasonable, and each instalment may be invoiced separately if the Contract says so.

Delivery and collection

You must provide a complete and accessible delivery address and any restrictions. If delivery or collection fails because of incorrect information, refusal, absence, access restrictions or failure to collect, we may store the Goods and charge reasonable storage, insurance, handling and redelivery costs.

Business Customers must collect within seven days after notice that Goods are ready unless another period is agreed. Goods left longer may incur storage charges. We may use a courier or subcontractor to deliver.

Risk and title

For Consumers, risk passes when the Goods come into the physical possession of the Consumer or a person identified by the Consumer, except where the Consumer independently appoints a carrier not offered by us and the law provides otherwise. For Business Customers, risk passes on delivery, collection, loading onto the customer’s vehicle or a failed delivery caused by the customer, whichever occurs first.

Ownership of Goods does not pass until we receive full cleared payment for those Goods and, for Business Customers, all other amounts then due to us. Until title passes, a Business Customer must keep the Goods identifiable, properly stored and insured, must not remove ownership markings, and must tell us promptly about insolvency or third-party claims. To the extent permitted by law, we may require return of unpaid Goods.

Inspection, acceptance and reported defects

Inspect Goods promptly after delivery or collection. If an order is damaged, incomplete, incorrect or appears defective, contact sales@wards-welding.com as soon as reasonably possible with the order or invoice number, a description and clear photographs where useful. Keep the Goods and packaging until we advise what to do.

Business Customers must notify us in writing of:

• visible transit damage or shortages within two business days of delivery; and
• other defects reasonably discoverable on inspection within five business days of delivery.

Those periods allow prompt investigation and do not exclude a valid claim for a latent defect that could not reasonably have been found earlier. Failure to notify us promptly may affect our ability to verify the issue, make a carrier claim or prevent further loss.

Do not modify, repair, install, use or dispose of allegedly defective Goods before giving us a reasonable opportunity to inspect, unless urgent action is reasonably necessary for safety or to prevent greater loss. We may ask for return, site inspection, photographs, measurements, test results or other reasonable evidence.

Where we are responsible, the available remedy will be determined by the Contract and applicable law and may include repair, replacement, re-performance, price reduction or refund. Consumer remedies are not restricted by the Business Customer notification periods.

Consumer cancellation rights

Standard, non-personalised Goods

You may cancel from the time the Contract is formed until 14 days after the day you receive the Goods. If one order is delivered in separate lots or pieces, the period runs from the day after you receive the final lot or piece. You do not need to give a reason.

To cancel, send a clear statement to sales@wards-welding.com before the period expires. You may use the model form in section 29, but you do not have to. You then have a further 14 days to return the Goods.

Custom and personalised Goods

The statutory change-of-mind cancellation right does not normally apply to Goods made to your specifications or clearly personalised. This includes Goods manufactured from your uploaded CAD, drawing or mesh file; Goods made to your measurements; and items personalised with a logo, wording, colour combination, layout or other custom selection. Contact us immediately if you need a change. We will try to help, but production may begin soon after acceptance.

This exception does not remove your rights where Custom Goods are faulty, not as described or otherwise fail to meet legal requirements.

Services ordered at a distance or off premises

The normal cancellation period is 14 days after the Contract is formed. If you expressly ask us to start Services during that period and then cancel, you may have to pay a proportionate amount for Services properly supplied before cancellation. If the Services are fully performed during the cancellation period after your prior express request and acknowledgement that the cancellation right will be lost on full performance, that right may end once performance is complete.

Urgent repairs

Special rules apply where a Consumer specifically asks us to visit for urgent repairs or maintenance. The cancellation right may not apply to the urgent work and replacement parts necessarily used, but may still apply to additional services or unrelated Goods.

Returns, faulty Goods and refunds

Change-of-mind returns by Consumers

For a valid cancellation of standard, non-personalised Goods, you must return the Goods to the address we confirm, securely packaged and without undue delay. Unless the Goods are faulty, damaged, incorrectly supplied or we agree otherwise, you pay the direct cost of return. Obtain proof of postage.

You may handle Goods only as much as reasonably necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning, as you might in a shop. We may reduce the refund to reflect loss in value caused by handling beyond that level, where the law allows.

We will refund the price and the cost of our least expensive standard outbound delivery option, if delivery was charged. Extra paid for enhanced or express delivery is not refundable beyond that standard amount. We may withhold reimbursement until we receive the Goods or evidence they were sent back, whichever happens first. Refunds are normally made within 14 days of that point using the original payment method unless otherwise agreed and legally permitted.

