Terms & Conditions
Our Terms & Conditions
Acceptance of our quotation:
To accept our quotation and have us start working for you, you need to:
- Print, sign and post our quotation or scan the signature page back to us or e-mail reply accepting our work.
- Payment of your deposit which is then deemed to be your formal acceptance.
- Verbal only acceptance is not permitted.
- Record keeping – you are not permitted to post any part of our Quotation online.
Additional works:
During the course of our initial site meeting to quote for the project, a visual inspection only will have taken place. This does not involve excavation, lifting or investigative processes other than visual. It is possible that once the work commences, additional remedial work may be due which was not quoted for.
For example, a pond edge may have collapsed requiring greater strengthening and re-building during renovation. In the rare occasion where this occurs, our Team Leader will discuss the matter with you, agree a course of action and cost, and ask you to sign for this additional work.
Advertising & Confidentiality:
We reserve the right to photograph the project detailed within the quotation and use the pictures in our advertising material. Under no circumstances will the location or identity of your project ever be disclosed without your permission.
Aftercare of Equipment:
Once our work is complete, we will leave instruction leaflets where provided with you for aftercare of your equipment, if installed in your pond. It is then your responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of that equipment. We provide an Annual Pond Service and can provide more frequent Service calls if desired – please ask:
- Pumps – need periodic removal, cleaning, possible emptying of debris, impellor cleaning (impellers are not warranted)
- Filters need regular operation to ensure their trapped dirt is purged and that they operate correctly for your pond
- All other equipment we may install will be subject to the information from that manufacturer.
Should you ever loose the information, please contact us for duplicates or search online for instruction manuals.
Calculation Of Time:
For payments based on a daily rate, a ‘day’ shall refer to a period of 8 hours (inclusive of travel time to and from the Client’s site):
- If we are working from home base, this travel time is based via Google Maps between our postcode GL10 2LW and yours.
- If we are based from overnight lodgings, our location changes to/from there.
Time spent in excess of 8 hours shall be charged at a pro-rated rate for a day.
For payment based on an hourly rate anytime spent which is less than one hour shall be rounded up to the next hour.
Call outs:
When you call us out to investigate, repair or resolve anything, we typically charge a call out figure starting at £100. This covers our (local) driving time to you, our diesel and the first hour on site. Any subsequent hours are charged at £70 per hour until we get to a rate where it is more cost effective to charge you for a days’ labour.
This charge is based per employee and hopefully we can send a one-person call-out team to you. Where we need to send a two-person team (lifting, water safety etc), the rate applies per employee.
If we are travelling a long distance to you, we have the right to re-compute these charges specific to the occasion, to cover our costs of travel and labour. Generally these will be computed as fairly as possible to all parties and notified (and agreed) beforehand.
Any time calculations used in our invoicing are based from our vehicle trackers. For example, we know when the vehicle left us, got to you, left you and returned to us. This allows us to accurately compute travel time, and time on site. Our invoicing reflects this data.
Contract Duration:
Unless we are working day rate for you, our quotations anticipate the labour required for the job which is advised in days of duration and we issue a fixed price quotation.
By agreeing for us to work for you, you accept that if we over-run by virtue of under-estimating the job, or weather delays, we will not invoice you for additional labour. Equally, you accept that if everything goes well and we finish early, there is no discount!
Contract Terms:
Once a contract has been signed between the client and Turtle Productions, the deposit is due and payable. A start date for this project will be set accounting for cheque clearance time/receipt of your deposit. If the client wishes to renege the contract, the following payments are due:
- After signing the contract – the deposit is forfeited.
- Two weeks prior to contract commencement – the whole contract becomes payable.
- E&OE.
Data Protection (GDPR):
The General Data Protection Regulation came into force in May ’18. We, as a company, are obliged to keep whatever data we hold on you safe, private and secure.
Turtle Productions Ltd does not do marketing, so we never sell or pass on your data to a third party. The only data we hold about you are your name, address, telephone number/s and email address. Plus, of course, copious data on your pond, or garden! We hold no bank details of yours nor sensitive data.
