Terms and Conditions

1. Operator, agreement and eligibility

BUILDBY is operated by Mimik Studios Ltd, New Zealand (BUILDBY, we, us). These Terms govern the BUILDBY website and its marketplace, communication and business administration features. Contact us through Get in Touch. When you expressly accept these Terms at signup, you enter an agreement with Mimik Studios Ltd and acknowledge the Privacy Notice. We record the accepted version, time and method. Publication of a new version alone does not mean an existing member has accepted it.

You must be at least 18 and legally able to enter contracts. If you act for a business, you confirm you have authority to bind it and use its information. Identify the actual person or business supplying or purchasing work. Provide accurate account details, keep them updated, protect your credentials and promptly report suspected misuse. Use authorised team accounts rather than sharing passwords. You are responsible for actions you authorise and for taking reasonable steps to secure your account; this does not make you automatically liable for a security failure caused by us.

2. Rights that cannot be excluded

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies a right, guarantee, duty or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, Fair Trading Act 1986, Privacy Act 2020, Building Act 2004 or Construction Contracts Act 2002 where applicable. Every disclaimer, limitation, reimbursement obligation and suspension right below is subject to this section. We do not use this standard agreement to contract out of the Consumer Guarantees Act for business users. A term applies only so far as it is lawful and fair in the circumstances.

3. Our role as a platform

BUILDBY provides tools for finding tradies, publishing listings, communicating, recording quotes and administering jobs. The contract for trade services is between the identified tradie and customer. BUILDBY is not the contractor, subcontractor, employer, insurer, payment guarantor, project manager or agent of either party merely because they use the website. We do not carry out, supervise, inspect or certify their work, select a contractor on a customer’s behalf, or assume either party’s contract obligations. We remain responsible for our own services and conduct.

Listings, prices, availability, reviews and member submissions are supplied by members. We do not promise to independently verify every statement or monitor every interaction. Approval to publish is not professional certification. A verification indicator relates only to the particular check described; it does not guarantee a person’s honesty, current licence, qualifications, insurance, solvency, safety, workmanship or payment. Members must make their own checks and inspect relevant official registers and supporting documents.

We do not guarantee enquiries, leads, bookings, earnings, search position, uninterrupted listing visibility or a particular business outcome. Search and display arrangements may change for relevance, service operation, moderation or security. Any paid promotion introduced in future must be identified and separately agreed. General information, templates and calculations are tools, not legal, tax, engineering, building or other professional advice.

4. Tradie, customer and workplace responsibilities

Tradies must accurately describe their business, services, prices, GST status and experience, maintain any required licences and registrations, and comply with consumer law, employment obligations, taxes, consents and health and safety duties. Do not advertise or undertake regulated work without the required authorisation. Tradies are responsible for their employees, subcontractors, tools, materials, workmanship and any insurance they are required or agree to hold.

Customers must have authority to arrange the work and share property information, give accurate instructions and disclose known site hazards and access restrictions. Both parties must meet their own health and safety duties, agree lawful site access and manage emergencies directly. BUILDBY is not an emergency reporting or site-safety monitoring service. Neither party may use these Terms to transfer a statutory duty to BUILDBY or avoid duties owed to the other party.

5. Quotes, contracts, variations and payments

Before agreeing to work, identify the contracting parties and record scope, exclusions, materials, price, GST, estimates versus fixed prices, timing, payment stages, responsibilities, cancellation terms and dispute arrangements. Clicking an acceptance button or otherwise accepting a quote may create a binding contract with the tradie. Read all attached terms first. Project terms cannot override statutory rights or bind BUILDBY without our separate agreement.

Agree variations to scope, price or timing in writing before additional work begins where practicable. Schedule entries, task completion, photographs, signatures, receipts and status labels record what members submit; they do not independently prove payment, compliance, workmanship or legal completion. Check invoices, totals, dates and bank details yourself. Confirm changed payment instructions through a trusted independent contact method.