Faulty, damaged, misdescribed or incorrect Goods

Consumer Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for any purpose made known to and accepted by us, and as described. Depending on the circumstances and the law, remedies may include the short-term right to reject, repair, replacement, price reduction or final rejection. A qualifying Consumer may have a 30-day short-term right to reject faulty Goods under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If Goods are confirmed faulty or incorrectly supplied, we will bear reasonable return costs where required by law. Your statutory rights are not reduced by a manufacturer’s warranty, by a sale price, or by the custom-made nature of Goods.

Business Customer returns

Business Customers have no automatic change-of-mind return right. Any return requires our prior written agreement and may be subject to inspection, collection, restocking and reasonable administration charges. Bespoke, used, altered, installed or specially ordered Goods are normally not returnable unless defective or otherwise agreed.

For the Wards Additive shop, our separate Refund Policy gives the operational return steps and forms part of online shop orders.

Sales, discount codes and promotions

A promotion may have additional conditions shown with the offer, including eligibility, minimum spend, qualifying products, territory, redemption period and usage limit. Unless stated otherwise:

• a code must be entered before checkout is completed and cannot be applied retrospectively;
• only one code may be used per order;
• a code has no cash value, cannot be sold or transferred, and does not apply to delivery, deposits or excluded products;
• returns may reduce the order below a qualifying threshold, in which case the refund may be adjusted to reflect the discount actually earned;
• we may reject misuse, duplicate accounts, automated redemption, fraud or orders intended to circumvent limits; and
• we may amend or withdraw a promotion before an order is accepted, but not retrospectively after a Contract has formed except where required by law.

“Sale”, “clearance” and discounted Goods have the same statutory rights as full-price Goods. A discount does not remove rights relating to faults unless a specific fault was clearly disclosed before purchase and the legal effect of that disclosure applies.

Free delivery and threshold offers apply only to the destinations, methods and order values stated with the offer. If part of an order is returned, we may deduct a delivery charge only where the promotion’s conditions and applicable law allow.

Product safety, installation and intended use

You must follow supplied instructions, warnings, maintenance requirements and stated limits. Installation, testing, guarding, inspection and use must be carried out by a competent person where the nature of the Goods or application requires it.

Unless expressly agreed and certified in writing, Goods are not supplied for use as medical devices, personal protective equipment, food-contact items, toys, pressure-retaining components, lifting accessories, firearms or weapons components, aerospace flight parts, nuclear parts, electrical safety components, road-critical vehicle parts or any other safety-critical or regulated application.

The customer or end user is responsible for validating compatibility with the final assembly and operating conditions, including load, fatigue, impact, vibration, heat, fire, chemicals, weather, UV exposure, corrosion, food or skin contact, children, electrical systems and applicable laws or standards.

Do not continue to use Goods that are damaged, modified, incorrectly installed or showing signs of unsafe wear. Contact us if you need information about the agreed material or Specification. We do not accept responsibility for failure caused by misuse, excessive loading, lack of maintenance, unauthorised modification, incorrect fitting or use outside the agreed application, except to the extent the law provides otherwise.

Intellectual property and customer files

You retain ownership of original material that you supply, subject to third-party rights. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence for as long as reasonably necessary to receive, store, copy, adapt for manufacture, inspect, quote, produce, subcontract, deliver and support the relevant order.

You confirm that you own or have permission to use and provide all drawings, models, logos, names, photographs, specifications and other material submitted to us, and that our authorised use and manufacture will not infringe intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy or other rights or break the law.

Do not submit material for counterfeit goods, prohibited weapons, unlawful surveillance, infringement or other illegal activity. We may refuse, pause or cancel work we reasonably believe is unlawful or creates an unacceptable safety or reputational risk.

We retain ownership of our pre-existing and independently developed know-how, manufacturing methods, standard product designs, templates, tooling concepts, software, programs, Website content and improvements. Design, CAD, drawings, programs, jigs or intellectual property created by us remain ours unless an express written assignment signed by us says otherwise. Payment for manufacture or design time alone does not transfer intellectual property rights.

Where we expressly agree to assign intellectual property, the assignment takes effect only after full cleared payment of all relevant charges and remains subject to our right to use general skills, know-how and non-confidential techniques.

Confidentiality and subcontracting

Each party must take reasonable care of the other’s confidential information and use it only for the Contract, business relationship, legal compliance or another agreed purpose. Confidential information does not include information that is public without breach, already lawfully known, independently developed or lawfully received without restriction.

We may share necessary information with employees, professional advisers, insurers, material suppliers, finishers, couriers and specialist subcontractors who need it to quote, manufacture, deliver, support or advise on the work and who are subject to appropriate duties of confidence. We may also disclose information where required by law, court order or a competent authority.