We work on the premise of common sense, in that you contacted us for a quote, we’ve quoted, we’ve hopefully won the work and we’ve undertaken this work. We may also provide you with a warranty, annual servicing (of your pond or deck) and a call-out/regular maintenance service. Where this is the case, we store your data (detailed above) in our secure office or on our password protected computers.
If we did not win your work at the time of quoting, we keep the same details, as sometimes you might come back to us a year or two later for the same job. Our records are held for a minimum of 7 years (for HMRC reasons – audits or inspections).
You – you are not permitted to post any part of Our Quotation or official correspondence online without our direct, written permission.
If you are one of our suppliers, we have your details stored which may include your bank details – which we presume you want us to retain as you’d like to be paid.
If you are staff, we maintain very little information about you – as we see you daily! Your payroll details are stored by our Accountants as we presume you wish to remain being paid, and if you leave our employment – we dispose of these records – securely.
If you would like a copy of what we hold on you, which isn’t much, you are welcome to contact us. If you would like us to delete all records of you, you are equally entitled to request this and break our relationship.
If you don’t like any of this, you can speak to the ICO! https://ico.org.uk/
Definition Of “our Quotation”:
The entire document entitled “Our Quotation” is to be read and considered from cover to cover as our quotation and all pages and contents thereof relate to and form part of the quotation agreement between you (the client) and us (Turtle Productions Ltd).
The entire document entitled “Our Quotation” supersedes and replaces any prior oral agreements, representations or understandings between you – the client and Turtle Productions Ltd.
Delays On Site:
When we are working on commercial site projects or to a main contractor, please be advised that any downtime lost due to your not being ready for us, or not supporting this installation by machinery, labour or other needs as specified in our quotation, that cause this installation to over-run, may be chargeable at a rate of up to £5,000.00 + V.A.T. per day or part thereof. This will be evidenced by photos, site log records, be verbally reported to your site manager and finally backed up by e-mail report.
Our general first days’ travel to site commences from base @ 07.00, so time on site to you is after travel. Unless you have specifically told us otherwise, our quotation presumes any induction can be provided upon our arrival to site, before work. Where we discover this is not permitted, and that days’ work is lost, you will be charged for our lost time. This may then include further accommodation charges and possibly a second weeks’ travel costs if your delays push our installation over the reserved time / week slot. If you have a dedicated induction time for your site, you will have informed us so we can arrange for our site arrival to match. If you have not told us, charges for delay will be due.
Where delays occur to the start of our project, there may be costs we need to levy for expenses already incurred – for example, accommodation costs if we are travelling and staying locally to you for the project. Where these occur, any re-booking costs made ‘at shorter notice’ will be charged to you and need to be settled before we attend site.
Your failure to either settle or issue a PO for these charges, negating a further set back in time, are wholly attributable to you, and subsequent re-booking charges will further apply.
Deviation Of Works:
During the course of our installation works you or we may suggest “tweaks” that may improve the final appearance of the scheduled work. You may also identify other / additional work you would like us to undertake during our time with you. If there is no monetary value to these alterations and they are safe to undertake, our staff will be happy to discuss and undertake these amendments during the installation work.
If additional costs are required then these will be verbally agreed between you and our Site Manager / Team Leader, being invoiced upon conclusion of the project.
Electrician Services:
We are not electricians and are very limited in what we can do, or can’t do. Where we are quoting to install electrical equipment, unless specifically stated, you are to provide an electrician for the hard-wiring in of any equipment we install. It thus is your responsibility to arrange this connection, and the joint responsibility of you and your electrician to ensure you have the correct power for the job where we need it connected.
Our quotation will hyperlink the equipment we are to install, which should give your electrician the data they need for this connection. We are also happy to discuss requirements with the electrician prior to installation.
Guarantees:
Upon full settlement of our invoice, an automatic Turtle Productions 12-month installation guarantee will apply from date of completion of the project along with any installed equipment warranty. Should you have any claims, your first port of call is us.
Please, however, be aware that for an equipment guarantee to be considered, condition of the equipment will be inspected by ourselves and possibly the manufacturer. This inspection will determine whether you have maintained your equipment or serviced it. Impellers are not warranted and where pumps fail due to impellor issues, your pump is not covered. Please see our section on Aftercare of Equipment.
