Terms & conditions

1. About us and these terms

These terms and conditions apply to all services provided by Fernwick Garden Design Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 14582937, with its registered office at 14 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BG. Our VAT registration number is GB 412 7731 58. You can contact us on 01225 480 312 or at [email protected].

These terms, together with your written quotation or design proposal, form the contract between us. If there is a conflict between them, the quotation or proposal takes priority. Please read them carefully; in particular sections 6 (your right to cancel), 11 (guarantees) and 13 (our liability to you).

2. Definitions

• “You” means the person or people named on the quotation as the client.
• “Services” means the consultation, design, landscaping build, planting or maintenance work described in your quotation.
• “Build work” means hard landscaping and associated works carried out on site, including patios, paths, walls, steps, decking, drainage and lighting.
• “Practical completion” means the point at which the build work is finished apart from minor snagging items that do not stop you using the garden.
• “Consumer” means an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside their trade, business, craft or profession.

3. Our services

We provide garden design consultations, full garden design plans, landscaping build work, planting design and planting, small urban and courtyard garden packages, and seasonal garden maintenance. The exact scope of each job is set out in your quotation or design proposal.

We will carry out the services with reasonable care and skill, using suitably qualified and experienced staff, and in accordance with good industry practice. Build work is carried out by our own employed crew; where specialist trades such as electricians are needed, we will tell you in advance and remain responsible for their work.

4. Quotations and how the contract is formed

Our quotations are fixed for 60 days from the date of issue unless stated otherwise. A contract is formed when you accept the quotation in writing (including by email) and, for build work, pay the deposit described in section 5.

Build quotations are based on the information available at the time, including our survey. Where ground conditions cannot be seen — for example buried rubble, old foundations, drains or tree roots — the quotation will say what we have assumed. If we find something different, we will stop, explain the options and give you a written price before carrying out any extra work.

5. Prices, deposits and staged payments

All prices quoted to consumers include VAT at the applicable rate (currently 20%). If the rate of VAT changes before a payment falls due, we will adjust that payment accordingly.

• Consultations are paid in full when you book.
• Design fees are invoiced as 40% when the survey is booked and 60% when the final drawings are issued.
• Build work is paid in stages: a 20% deposit on acceptance to reserve your build slot; 30% on the first day on site to cover materials; interim payments at the milestones set out in your quotation; and the final 10% within seven days of practical completion.
• Maintenance is invoiced monthly in arrears, or quarterly in advance for four-season care plans.

Invoices are payable within 14 days by bank transfer. If a payment is late, we may charge interest at 3% a year above the Bank of England base rate from the due date until payment, and we may pause work after giving you seven days’ written notice. We will not charge interest on any amount you dispute in good faith while we try to resolve the dispute.

6. Your right to cancel

If you are a consumer and our contract is made away from our studio (for example at your home) or at a distance (by phone, email or online), you have the right to cancel it within 14 days without giving any reason, under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The cancellation period ends 14 days after the day the contract is formed.

To cancel, tell us clearly in writing — for example by email to [email protected] or by letter to 14 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BG. You may use the model cancellation form below, but you do not have to.

Starting work within the cancellation period. We will not start work within the 14 days unless you expressly ask us to in writing. If you do ask us to start and then cancel within the 14 days, you must pay us an amount in proportion to the services provided up to the time you tell us you are cancelling, plus the cost of any materials made or ordered specifically for your garden that cannot be returned. If the services have been fully performed within the 14 days at your express request — for example a consultation visit that has already taken place — you will lose the right to cancel once they are complete.

Refunds. We will refund any money due to you within 14 days of being told of your decision to cancel, using the same payment method you used.

After the cancellation period, you may still end the contract by giving us written notice, but you will have to pay for work done and materials ordered up to that point, and any reasonable costs we incur as a direct result.

7. Access, the site and your responsibilities

To let us carry out the work safely and on time, you agree to:

• give us access to the garden between 8:00 and 17:30 on weekdays during the agreed programme;
• provide access to an outside tap and an electrical socket, and, for longer builds, use of a toilet;
• tell us about anything you know of that might affect the work, such as underground services, septic tanks, Japanese knotweed, tree preservation orders or disputes with neighbours;
• obtain any permissions that only you can obtain as owner, such as landlord or freeholder consent.

Much of Bath is a conservation area and many properties are listed. We will advise whether planning permission, listed building consent, tree works consent or a party wall notice is likely to be needed and can prepare applications for you at the fee stated in your quotation. Any fees charged by the council are payable by you.

8. Design copyright

We keep the copyright in all drawings, plans and documents we produce, under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Once you have paid the design fee in full, you have a non-exclusive licence to use the design to create one garden at the address stated in the proposal, whether you build it yourself, use another contractor or ask us to build it. You may not use the design for other properties or publish it without our permission.

9. Changes to the work

You may ask to change the work at any time. We will tell you in writing how the change affects the price and the programme before carrying it out. Changes are agreed only when we both confirm them in writing, which can be by email. We may make minor changes that do not affect the price or the quality of the work, for example substituting a plant of the same size and habit when a variety is unavailable, and will tell you when we do.

10. Plants and living materials

Plants are living things and depend on weather and aftercare. We will supply healthy, good-quality plants of the sizes specified. We will replace free of charge any plant we have supplied and planted that dies or fails to thrive within six months of planting, unless the failure is caused by lack of watering against our written guide, damage by animals or people, or extreme weather such as prolonged drought or severe frost beyond normal local conditions. This does not affect your statutory rights.

11. Our guarantees

In addition to your statutory rights, we guarantee hard landscaping built by our crew against structural failure — for example subsidence of a terrace or collapse of a wall caused by our workmanship or materials — for ten years from practical completion. The guarantee does not cover natural weathering, staining, efflorescence, normal movement of timber, or damage caused by others, by tree roots planted after completion, or by alterations not carried out by us. The guarantee passes to any new owner of the property.

12. Your statutory rights

If you are a consumer, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says that our services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, that any information we give you about the services is binding if you rely on it, and that goods we supply (such as stone, timber or plants) must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. If we fail to meet these standards you are entitled to ask us to put things right at our cost or, if that is not possible, to a reduction in price. Nothing in these terms affects these rights. For more information, contact Citizens Advice.

13. Our liability to you

We are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or failing to use reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for loss or damage that is not foreseeable, or for business losses, as our services are provided for domestic and private use.

We do not exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for breach of your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. We hold public liability insurance of £5 million and employer’s liability insurance of £10 million, and will provide certificates on request.

We are not responsible for delays caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as severe weather, flooding, supplier failures or utility outages. If this happens we will tell you as soon as possible and agree a revised programme with you.

14. Complaints and disputes

If you are unhappy with any part of our work, please tell your designer or email [email protected]. We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days, visit if appropriate, and give you a full written response within 14 days.

If we cannot resolve a dispute between us, you may refer it to an approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider. The Citizens Advice consumer helpline (0808 223 1133, citizensadvice.org.uk) can give free, impartial advice and tell you which approved ADR schemes are available for your type of dispute. Using ADR does not prevent you from going to court.

15. General

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you are a consumer, you may bring proceedings in the courts of England and Wales, or, if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in the courts of the part of the UK where you live. If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest will remain in force. No one other than you and us has any right to enforce these terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

16. Personal data

We use your personal data to provide the services and manage our contract with you, as described in our privacy policy. The data controller is Fernwick Garden Design Ltd, 14 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BG (ICO registration ZB712845).

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected, erased or restricted, to object to our use of it, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent. You can exercise these rights free of charge by writing to us at the address above. We will respond within one month.

Please send privacy requests to [email protected]. You may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.