We may subcontract part of the work while remaining responsible for our contractual obligations. Tell us before quotation if prior approval of subcontractors, export-controlled information, a specific data environment, a signed NDA or enhanced security is required.

No public case study, customer logo or confidential project image will be used where we have expressly agreed in writing that the project is confidential. A separate signed NDA or publicity agreement prevails over this section for its subject matter.

Email and SMS marketing

Marketing permission

Where you separately opt in, we may send marketing by email or SMS about Wards services, capabilities, products, launches, workshop updates, abandoned baskets, promotions and offers. Giving marketing consent is voluntary and is not a condition of buying unless an offer clearly and lawfully requires sign-up as an eligibility condition.

Where permitted by applicable law, we may also contact our own previous customers about our similar products or services under the “soft opt-in”, but only where we gave a clear opportunity to opt out when details were collected and in every later marketing message. Sole traders and some partnerships are treated like individuals for electronic marketing rules. We may send relevant business marketing to corporate bodies where lawful, while respecting objections and data-protection rights.

How to opt out

You can withdraw consent or object to marketing at any time:

• use the unsubscribe link in a marketing email;
• reply STOP to a marketing SMS where that option is provided; or
• email sales@wards-welding.com and tell us which channel you want stopped.

We will action valid opt-outs as soon as reasonably practicable and keep a limited suppression record so we do not accidentally re-add the same details. Opting out of marketing does not stop necessary service messages such as quote replies, order confirmations, production questions, payment notices, delivery updates, safety notices or recall information.

SMS-specific information

Message frequency varies. Your mobile provider’s normal message or data charges may apply. Delivery can be affected by mobile networks and cannot be guaranteed. Do not reply with payment-card information or other sensitive data. We do not disguise our identity and will provide a valid way to opt out.

Promotional codes sent by marketing

Any code sent by email or SMS is also subject to section 16 and the conditions shown in the message. Unsubscribing does not invalidate a code already issued unless its stated expiry or other conditions say otherwise.

Privacy, cookies and transactional messages

We use personal information to respond to enquiries, prepare quotes, form and perform Contracts, process payments, prevent fraud, manufacture, deliver, provide aftersales support, meet legal duties and manage marketing preferences. Details of purposes, lawful bases, sharing, retention and individual rights are set out in our Privacy Policy and, for online shop customers, the Wards Additive Privacy Policy.

Our Websites may use essential cookies and, subject to the required controls or consent, analytics and advertising technologies. Cookie choices should be managed through the Website’s cookie controls and browser settings.

Order, quote, account, delivery, safety and recall messages are operational communications, not marketing merely because they are sent by email or SMS. We may send them where reasonably necessary to take steps at your request, perform a Contract, comply with law or protect people, property and systems.

Do not submit unnecessary sensitive personal information, passwords or full card details through general enquiry forms or email. Discuss secure transfer arrangements before sending export-controlled, highly confidential or unusually sensitive technical files.

Our responsibility and limits of liability

Consumers

If you are a Consumer, we are responsible for loss and damage that is a foreseeable result of our breach of the Contract or failure to use reasonable care and skill. Loss is foreseeable if it was obvious that it would happen or both parties knew it might happen when the Contract was formed. We are not responsible for business losses suffered by a Consumer, loss caused by inaccurate customer instructions, or loss we could not reasonably foresee.

Nothing in this section affects your legal rights relating to Goods, Services or digital content.

Business Customers

Subject to the non-excludable liabilities above and to the fullest extent permitted by law:

• we are not liable for loss of profit, revenue, business, contracts, anticipated savings, production, use, data, opportunity, reputation or goodwill, or for indirect or consequential loss;
• we are not liable to the extent loss results from customer design, inaccurate information, failure to follow instructions, unsafe site conditions, unauthorised changes, misuse, failure to inspect or mitigate, or use outside the agreed Specification;
• our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the affected Contract, whether in contract, tort including negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise, will not exceed 100% of the total price paid or payable under that affected Contract; and
• any liability cap or insurance provision expressly stated in a signed Contract or quotation replaces the cap above for that Contract.

The parties agree that this allocation is reflected in the price and that the Business Customer is responsible for arranging insurance for risks exceeding the agreed cap. Each party must take reasonable steps to mitigate loss.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted Website access, sales leads, search-engine position, commercial results or suitability of general Website information for a specific engineering decision.