For residential building work of $30,000 or more including GST, the contractor must provide the required written contract. Required disclosure information and the consumer protection checklist must also be supplied before signing at that threshold, or when requested where applicable. A BUILDBY quote or acceptance record is not represented as satisfying all building-contract requirements. An ordinary invoice or reminder is not necessarily a valid statutory payment claim or payment schedule. Obtain appropriate advice and observe applicable deadlines.

BUILDBY does not collect, hold, escrow, process or transfer project payments. Arrange and verify payments directly with the other party. Recording an invoice, receipt or payment status does not mean BUILDBY has received, checked or guaranteed funds. Cancellation, refunds, defective work and payment disputes remain the contracting parties’ responsibility, subject to law and our responsibility for our own conduct.

6. Business tools, team access and records

You are responsible for checking information entered into quotes, invoices, tax fields, schedules, reminders, customer records and other tools before relying on it. Authorise team access carefully, use the available roles and remove access when it is no longer needed. Only upload customer, employee or other personal information you have a lawful basis to provide, and give any required privacy notices.

Keep independent copies of important agreements, invoices, evidence and records required by law. The website is not a guaranteed permanent archive or a substitute for your own accounting, compliance or backup arrangements. Email, calendar and other notifications may be delayed, filtered, unavailable or missed. Confirm urgent changes and legal deadlines directly rather than relying solely on an automated reminder.

7. Your content, copyright and permissions

Copyright ownership. Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 1994. Uploading a work does not change its ownership. A tradie is not necessarily the copyright owner: employment, commissioning rules and agreements can affect ownership, including for commissioned photographs. Check the relevant ownership and licence terms before uploading client or employer work.

Permission to publish. Only upload material you own or are authorised to use for the specific purposes below, or material whose use is otherwise permitted by law. Permission must cover public portfolio display and the necessary hosting and technical processing. Obtain any required client, privacy and performers’ consents. Music, stock images, fonts, video and other third-party material may have separate licence restrictions. Credit, payment for a copy, or finding a work online does not by itself authorise publication. Do not claim another person’s work as your own. Statutory exceptions are limited; Portfolio advertising is not automatically permitted merely because it is described as fair dealing.

Limited platform licence. Only to the extent you have authority to do so, you grant BUILDBY a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, technically resize or format, and communicate your content to the public as necessary to operate your published listing, platform search and previews. The licence permits necessary processing by our service providers and internet display in the territories authorised by the rights holder. If your permission does not cover how this public website operates, do not upload the work. It does not give BUILDBY ownership, a right to sell or license the work independently, or permission for unrelated advertising. It does not enlarge any third-party licence or override a rights holder’s restrictions.

Attribution and moral rights. Nothing in these Terms requires an author, director or performer to waive applicable moral rights. We and members must respect applicable attribution, integrity and protection against false attribution rights, subject to the qualifications in New Zealand law. Do not remove required credits or watermarks. Technical processing must not be used to justify unlawful derogatory treatment.

Duration and removal. Content may remain displayed only while the listing remains published, the necessary permission remains valid and you have not requested removal. Tell us promptly if permission expires or is withdrawn, and remove the affected content or request removal through Get in Touch. We will act promptly to stop unauthorised display and take reasonable steps to remove copies under our control. Necessary restricted backups or evidence may be retained only where lawfully permitted and must not be used to republish removed content without authority. Independent third-party copies are outside our direct control, but we will not knowingly authorise their infringing use.

Copyright complaints. Report suspected infringement through Get in Touch with the content URL, a description of the work and your rights or authority, supporting information and a way to contact you. We will assess reports promptly and remove or disable access to infringing material where required by law. We may restrict disputed material while investigating and seek a response from the uploader where appropriate. We will not knowingly restore infringing material without a lawful basis. Repeated or serious infringement may lead to proportionate account restrictions. A report is not itself a final finding of infringement, and the parties retain their legal remedies.