GDPR:
See Data Protection (GDPR), further up the page.
Hours Of Work:
Our employees work a generic 8-hour flexi-day, working generically from 8.15am to 4.45pm, or whenever the job dictates. This day starts and finishes from our place of business and this time includes travel to and from a job.
If we are working with you on site, we may work site hours with flexibility to work later if the weather is holding / our EPDM liner installation work requires it coupled with the availability of light.
Our working time with you on this project includes our travel time to/from base.
If we are staying away from base, for example site work or multiple-day distance work, we may stay locally overnight in a, for example, Travelodge Hotel.
Intelligent Property:
The specifications and designs of the Goods (including the copyright design right or other intellectual property in them) shall as between the parties be the property of the Seller. Where any designs or specifications have been supplied by the Buyer for manufacture by the Seller or to the order of the Buyer then the Buyer warrants that the use of those designs or specifications for the manufacture, processing, assembly or supply of the Goods shall not infringe the rights of any third party.
JCT:
For commercial work, unless specifically stated within our Quotation, we presume that the project has further components beyond our work. As such, our work is not subject to JCT retention and we do not subscribe to any payment retention. You have both our installation warranty and product warranty to rely on. Your acceptance of our quotation confirms this.
Liner welding services:
Part of our range of services is to install bespoke, welded liners to cover larger ponds, lakes or abnormal shapes. This service will require the on-site welding (joining) of two or more sheets of EPDM rubber liner to make a larger, single-sheet. If we are undertaking this work for you, then unless specifically stated in our quotation, our service quoted is to simply line your prepared area with the quoted EPDM geomembrane. Our service may include pre-visit and post-visit consultations but our service does not include any groundworks at all. Where we state:
- “All groundworks will have been completed” – you will have dug and prepared the area to be lined, to a compacted, smooth surface. We may inspect and confirm / advise further works prior to our installation. Unless you have specifically advised us, we will presume you have built lagoons like this before, know and understand how to finish the surface.
- “Work with you to ensure the anchor trenches / banks are built correctly to anchor the liner into place once installed” – this will be instruction on how to fill any anchor trench built or the covering of any anchor shelf. You / your team of labourers’ / machine operators will complete the groundwork element of placing soil onto / into the anchor trench to pin the liner in place. We can guide and train as appropriate.
- “We will have the use of a few labourers briefly to help us pull out the liners for welding” – This is a specific request to your project due either to size, time or labour constraints. We therefore expect the requested number of labourers to be readily available to us when we need them to assist us in getting large sheet liners pulled out. This could be any time of the day, and our request for their time should take priority over anything else happening on site, to help keep the project on track. We will keep a daily record of their time spent with us which they will be expected to countersign, in case of any dispute. If the labourers are delayed in getting to us to assist, we will firstly bring this to the attention of the site manager. Where this consistently happens, it will be noted on our daily Job Sheets and then become a chargeable item by virtue of installation time lost, whilst waiting for them.
- “With good, dry weather and complete site preparation, this project is achievable within XX week, for our team. Poor, damp weather, site logistics or lack of requested assistance can extend this term and are all chargeable delays.” – when we are joining sheets of EPDM with the proprietary tape and glues, the weather needs to be dry. Moisture in the air can cause a failure in the gluing and, thus, seam. We can partially mitigate this through the use of our generator-powered 240v heat guns whilst seaming, but where this becomes not possible in our experience, we must stop and wait for dryer weather. Rainfall during an installation may cause standing water in the lagoon being lined, that needs removal for us to continue. Any such delays which are out of our control, are chargeable when recorded in our Daily Job Sheets and time not recoverable within the time-frame of the project. See also Force Majeure, below.
Liner welding services:
Supply, Supply & Install or Install Only options:
We can be requested to issue three quotes to you – Supply, Supply and Install or Install only:
- When you request our “Supply” service, that is exactly it – we supply the liner that you have requested. If you ask us to measure from drawings, we will refer these measurements back to you for agreement and, thus, your responsibility. We therefore assume that you know what you want when you request it, and we cannot and will not be held responsible if errors are made in the requested sizes.
- When you request our “Supply and Install” service, we take away any concern or worry that you have enough material to undertake the job. If we are short on materials or there is a delay in delivery – this is our problem with no comeback on you.