Business Customer indemnity

This section applies only to Business Customers. The Business Customer will indemnify us against third-party claims, losses, damages and reasonable professional costs arising directly from:

• our authorised use of customer-supplied designs, files, logos, specifications or other material infringing a third party’s rights;
• manufacture carried out accurately to an unlawful, unsafe or defective customer design where we did not accept design responsibility;
• the customer’s misuse, unlawful resale, unauthorised modification or use of Goods outside the agreed application; or
• unsafe or inaccurate site information supplied by the customer.

This indemnity does not apply to the extent a claim was caused by our negligence, wilful misconduct, unauthorised departure from the Specification or breach of Contract. We will notify the Business Customer of a claim and allow reasonable involvement in its defence, provided that no settlement admitting liability for us may be made without our written consent.

Events outside reasonable control

We are not responsible for delay or failure caused by an event outside our reasonable control, including severe weather, flood, fire, epidemic, war, terrorism, civil unrest, industrial dispute, government action, sanctions, import or export restriction, energy interruption, cyber incident despite reasonable precautions, transport disruption, carrier failure, shortage of labour or material, utility failure, machine breakdown despite reasonable maintenance, or supplier failure caused by such an event.

We will take reasonable steps to reduce the effect, notify you where appropriate and resume performance when reasonably possible. Deadlines extend for the period reasonably affected. If the event materially prevents performance for more than 60 days, either party may cancel the affected unperformed part by written notice. You must pay for Goods and Services already properly supplied and reasonable committed costs for bespoke work, subject to Consumer law.

Suspension and termination

We may suspend work, procurement, delivery, credit or Website access after notice where:

• payment is overdue or a payment method fails;
• required information, approval, access or co-operation is not provided;
• we reasonably believe continuing would be unsafe, unlawful, infringing or expose either party to sanctions;
• the customer materially breaches the Contract and does not remedy a remediable breach within a reasonable period stated in our notice; or
• for a Business Customer, insolvency, cessation of trade or a material adverse credit event gives reasonable grounds to believe payment is at risk.

Suspension does not waive payment obligations and may extend delivery dates. We will resume once the reason is resolved and may require payment, security or revised terms.

Either party may terminate for an unremedied material breach after reasonable written notice. Termination does not affect rights accrued before termination. Clauses intended to continue—including payment, title, intellectual property, confidentiality, liability, indemnity and dispute terms—remain effective.

Complaints and alternative dispute resolution

Please contact sales@wards-welding.com first and include your name, order or quotation number, what happened, the outcome you seek and relevant evidence. We will acknowledge and investigate the complaint and aim to provide a clear response within a reasonable time.

If a Consumer remains dissatisfied after our final response, we will provide information in a durable form about any accredited alternative dispute resolution provider or other complaint arrangement available for that dispute where required. Unless a legal rule, trade association or separate Contract requires us to participate, we will also state whether we agree to use the proposed process. A Consumer cannot be compelled by these Terms to use ADR instead of the courts.

Consumers can obtain independent advice from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service. Data-protection complaints may also be made to the Information Commissioner’s Office after giving us an opportunity to address the issue.

General contract terms

Changes to these Terms

We may update Website Terms prospectively to reflect legal, operational or service changes. The Terms in force when a Contract was formed normally continue to govern that Contract unless a change is required by law or expressly agreed. We will not retrospectively remove accrued Consumer rights.

Transfer and subcontracting

You may not transfer a Contract without our written consent. We may transfer or subcontract rights and obligations where this does not reduce a Consumer’s rights or materially prejudice a Business Customer. We remain responsible where the law or Contract requires.

Entire agreement for Business Customers

For Business Customers, the Contract is the entire agreement about its subject matter and replaces earlier discussions, representations and understandings, except for fraud. Each party acknowledges that it has not relied on a statement not set out in the Contract. This paragraph does not apply to Consumers in a way that limits rights arising from information that the law treats as binding.

Waiver, severance and third-party rights

A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver. If any term is invalid or unenforceable, it will be treated as modified to the minimum extent necessary or deleted, and the remaining terms continue. No person other than you and us may enforce the Contract under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, unless the Contract expressly says otherwise.

Notices

Contract notices must be sent to the email or postal address stated in the Contract or most recently notified in writing. This does not govern formal service of court documents. Keep copies of cancellation and complaint communications.

Governing law and courts

These Terms and each Contract are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

If you are a Consumer, you may bring proceedings in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom where you live where applicable. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also benefit from mandatory local consumer protections that apply despite the choice of law.

Business Customers agree that the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising from or connected with a Contract, unless a signed Contract states otherwise.

Model Consumer cancellation form

Complete and send this form only if you are a Consumer who wishes to cancel a Contract and has a statutory right to do so. You may instead send any other clear cancellation statement.

Delete whichever wording does not apply. Keep evidence of the date the cancellation was sent.