No blanket copyright protection. These Terms do not make unauthorised uploads lawful, bind a rights holder who has not agreed to them, or excuse BUILDBY’s own infringement. Any liability or reimbursement clause is subject to applicable law and does not reduce a third-party rights holder’s rights. Viewing work or arranging payment after meeting through BUILDBY does not itself transfer copyright in a project: the tradie and customer must agree the relevant ownership and usage rights consistently with the law.

8. Private content and BUILDBY intellectual property

For private messages, attachments and business records, you grant us only the permissions reasonably needed to store, process, transmit and display them to authorised recipients, provide support, address abuse and meet legal obligations as described in the Privacy Notice. Uploading private content does not authorise public advertising use. Our rights end when no longer needed for those purposes, subject to lawful retention.

BUILDBY and its licensors retain rights in our software, branding, site design and platform materials, excluding member content. We give you a limited, non-exclusive permission to use the website for its intended purposes while complying with these Terms. Do not copy or resell our software, imply endorsement, misuse our branding or circumvent access controls. This does not restrict rights that applicable law expressly permits or third-party open-source licences.

9. Acceptable use, reviews and security

Do not use BUILDBY for fraud, impersonation, unlawful discrimination, harassment, threats, spam, deceptive advertising, malware, infringement, or unlawful collection or disclosure of information. Do not buy, fabricate or manipulate reviews, misrepresent work as your own, disclose another person’s private information in a public review, or retaliate against someone for an honest review. Reviews should reflect genuine experience and clearly distinguish opinion from factual claims.

Do not access another account or private records without authority, evade restrictions, harvest contact details, overload the service or run intrusive security tests without written permission. Public availability is not permission to reuse personal information for unrelated marketing. Report suspected vulnerabilities privately through Get in Touch without exploiting them or accessing additional data.

10. Free access, future fees and promotions

Accounts are currently free, with no paid membership or automatic subscription renewal. Free access does not guarantee unlimited storage, unlimited usage or permanent availability of every feature. Reasonable usage limits may be applied to protect security, capacity and fair access; we will explain material changes and give reasonable notice where practicable.

We will disclose any future charges and relevant terms before you choose a paid service. We will not charge you or enrol you in a paid subscription simply because you already have an account. Promotions and prize draws require their own published rules, including eligibility, entry and closing dates, prize details and selection arrangements. These general Terms do not supply missing promotion details or authorise retrospective changes to a promotion.

11. Availability, maintenance and third-party services

We take reasonable care in operating the platform, but do not promise that software is error-free, continuously available, compatible with every device, or immune from unauthorised access. Maintenance, internet or power failures, cyberattacks and third-party failures may affect access, notifications or data. Report faults through Get in Touch. We prioritise by impact and risk; unless separately agreed, there is no guaranteed response time, fix deadline, uptime percentage or recovery time.

We will take reasonable steps to address faults, reduce disruption and restore service. We do not guarantee recovery of every record. An event outside reasonable control excuses an affected obligation only to the extent and for the time it actually prevents performance, subject to reasonable mitigation and section 2. It does not excuse earlier failures to take reasonable care or erase accrued obligations.

Third-party websites, embedded content, email, sign-in and calendar providers operate under their own terms and privacy practices. A link is not an endorsement. We are not responsible for their independent conduct merely because the website connects to them, but remain responsible for obligations the law places on us when selecting or using service providers.

12. Moderation, restrictions and account closure

We may investigate reports and remove content, restrict features or suspend or close an account when reasonably necessary to address a material or repeated breach, fraud, unlawful activity, a serious safety or security risk, or a legal requirement. Action will be proportionate to the circumstances. We will normally explain the reason and provide a reasonable opportunity to respond or correct a problem. Urgent action may come first, and details may be withheld where disclosure would breach law, compromise an investigation or create a genuine risk.