- When you request our “Install only” service, that is exactly it – we install only what you have ordered to your lining plan. If you miscalculate or under-order resulting in delays through supplementary deliveries, these delays are chargeable. We will have no input whatsoever in your material ordering process.
Materials & Safety:
Please note that any materials delivered or left ‘on-site’ during the progress of this contract shall be at the Client’s risk immediately from delivery to the site. Stacks of bricks, paving stones etc can be dangerous. Please ensure your own, and your staff’s safety, by keeping away from stored materials on site. For your further safety, please keep staff and pets away from trenches and excavations, machinery, tools or other equipment on site, as we can accept no responsibility for accidents.
Our Payment Terms Are:
- Deposit – 1/3rd of the quotation payable in advance so we can place orders for the equipment.
- Balance – payable upon completion of the contract.
- Stage payment/s – if and as applicable; as per our quotation or tender.
If any payment is made later than 30 days after the invoiced date then we shall be entitled (without prejudice to any other right or remedy):
- Reserve the right to charge you interest on the outstanding debt. This interest rate is charged at 5% above the Bank of England’s base rate.
- To require the Client to make a payment in advance of services or goods not yet provided.
- Not to provide any further service or part of the services until appropriate payments have been made (in effect, suspend services).
- Not to provide any reports or warranties due on completion of the services until appropriate payments have been made.
If your invoice remains unpaid to the point where we need to appoint our contracted debt collectors (after 60 days), any fees incurred will be payable by yourselves (normally 10% of the debt). Where we are providing ongoing site support, your account is then suspended until payment is bought up-to-date.
In the rare occasion we need to take you to Court, all fees become chargeable, contact between us is broken and the Court will set fees as they see fit.
These standard terms may be varied at any time and if any variation occurs, this will be superseded by specific details in your quotation.
Our Quotation Documents & Communications:
The document titled ‘Our Quotation’, along with any related correspondence, may contain confidential and commercially sensitive information. Therefore, it is essential that these materials are not shared online, either directly or indirectly (such as within a planning application), without our express written consent.
Payment – Forms Of:
Our primary source of payment is via bank transfer (BACS – online banking). We can currently still accept cheques. Please notify us if you wish to pay by this method to see if we can accommodate it.
Planning Permission:
- In certain circumstances planning permission may be required for your project – for example, digging a large pond or lake by machine. We wish to draw your attention to this fact and advise that it is the clients’ responsibility to check with the local planning authority if they are unsure whether planning permission is needed (& subsequently getting it) or not. This permission may well apply to both the project and choice of materials. Any recommendation of materials from Turtle Productions do not account for any form of interpretation of planning or building consent.
- Your consent to our quotation presumes you have acquired any permissions necessary for us to undertake the work you have engaged us for.
- You are not permitted to post/upload our Quotation online as part of your planning application without express, written permission from us first, as this document may contain Commercially Sensitive Information that could be beneficial to others.
Pond Restorations:
When we undertake a drain and clean, or restoration of your pond (especially for the first time), we fully drain and clean out your pond. Fish, plants and water is saved in our steel-framed swimming pools whilst silt, rock and other rubbish is cleaned out and disposed of as per our quotation. Please note that your liner may be fragile through choice of material and age.
If damage occurs to a non-EPDM liner, we cannot be held liable for this damage, even if it requires relining at your additional cost. Indicatively, PVC liners last 10-15 years, butyl liners last 25 years and EPDM liners (since 2010) last up to 60 years. If your pond is being drained for a scheduled re-lining, or damage occurs to your liner (either un-covered holes or damage whilst we are in the pond), we only use EPDM liners in relining operations and these are fully repairable throughout their life.
Price matching:
Turtle Productions are aware of their market place, equipment costs, labour costs and those charges and services our competitors offer. With 25 years of experience, we believe we offer a complete ‘turn-key’ package and are very happy and comfortable with our quotation rates. We are not the cheapest, nor are we the most expensive. You can buy cheaper on the internet, if you wish to deal with that level of service, or indeed battle with it should something go wrong.
