Terms & Conditions
Last updated: 31 July 2026
These are the terms we work to. They apply alongside your written quote — where the quote and these terms disagree, the quote wins. Nothing here takes away rights you have by law.
1. Who you are contracting with
The GroundFather is the trading name of Jacob Wright, a sole trader based in Bovey Tracey, Devon (“we”, “us”). Contact: 07397 042753.
These terms apply to everyone. Section 20 sets out extra terms that apply only to business, developer, landlord and public sector clients, and section 5 sets out cancellation rights that apply only to consumers.
2. Quotes
- Quotes are free and carry no obligation. Site visits for quoting are free within our coverage area.
- A quote is valid for 30 days from its date. After that we may need to re-price, mainly because material costs move.
- Quotes are based on what we could see and on the information, photographs, plans or measurements you gave us. If those turn out to be wrong or incomplete, the price may change under section 7.
- Anything not written in the quote is not included. If you are unsure whether something is in, ask before we start.
- An estimate given verbally, by text or on WhatsApp is an indication only. Only a written quote is a firm price.
3. Prices, VAT and materials
All prices are in pounds sterling. Where VAT applies it is shown separately on your quote and on your invoice, so the figure you are asked to pay is always the full figure.
Where a quote is priced on a day rate rather than a fixed price, the rate, the working day and what counts as chargeable time are set out in the quote. Where materials are supplied by us, we may pass on a documented supplier price increase that occurs between the quote and the order — we will tell you before we buy.
4. How the contract is formed
A contract exists once you accept the written quote in writing — by email, text, WhatsApp or signature — or once you pay a deposit against it. At that point these terms apply.
5. Your right to cancel (consumers)
If you are a consumer and we agreed the contract at your home, on site, or entirely at a distance by phone, message or email, you have a legal right to cancel within 14 days of the day the contract was made, without giving a reason. This comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
To cancel, just tell us clearly before the 14 days are up — call, text, WhatsApp or write. You can use the form below, but you don’t have to. We will refund any money you have paid within 14 days of being told.
If you want us to start within the 14 days, ask us in writing. You keep the right to cancel, but you must pay for the work already done and for materials already bought for your job, in proportion to the full price. Once the work is fully completed with your agreement, the right to cancel ends.
Model cancellation wording: “To The GroundFather, 07397 042753, jacobpwright777@outlook.com — I hereby give notice that I cancel my contract for the supply of the following service: [describe]. Ordered on / received on: [date]. Name: [name]. Address: [address]. Date: [date].”
6. Access, services and site conditions
Before we start, you agree to:
- give us safe and clear access to the working area and a route for machines, deliveries and muck away;
- tell us about anything buried — drains, water, gas, electricity, telecoms, septic tanks, soakaways, land drains, wells, cabling, irrigation, ground-source loops and private supplies — and mark them where you can;
- move or protect anything you value that is in or near the working area;
- obtain any permission needed from a landlord, freeholder, management company or neighbour, including for access over land you don’t own;
- confirm boundaries where the work runs close to one.
We will use reasonable care, cable avoidance tools and hand digging where appropriate, but we cannot be responsible for damage to unmarked or wrongly located underground services, or for damage caused by access being narrower, softer or steeper than we were told. If access has to be created or made good, that is chargeable unless the quote says otherwise.
7. Ground conditions, variations and extras
Ground work is priced on what can reasonably be expected. If we meet rock, running sand, made ground, unexpected water, buried concrete, old foundations, contaminated material, asbestos, protected species or anything else that materially changes the job, we will stop, tell you, and give you a revised price or day rate before continuing.
Any change you request during the works is a variation. We will confirm the cost and any effect on the programme in writing, by message if need be, and we will not carry out extra work you have not agreed to.
Asbestos and other hazardous materials are excluded from all quotes. If they are found, work in that area stops until a licensed specialist has dealt with it.
8. Timing and weather
Start dates and programmes are agreed in good faith and we work hard to hold them. They are not guaranteed and time is not of the essence unless the quote expressly says so. Weather, ground conditions, supplier delays, breakdowns and delays caused by other trades on your site may move dates — we will keep you told.
9. Permissions, planning and protected features
Unless the quote says we are handling it, it is your responsibility to obtain planning permission, building regulations approval, prior approval, listed building consent, a licence for work in a conservation area, party wall agreement, land drainage consent, or any other permission the work needs.
