Terms of Engagement

Introduction

Thank you for the opportunity to work together. Before we start, we need to establish the basis of our professional relationship.

Unless we agree otherwise, these terms of engagement will govern how we will work together.

These terms apply to any current and all future engagements. From time to time, we may vary these terms. If we do so, the varied terms will appear on our website – www.aliciamckay.co.nz. If we work together following a variation of these terms, you will be deemed to have agreed to the varied terms.

Services

We will provide you with services outlined in our proposal email, project brief, equivalent document, and any further instructions you provide.

Our duty of care is to you and not to any other person. We do not accept any responsibility or liability to any third parties who may be affected by our performance of the services or who may rely on any advice we give, except as expressly agreed by us in writing.

Communications

We will ask you for contact details, including email address, postal address and telephone numbers. We may provide documents and other communications to you by email (or other electronic means). You will advise us if any of your contact details change.

You agree that we may provide you from time to time with other information that may be relevant to you, such as newsletters and information bulletins. You may request that this not be sent to you at any time.

Unless otherwise agreed, we will communicate with you and others electronically. We cannot guarantee that these communications will not be lost or affected for some reason beyond our reasonable control, and we will not be liable for any damage or loss caused thereby.

Fees and Payment Information

Fees

We’ll provide you with a fixed programme or event price whenever possible. We will assemble an estimate for you for work where this is impossible. Any estimate is a guide only and is not a fixed fee. We will discuss a revised estimate if we significantly exceed any estimate provided.

GST

GST is payable by you on our fees. Unless expressly stated, any quote, estimate or chargeout rate will not include GST.

Disbursements and Expenses

In addition to our fees, we will charge you for any expenses and disbursements incurred in the reasonable provision of services, such as travel and accommodation, along with a 5% administration margin. We reserve the right to request payment of these disbursements from you in advance.

Invoices

Programmes with a total GST exclusive value of less than $10,000 should be paid in full before work commences unless by prior arrangement.

Programmes with a total GST exclusive value of over $10,000 require a 50% deposit to be confirmed. In this case, we will send you monthly progress invoices.

For speaking and MC engagements, we will bill the remainder of the project cost (plus travel and disbursements, if relevant) immediately following the event.

We reserve the right to vary these terms for individual projects as needed.

Payment

Invoices are payable by the 20th of the following month or before the project commences. Final invoices and deposits are payable within 14 days of the invoice date unless alternative arrangements are made. Please contact us promptly if you have difficulty paying any of our invoices.

If our invoices are not paid by the due date, we may charge interest at 15% per annum. You will be liable for all debt collection and legal costs, together with interest, we incur in seeking payment of our invoice.

Confidentiality

We will not disclose any confidential information we obtain in performing services to any other person. Both parties agree to keep confidential any information obtained during this engagement, which is treated and/or marked by the other party as confidential.

Our confidential information includes methodologies, tools, templates, and exercises to deliver this engagement. These items are Intellectual Property and cannot be distributed, copied or used without permission.

Any Intellectual Property owned by a party before the commencement of the engagement shall remain that owner's property. Alicia McKay reserves the right to new Intellectual Property created during this engagement.

Cancellation Policy

Please see the terms below in the unlikely and unfortunate event of a workshop or session cancellation.

Should you need to cancel for any reason, the first preference is to postpone and reschedule on a day that works for both parties at no charge.

Should you need to cancel and a suitable reschedule cannot be found, the following charges will apply:

• 21+ day’s notice of cancellation – no charge/ full refund
• 14- 21 day’s notice of cancellation – 50% charge/ 50% refund
• Less than 14 day’s notice of cancellation – full charge/ no refund

Media and Marketing

By signing this form, you authorise Alicia McKay, Structured Conversations Limited, and our representatives to take photographs, make audio/visual recordings and facilitate media requests for project and promotional purposes.

We reserve the right to use photos, video recordings, testimonials, comments and quotes, within reasonable limitations, as marketing or sales tools unless otherwise requested.

Conflict of Interest

We may occasionally work with other clients in the same industry as you. Alicia McKay and Structured Conversations Limited are not exclusive to any particular client and may work for any client or project while recognising the importance of ensuring no conflict of interest exists.

If a conflict arises, we will advise you and act accordingly. This may mean we cannot provide further services and may need to terminate our engagement.

Indemnity and Liability

We indemnify each other against all expenses, damages, losses, and costs incurred or awarded by or against the other party as a result of any negligent act or omission to the fullest extent permitted by law.

You are fully responsible for reviewing and approving the content and form of the deliverables of our engagement. Our total liability is limited to the amount of the fees paid.

Termination

Either party may terminate the engagement at any time.

Complaints

If you have any concerns or complaints about our services, please raise them immediately. We will respond to your concern as soon as possible. We will always endeavour to resolve the matter in a way that is fair to all parties.

Premises and Equipment

You agree to provide us access to your premises and the information and equipment needed to perform our services.

Where timetables have been agreed to provide necessary information to enable the project to proceed, you agree to adhere to the timetables.

Deadlines

We will always do our best to meet agreed deadlines. Where you need to extend deadlines unexpectedly, we will not be held responsible for extensions to the overall delivery timetable or necessary reductions in the scope of the services.

If you’ve got any questions concerning this Terms of Engagement, we’re always more than happy to answer them. We look forward to working with you.