You may request a review or close your account through Get in Touch. Where lawful and practical, we will give reasonable notice and an opportunity to obtain your records before permanent closure or discontinuation of a material service. Restrictions do not cancel a tradie/customer contract, outstanding payments or statutory remedies. We may retain relevant records for the limited purposes described in the Privacy Notice.

13. Complaints and disputes

Raise a work or payment dispute promptly with the other contracting party and retain quotes, messages, invoices, photographs and payment evidence. You may also report misconduct to BUILDBY. We may review relevant records or facilitate communication, but are not required to act as an arbitrator, adjudicate workmanship, fund repairs or pay another member’s debt.

For a complaint about BUILDBY, use Get in Touch with the relevant facts and remedy sought. We will consider it in good faith. You retain access to regulators, the Disputes Tribunal, statutory adjudication and an appropriate court. No compulsory private arbitration, waiver of statutory remedies or mandatory waiting period is imposed by these Terms.

14. Liability limits

Subject always to section 2, BUILDBY is not liable for a member’s work, representations, actions, omissions, project disputes or non-payment merely because the parties met or used tools here. We remain responsible to the extent our own breach or conduct causes loss. You must take reasonable steps to avoid or reduce loss; this does not transfer our legal responsibilities to you.

To the extent lawful and fair, we exclude liability for indirect or consequential business losses, such as lost profits, revenue, opportunity or anticipated savings, arising from use of or inability to use the platform. This exclusion does not remove compensation or other remedies required by law.

Where a financial limit can lawfully and fairly apply, our total aggregate liability arising from events in any 12-month period, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, is limited to the greater of NZ$500 and the fees you paid BUILDBY for platform services in that period. Project payments made to tradies are not fees paid to BUILDBY. This limit does not apply to fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence, our breach of confidentiality or privacy obligations, a refund expressly owed, or liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

To the extent permitted by law, the same exclusions and limits protect our directors, employees and contractors when acting for BUILDBY in providing the platform, subject to the same exceptions. They are intended beneficiaries of this clause. This does not immunise any person from their own non-excludable obligations or create additional liability for a member.

15. Responsibility for third-party claims

To the extent lawful and fair, you must reimburse BUILDBY for reasonable, proven losses and external defence costs arising from a third-party claim to the extent caused by your fraud, wilful misconduct, unlawful content, infringement of another person’s rights or material breach of these Terms. Liability is proportionate to your responsibility and does not cover loss caused by BUILDBY or another person, losses we could reasonably have avoided, or penalties that cannot lawfully be reimbursed.

An allegation alone does not make you liable. We must notify you promptly, provide reasonable details, minimise loss, allow you a reasonable opportunity to participate in the defence and obtain your agreement before a settlement that admits fault or imposes obligations on you. You may contest the claim and the amount sought. This clause cannot be used to remove consumer or privacy rights.

16. Changes, transfer and governing law

We may update these Terms for changes to the service, law, security or legitimate business requirements. We will give at least 30 days’ notice of material changes, except where a shorter period is reasonably necessary for law or urgent security; we will explain such changes as soon as practicable. We will seek acceptance where required. Changes do not retrospectively change agreed projects or accrued rights. You may stop using the service and request closure.

You may not transfer an account without our agreement. We may transfer this platform agreement as part of a genuine business sale or restructuring only where it does not materially reduce your rights; we will give reasonable notice and handle personal information lawfully. Failure to enforce a clause immediately is not a waiver. Unenforceable wording is severed only so far as necessary, leaving the remaining lawful agreement intact.

These Terms and any separately agreed platform-service terms form our agreement about the website. They do not exclude liability for misleading statements or override mandatory law. Clauses necessary for accrued rights, disputes, lawful recordkeeping and intellectual property survive account closure. New Zealand law applies, without removing mandatory protections or the right to use an appropriate tribunal or court. Contact Mimik Studios Ltd, trading as BUILDBY, through Get in Touch.