frock n wellies
Terms and Conditions

Initial site visit

It is important for me to get to know you and to see your site. It is equally important for you to talk to me, before making the decision to hire me. It will give us the opportunity to discuss your ideas, wishes and assess your gardens challenges and potential. There is no charge for the initial site visit.

Consultancy

All consultancy is based on an hourly fee + travel time. A standard fee of £36 per hour will be charged.

Design fee

Based on the initial site visit, I will summarise a brief for the design work and get back to you with a quote for the design and a payments schedule. If throughout the design process the brief is altered, this might affect the design fee. I will never do any additional design work without discussing such a change in the design fee with you first.

If you decide on more revisions than stated in the quote, the additional work will be charged for on an hourly basis. A standard fee of £32 per hour will be charged.
 

After receiving the quote, I will need a signed work order before I can start the work. By signing you agree to these terms and conditions.

Additional fees and services

For all design work, there will be no surcharge for the regular client meetings, stated in the work order. Any additional meetings will be charged separately.
 

You will receive one hard copy of the drawings, which is included in the design fee. If you wish to have additional copies, I am happy to arrange this. These will come at an extra charge.
 

In some cases, it is important to get specialist services in before doing the design work. These are in addition to the design and construction fee. You yourself will be responsible for negotiating terms and conditions of a contract between you and the specialist service provider. I will do my best to point you to the right people where I can. However, I do not take any liability of the work undertaken.
 

Specialist services required may include:
 

• A detailed site surveys in the case of a complex garden

• A building surveyor/ structural engineer

• Arborist advice/ work

• Flood management

• Irrigation and pond advice/ work

• Invasive weed control.

In some cases, you might require planning permission or other licenses, or consider tree conservation orders and other restrictions. You as the client are responsible to meet these legalities. I can advise and signpost where required, but do not accept any responsibilities.

Construction stage

The construction of larger landscaping elements as well as any excavation work and buildings will be done by a separate contractor with appropriate tools and plants. See more on this below.
 

Once the hard landscaping is completed, you can choose to engage me and my team for the finishing touches such as planters, ornaments and garden furniture as well as for the planting. We will set up a separate work order for this.

Construction Budget

It might be the case that you want a design done without any budget limitations, incorporating all features that you like. Once the drawings and tender are finished, you can then get an idea of the associated construction costs and make up your mind then about which features will be part of the final design.
 

It might be the case however that you have a specific budget. In that case it is good for me to know, so I can do my very best to design a garden for you that reflects this budget. It is important to understand though that it is not possible to accurately estimate costs of a design until presented to a contractor. And throughout the construction phase, unexpected costs can crop up.
 

If savings do need to be made, we can consider changing the materials, removing an element of the design or phasing the project into realistic stages.

You contractor

For the hard landscaping work, you will need to appoint a contractor yourself. After getting a quote based on the drawings and tender of one or more contractors, you can choose a contractor and negotiating terms of a separate contract yourself. Where available I will recommend contractors that have done previous work for me, yet I have no liability for the work and the budget in the event of a dispute between you and the contractor. I am happy to look over the contract or advice on the negotiation of terms, but I can not take liability of any work undertaken.
 

Depending on our contract, I can come out and speak to the contractor about the design. Whilst I will not supervise or manage your contractors works, I will notify you of discrepancies between the design and the actual work being delivered. This gives you the opportunity to take steps to rectify such changes as you see fit. As things progress, you might want to alter details of the design. These things can be discussed during the site visits. If you require revisions of the design drawings, the additional work will be charged for on an hourly basis. A standard fee of £36 per hour will be charged.
 

For normal sized projects I usually suggest three site visits during this stage. We will have agreed on this in the work order. Any visits to site or meeting with suppliers and contractors in addition to those specified in the work order will be charged for on an hourly basis.

DIY option

Some clients want to get their hands dirty and save some money by doing (some of) the work themselves. To do this, you can use my drawings. Alternatively, I am happy to advice you. I have done previous projects where I worked alongside the client on a weekly basis, demonstrating techniques to them, so they could do most of the landscaping and planting themselves. An hourly rate of £36 will be charged. A great way to learn a lot about gardening.

Decorative features

If you wish, you can contract frock n wellies to install final decorative touches such as lighting, water features, ornaments and furniture. A separate work order will be drawn up and signed before work commences.

Soft landscaping

If you wish, you can contract frock n wellies to do the soft landscaping. A separate work order will be drawn up and signed before work commences.

Completion and handover

After all elements of the landscaping are completed, you will be asked to sign a ‘Garden Hand-Over’ form, acknowledging that the future care of the garden is now your responsibility.

Depending on the size of the garden, the extent of your horticultural knowledge and available time, I may recommend considering the engagement of a qualified gardener to assist with the future care of the new garden. You may choose to contract frock n wellies to take over the garden maintenance.

Plants

I hope that you will be delighted with the results of our work. But please bear in mind that gardens are living things and what you will have is young and delicate. Gardens are greatly affected by external factors beyond our control including weather conditions, which can be both extreme and unexpected. Gardens need time and patience to establish and develop. All plants and in particular, grass seed and wild-flower mixes take a substantial amount of time to mature and evolve. Gardens grow and evolve over time and will not look the same from one year to the next.

Payment

Preferred method is by BACS, but cheques are accepted. I am not registered for VAT, but can provide VAT invoices.
 

Payment will be in instalments during the different stages, as detailed in the work order. Payments are due after 14 days of invoice. If payments are overdue, any costs and expenses incurred to recover payment will also be charged to you.

Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights

Having first asked your permission to take photographs, those taken by me are copyrighted to me and I reserve the right to use photographs of the garden, before, during and after completion in promotional material to illustrate my work. Only generic descriptions are used. No material used will include the client’s personal information. If a client requests that photographs of their garden are not used, I will agree to such request.
 

All sketches, designs, concepts, plans and documents prepared by me are the intellectual property of frock n wellies and subject to copyright which remains mine, notwithstanding the payment in full for the design services.

My Insurance

I have Public and Product Liability to £2,000,000 as well as Professional Indemnity of 1,000,000 in place with Hiscox. If you require a copy of the insurance certificates I am happy to provide these to you.

Confidentiality

I will treat all personal and business information supplied by you as confidential and not disclose such information to a third party without your prior permission, except where required by law.