Terms of Service

1. Engagement

These Terms of Service govern your use of the DDES website (ddes.biz), the DDES client platform (advisory.ddes.biz) and any advisory services we provide ("Services"). By submitting an enquiry, accepting a proposal, or paying an invoice, you agree to these Terms. Any specific Statement of Approach, proposal, or scope document we issue and you accept forms part of the engagement and prevails over these Terms to the extent of inconsistency.

2. Who we are

DDES is operated from Queensland, Australia. We provide WHS, civil construction, and tender advisory services on a fixed-price productised basis and on retainer. We are not a law firm. Our advice draws on industry expertise, current legislation, and standards as at the date of delivery — it is not legal advice. Where the matter requires legal advice, we will tell you.

3. Scope of services

The scope of any engagement is defined in the proposal or Statement of Approach we issue and you accept. Anything not in scope is out of scope. Variations require a written variation request and our acceptance — verbal extensions of scope are not binding.

4. Fees and payment

• Fees are stated exclusive of GST. GST applies at the prevailing Australian rate.
• Productised offers (Estimate Risk Review, Tender Methodology Pack, etc.) are billed at the published price. Custom engagements are quoted in the proposal.
• Unless otherwise stated, fixed-price engagements require a 50% deposit on acceptance with the balance on delivery. Retainer arrangements are billed monthly in advance.
• Invoices are due within 7 days of issue unless the proposal states otherwise.
• Payments are processed via Stripe. Bank transfer is available where Stripe is not used.
• Overdue accounts may incur a late fee equal to 2% of the outstanding amount per month and may result in suspension of services.

5. Cancellation and refunds

• Fixed-price one-off engagements — once work has commenced, the deposit is non-refundable. If the engagement is cancelled before delivery, you pay for work performed to that point on a time-and-materials basis at our standard rate, with the balance refunded.
• Retainers — minimum terms are stated in the relevant offer. Cancellation within the minimum term requires payment of the remaining minimum term. Cancellation after the minimum term requires 30 days' written notice.
• Refunds for productised offers are at our discretion where the work has not commenced or where you have a reasonable concern about the deliverable; we will work with you in good faith to resolve any concern before any refund decision.

6. Your responsibilities

For us to deliver the Services, you must:

• Provide accurate and complete information about your project, scope, and existing WHS / business systems
• Make your relevant personnel reasonably available for consultation
• Respond to our requests for information or sign-off in a timely manner
• Pay invoices in accordance with these Terms

If you do not, we may suspend the engagement or extend our delivery timeframe accordingly.

7. Deliverables and intellectual property

• On full payment for an engagement, you receive a perpetual licence to use the deliverables for your own business — including amending them, training your workers from them, and using them on your sites.
• We retain ownership of all underlying methodologies, templates, frameworks, and tools we use to produce your deliverables. You are not granted a right to resell or redistribute our methodologies.
• Confidential information you share with us in the course of an engagement remains your property and is treated as confidential.

8. AI-assisted production

We use AI tools, including Anthropic's Claude, to assist us in producing some of our work. Every deliverable is reviewed by a DDES principal before it is provided to you. We do not deliver raw AI output. If you have a specific contractual prohibition on AI processing, tell us before the engagement commences and we will arrange a manual workflow.

9. Compliance limitations

The output we produce — including SWMSs, SOPs, methodologies, and compliance assessments — is prepared on the basis of the information you provide and the legislation and standards current at the time of delivery. You are responsible for the on-site implementation, ongoing review, and consultation with your workers in respect of any document we produce. A document held on file does not by itself satisfy a duty under the WHS Act 2011 (Qld) or any other legislation; the duty is satisfied through implementation, consultation, and consistent application. Legislation changes; you should review documents we produce when circumstances change or at least annually.

10. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• Our total aggregate liability arising out of any engagement is limited to the fees actually paid to us under that engagement in the 12 months preceding the claim.
• We are not liable for indirect, consequential, or special loss, including loss of profits, lost contracts, business interruption, or third-party claims.
• Nothing in these Terms excludes any liability that cannot be excluded under Australian Consumer Law.

We hold professional indemnity insurance appropriate to the scope of our practice.

11. Confidentiality

Each party will treat the other's confidential information as confidential and will not disclose it to any third party except (a) to our subprocessors as disclosed in our Privacy Policy, (b) to our professional advisers, or (c) where required by law. This obligation survives termination of the engagement.

12. Privacy

Our handling of personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. Any dispute arising under these Terms or in connection with an engagement is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland.

14. Variation

We may update these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current version. Material changes will be notified to active clients by email; continued use of the Services after notification constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

15. Contact

For questions about these Terms:
Email: scott@ddes.biz