When we issue a quotation, we issue it knowing we’ve done the best we can for you. Any haggling or reduction in price normally has a reflective reduction in service level. As we pride ourselves on our service to you – before, during and after-care, please do not be offended if we decline your attempts to haggle.
Product faults and Warranty claims:
As a Hozelock Centre of Excellence, we honour their warranty on their behalf. Other manufactures have different conditions. In the rare occasion a fault may occur within the manufacturer’s warranty period, please inform us immediately by phone. Turtle Productions staff will discuss the fault and attempt to resolve the problem with you over the phone or, if necessary, via e-mails (if we require pictures to assist our diagnosis). If the fault cannot be rectified by our discussion, Turtle Productions will visit you with spare equipment to inspect and repair or replace at their discretion. The charge for a call-out or warranty claim is thus:
- Our call-out is chargeable, irrespective of the fault. Your warranty lies with the manufacturer and not with the installation company.
- If you have damaged the warranty equipment, and repair cost or replacement cost is chargeable.
- If the damaged equipment has failed through no fault of your own, we will replace the equipment at no charge to you, save our call-out fee as above which is and remains chargeable.
Retention of title:
Title to “the goods and services provided by Turtle Productions” as detailed in our quotation (hereinafter referred to as “the Goods”) shall remain vested in Turtle Productions and shall not pass to you until the invoice for this quotation has been settled in full. Until title to “the Goods” passes, Turtle Productions and its agents and employees shall be entitled at any time and without the need to give notice enter upon any property which “the Goods” or any part are stored, or upon which Turtle Productions reasonably believes them to be kept and shall have authority to retake, sell or otherwise deal with and/or dispose of all or any part of “the Goods” as they see fit.
Retention of funds through warranty period:
Title of goods has transferred upon full payment of our invoice. Should a warranty claim arise during our 12-month installation warranty, we will come, investigate and fix the fault if it is warranty related. If not warranty related, we can repair after agreeing the repair cost. Please note that we do not subscribe to a percentage retention during the 12-month warranty term and if you engage our services, your engagement accepts this.
Returns Policy:
We do not distance sell and as such we have no Returns Policy.
The law states that we do not have to offer a refund to a customer if they:
- knew an item was faulty when they bought it. (We do not sell off faulty items, so this is not relevant).
- damaged an item by trying to repair it themselves or getting someone else to do it.
- no longer want an item they purchased.
In the rare occasion you’ve rung us and asked us over the phone to sell and post something to you, your acceptance of the goods once received confirm you are happy with the goods and accept our Terms & Conditions covering that sale. We will assume that you have received these goods within 24 hours after their due delivery. If the goods you have purchased are bespoke, or made to order, there is no refund if no longer wanted. If a stock item, for example, a filter, and you want to return it, then you may as long as the item has not been opened and is in its original packaging we used to deliver it to you.
See Your Right to Cancel below for further options.
Timber products:
We source all timber we use from reputable sources. Our primary partner for our decking, fencing etc materials is Fountain Timber Ltd. Timber is a natural product and may split, bend or warp – this is a natural product issue and entirely beyond our control. Nor can we be liable or responsible for the quality of timber – knots etc. It’s a natural product which we use for you. When we fit your timber project, the delivered timber can come from various stock-piles held by our supplier. The timbers can vary a little in colour due to wetness, time of treatment etc and all timbers will age to the same colour, once laid, after exposure to the elements (sun, rain, wind etc). This is entirely natural. should any timber need replacing, the new timber will blend and age to the colour of the existing timber, over time.
Validity Of Our Quotation:
Unless it is specifically mentioned on your personal quotation, all our quotations are valid for 60 days.
V.A.T.
We are registered for V.A.T. and our number is 763 0200 70.
Warranty:
Turtle Productions warrants that it will use reasonable care and skill in performing the Services being quoted for to a standard which confirms to generally accepted industry standards and practices.
Turtle Productions offers an industry-standard 12-month warranty for its work from completed date of installation and this is only valid once full payment for our invoiced work has been settled.
Turtle Productions honours the warranty of equipment we install from our suppliers once full payment for our invoiced work has been received. Any call-outs for any equipment related issues (warranted or not) will be chargeable, as we are supplying a service to inspect. If a fault is found with a piece of equipment that is covered by warranty, there will be no charge for the replacement or repair of that faulty item. Our call-out charge however remains.
