Definitions – The “Owner” is Groundtrax Systems Ltd or its agents. The “Hirer” is the company, firm, person, corporation or public authority taking the owners equipment on hire and includes their successors or personal representatives.
Extents of contract – These general conditions are the only terms upon which the Owner will accept orders for equipment hire. Any terms or conditions attached to the hirers order shall be of no effect unless agreed in writing by the Owner.
1. The standard hire charge is £1.00 per panel per day or part of a day, subject to a minimum 10 day hire fee and minimum order value of £250.00 excluding delivery and cleaning charges.
2. The panels are offered for hire by the Owner subject to availability at the time that the Hirers acceptance of the Hire Contract is received by the Owner
3. Panels are available for collection and can be fork lifted onto your transport. If panels are delivered to you via a third party transport company, this will usually be with a curtain sided wagon and you should arrange for off-loading with a suitable forklift or telehandler. Should this not be available, the panels can be manually off-loaded by two people (smaller quantities only). Should any delivery vehicle supplied by the Owner be required to leave the public highway for the purpose of delivery or collection, the Hirer shall be responsible for all injury, loss and damage, howsoever caused, whether negligently or otherwise, to the Owners vehicle, employee, the site and anything on or beneath the site. Should the Hirer for any reason not able to receive the panels immediately upon arrival at site, the Hirer shall be responsible for any delay and abortive transport or demurrage charges or any other consequential loss or expense incurred by the Owner. All delivery and collection dates or times quoted are estimates only and not guaranteed, and time shall not be of the essence for delivery.
4. The Hirer covenants to insure the panels and ancillary equipment at their full replacement cost throughout the entire period that the panels are on site notwithstanding that the hire period may not yet have commenced or may have expired. Replacement costs for Groundmatz are £125.00 each, single joiners are £1.20 each, double joiners £4.50 each and ratchets straps are £15.00. All these prices are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.
5. The panels will be delivered securely strapped to a pallet. At the end of the hire period please re-stack onto the pallet and secure with the ratchet straps provided. Re-loading onto the collection wagon will also be your responsibility.
6. The hire rate will include 2 single joiners per panel. Double connectors are also available on request. U pin joiners are also available and should always be used on sloping ground.
PLEASE NOTE – It is strongly recommended to always use connectors to join the panels together in order to prevent the panels from moving or sliding during use. It is possible for panels to ‘shoot out’ from under a driven wheel particularly on harder surfaces. The use of connectors will prevent this from happening and avoid potential injury or damage to property.
7. Vehicles driving over the panels must not exceed 5 miles per hour. The Owner accepts no responsibility for damage to vehicles or plant or any other loss or damage as a result of their using the panels.
8. As with all temporary access products, Groundtrax panels are not suitable for use with steel tracked vehicles and all panels damaged by their use will be charged for. The replacement cost will be as per our current sales rate atwww.groundtrax.com. Damage caused by other negligent use will also be charged for. Be particularly careful with excavator bucket teeth, excavator jacking legs and drainage trencher teeth as these all may potentially damage the panels.
9. The load capacity of the panels is entirely dependent upon the load bearing capacity of the underlying ground. During use, the underlying ground should be periodically inspected and the panels re-located to fresh ground should ground conditions deteriorate significantly.
10. At the end of the hire period all panels should be thoroughly cleaned. We will require a £3.00 cleaning charge before your panels are despatched. This amount will be refunded promptly on condition that the panels are returned clean (this means as clean as they were when they were delivered to you) A cold water pressure washer should be sufficient, but please ensure the panels are thoroughly washed individually on both sides.
11. Please also be aware that the primary use of the panels is to move vehicles over soft ground and that during wet weather in particular the panels may become slippery when used by pedestrians with smooth soled footwear.
12. It is the Hirers responsibility to ‘off-hire’ the panels at the end of the required hire period otherwise hire charges will continue to be charged on a pro-rata basis. The hirer should notify the Owner via email or telephone. An off-hire reference will be given on request.
13a. Payment – Advance payment in full will be required unless an account facility has been granted. If additional hire charges are invoiced, this amount must be paid within 14 days from the date of the invoice. For account customers the Owner will invoice the Hirer at monthly intervals throughout the hire period and/or after the end of the hire period. Where account facilities have been granted in writing all invoices must be paid within 14 days from the date of the invoice, time being of the essence. Where these terms are exceeded interest shall be payable at the rate of 4% above the base rate of NatWest Bank from time to time prevailing without prejudice to any other rights or remedies available to the Owner. Should the Hirer wish to query or dispute any part of any charge rendered, written notification must be given to the Owner within the period allowed for payment.
13b. Payment for all Products via our site must be by credit or debit card. We accept payment with Master Card, Visa. We will not charge your credit or debit card until we dispatch your order. If you wish to pay by any other means please contact our sales team on 03456 800008 or info@groundtrax.com.
13c. The law regarding Credit/Debit Card charges changed in January 2018. The new law applies applies to consumers and so businesses CAN still be charged fees, but as is the case currently, this should only be the amount it costs to process the transaction. The surcharge rules are based on how you pay not who you are, though. So if you pay with a business or corporate credit card you will be charged a 1.95% card processing fee, but if you’re a business owner using your personal credit credit you will not be charged the surcharge.
All prices quoted exclude VAT at the prevailing rate.
Last updated: 09/10/2018