Tree work is subject to site assessment and to Tree Preservation Orders, conservation area rules, hedgerow regulations and nesting bird and protected species law. We will flag anything that looks like it needs checking, but we cannot be liable for work carried out on your instruction without the consent that turns out to have been required.
10. Waste
Where the quote includes removal of spoil, green waste or rubble, we remove it under our Environment Agency waste carrier registration and dispose of it at a permitted facility. Our registration details and waste transfer documentation are available on request.
Hazardous waste, asbestos, contaminated soil, tyres, fuel, chemicals and fly-tipped material left on site by others are excluded and priced separately if you ask us to arrange removal.
11. Payment
- Where a deposit or stage payments apply, they are set out in the quote. Larger projects are normally staged so you always know what is due and when.
- Invoices are payable within 7 days of the invoice date unless the quote says otherwise.
- Payment is by bank transfer. Account details and the reference to quote appear on your invoice.
- Materials remain our property until they are paid for in full, even once they are on your site. Risk in them passes to you on delivery.
- We may charge interest on late payment. For business clients this is at the statutory rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, together with the fixed sum compensation that Act allows. For consumers we charge 4% a year above the Bank of England base rate on the overdue amount.
- If payment is overdue we may suspend work on notice until the account is brought up to date.
12. Our workmanship
We will carry out the work with reasonable care and skill, using materials of satisfactory quality, within a reasonable time. For consumers this reflects your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which are not affected by anything in these terms.
Tell us about any snagging within 14 days of completion and we will come back and put it right. Beyond that we will remedy defects in our own workmanship notified within 12 months of completion.
That does not cover: normal settlement, shrinkage and weathering; ground movement or drainage failure caused by conditions outside the area we worked on; damage by third parties, other trades or later works; overloading beyond the specified use; lack of maintenance; frost, flood, storm or exceptional weather; or plant, turf and seeded areas that have not been watered and maintained.
13. Insurance
We carry public liability insurance, together with any further cover the work requires. Certificates and cover details are available on request, and we are happy to provide them before work starts.
14. Liability
Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.
Subject to that, our total liability arising out of a job is limited to the greater of the contract price for that job or the amount recoverable under our public liability insurance. We are not liable for loss of profit, loss of business, loss of contracts, loss of production or other indirect or consequential loss.
If you are a consumer, this section does not affect your statutory rights.
15. Health, safety and the site
While we are working, the working area is a construction site. Please keep children, pets, visitors and untrained people out of it, and follow any instruction we give about exclusion zones, machine movement or reversing areas.
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 apply to construction work. On domestic projects the client’s duties normally pass to the contractor, and where we are the only contractor we will take them on. Where other contractors are also engaged, a principal contractor and principal designer must be appointed — we will tell you if we think that applies to your project.
16. Photographs
We may photograph work in progress and completed work to show our workmanship. We do not publish your name, full address or anything identifying you. Tell us at any time if you would rather we didn’t, or want an image removed, and we will comply. See our Privacy Policy.
17. Cancellation and postponement outside the statutory period
If you cancel or postpone after the statutory cancellation period has passed, or where it never applied, you remain liable for work already carried out, materials already ordered or bought for your job, and any non-recoverable plant hire, haulage or subcontractor charges we have already committed to. We will always try to redeploy or return what we can.
We may cancel and refund any deposit if the site turns out to be unsafe, if a required permission is missing, if the work needed is materially different from what we quoted for, or if we cannot obtain the materials or plant at a workable price.
18. Complaints
If something is wrong, tell Jacob directly on 07397 042753 as soon as you can and give us a fair chance to inspect and put it right. We will respond within 5 working days and agree a plan with you. Most things get sorted with a phone call and a return visit.
19. Events outside our control
We are not liable for delay or failure to perform caused by something beyond our reasonable control, including severe weather, flooding, fire, epidemic, industrial action, supply chain failure, road closures or government restrictions. We will tell you as soon as we can and agree revised dates.
20. Business, developer and public sector clients
Where you are not a consumer:
- the cancellation rights in section 5 do not apply;
- the Consumer Rights Act 2015 does not apply, and these terms are the entire agreement between us, replacing anything said or written beforehand;
- your own standard purchase terms do not apply unless we have agreed to them in writing;
- retention, if any, must be stated in the quote or order — we do not accept retention by default;
- late payment interest and compensation apply under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
21. General
We may use subcontractors for parts of a job and remain responsible for their work. You may not transfer your contract with us to anyone else without our written agreement. If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. Failing to enforce a term on one occasion does not waive it.
22. Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in your own courts.