As per Guarantees above, for a piece of equipment to be claimed under warranty, it will be inspected by ourselves and/or the manufacturer for signs of whether you have maintained your equipment or serviced it. Impellers are not warranted and where pumps fail due to impeller issues, your pump is not covered. Please see our section on Aftercare of Equipment.
We expressly do not warrant any reports, suggestions or objectives stated in any form of communication.
We equally do not warrant any suggested or scheduled completion date.
Except in the case of death or personal injury caused by Turtle Productions’ negligence, our liability under or in connection with our quotation whether arising in contract, Tort, negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise howsoever, shall not exceed this quotation value.
Weather-related delays / force majeure
Extreme weather events caused by climate change can cause substantial delays on site for us – specifically when we are installing liner and is becoming an ever-growing consideration. For example, when we lined the Wave, ambient temperatures in the mid 20’s created a measured-liner temperature of 69°C – too hot to touch let alone work with. Similarly, Bristol Zoo’s project fell behind due to months of rain. Turtle Productions Ltd shall not be held liable for any delays, disruption, or inability to carry out works due to weather conditions beyond our control. In particular:
- Extreme hot weather: Where ambient temperatures exceed 22°C in direct sunlight, it may become unsafe to handle or lay liners due to the risk of thermal expansion or surface burn (liner temperature can exceed 70°C). For safety and material integrity, we may not install liners in these conditions and work may be paused or rescheduled.
- Heavy or persistent rain: Liner installations cannot proceed in wet conditions, as moisture affects adhesion, safety and the quality of the final finish. In the event of wet weather, we will assess daily and may reschedule accordingly.
- Periods of showery weather: Any collected rainfall in the lagoon needs your removal where it prevents us welding liner together.
- Extreme / consistent cold: The new, EU compliant, Toulene-free glues we use do not work as well at cold temperatures (5 degrees and below). Where these temperatures are consistent across a site during the proposed works, we may need to re-schedule as, simply, the glue may not adhere.
These instances will be treated as Force Majeure and we shall not be responsible for any costs or losses arising from such delays. Where possible, we will notify you as early as practical and rearrange works at the next suitable weather window.
If a project requires re-attendance due to adverse weather after part installation, additional travel or accommodation costs may be applied and will be discussed with you beforehand.
Web Links:
Our external weblinks are provided for your convenience or interest. Those sites are not under our control nor are maintained by us. Please note we are neither responsible for nor take and responsibility for the content of those sites.
Works below ground:
When we either first quote or site visit prior to commencing any form of work for you, there has to be an element of supposition following our visit. I.e. depth of pond, what’s in the ground where a new pond is to be dug, fence post holes and so on. When we commence works and find a problem (utilities, subsidence, ground rock etc), we’ll stop works, notify you and if there’s additional costs to be borne to resolve what we’ve found, discuss and find a joint solution to the problem, where it’s resolvable. Where these rare situations arise, they will be in addition to any pre-agreed quotations or terms of engagement. Any plan for rectification (where costs are involved) will be agreed with you in writing before continuance.
Your Obligations
To enable us to provide the services we have quoted, we expect you to agree and participate with the following obligations:
- Co-operate with us as we reasonably require you to.
- Provide us such information and documentation as we reasonably require during this work.
- Make available to us the facilities, resources, working space, staff and/or sub-contractors as specified in our Quotation and/or as we reasonably require from time to time.
- Not to publish and written communications nor our Quotation online under any circumstances without prior, written permission from us.
- Instruct any staff / agents / representatives you employ to cooperate and assist with us as requested.
Your Right To Cancel:
Congratulations for making it this far! So, you’ve called us, we’ve visited you, we’ve quoted for the work and you presumably have accepted our quote. Now feel like changing your mind? No problem. The law says you have 14 days to do it except if the item you desire is a bespoke item or made to order – such as a pond liner. We invite you to ring us if you have any concerns.
If you want to read all the legal jargon, please feel free to research it online. Remember, we’re there to ‘help’ you, not hinder you.
Turtle Productions may revise these Terms & Conditions at any time by updating this page.