Terms and Conditions

1. Who we are and what you accept

builtby is operated by Mimik Studios Ltd, New Zealand (builtby, we, us). These Terms govern your account and use of our platform. By ticking the signup checkbox, you agree to these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Notice. You must be at least 18 and have authority to act for any business you represent. Keep your account information accurate and your sign-in details secure; tell us promptly about unauthorised access. Your acceptance is recorded against the version shown below. Existing members are not treated as having accepted a new version merely because we publish it.

2. Your legal rights come first

Nothing in these Terms excludes or restricts rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, Fair Trading Act 1986 and Privacy Act 2020. All refund, liability, suspension and outage provisions below are subject to those rights. We do not use these Terms to contract out of the Consumer Guarantees Act for business users. A clause applies only to the extent it is lawful and fair in the circumstances.

3. Tradie and customer responsibilities

builtby provides listing, communication and project administration tools. A contract for tradie services is between the tradie and the customer, not builtby. We are not their employer, partner or agent and do not hold job funds in escrow. We remain responsible for our own platform obligations. Before accepting a project, both parties should agree in writing on scope, deliverables, price and GST, deposit, deadlines, revisions, cancellation, usage rights and when copyright transfers. Tradies are responsible for their work, licences, insurance, taxes, lawful pricing and customer obligations. Customers must supply lawful materials, clear instructions and agreed payments. A payment or receipt status does not prove that work meets an agreed standard. Approval, verification badges, reviews and listing visibility are not guarantees of competence, quality, safety, availability or payment. Carry out your own checks.

4. Disputes and support

Contact the other party promptly about a project dispute and retain proposals, messages, invoices, delivery records and payment evidence. You may report misconduct through Get in Touch. We may review records, facilitate communication or restrict misuse, but do not promise to resolve a dispute, act as an arbitrator or pay another member’s debt. This does not excuse our own breach or negligence. You keep your rights to contact a payment provider, regulator, the Disputes Tribunal or a court. For complaints about builtby, use Get in Touch and describe what happened and the remedy sought. We aim to acknowledge complaints within five working days; you need not wait to exercise legal rights or seek urgent relief.

5. Portfolio content and copyright

Copyright ownership. Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 1994. Uploading a work does not change its ownership. A tradie is not necessarily the copyright owner: employment, commissioning rules and agreements can affect ownership, including for commissioned photographs. Check the relevant ownership and licence terms before uploading client or employer work.

Permission to publish. Only upload material you own or are authorised to use for the specific purposes below, or material whose use is otherwise permitted by law. Permission must cover public portfolio display and the necessary hosting and technical processing. Obtain any required client, privacy and performers’ consents. Music, stock images, fonts, video and other third-party material may have separate licence restrictions. Credit, payment for a copy, or finding a work online does not by itself authorise publication. Do not claim another person’s work as your own. Statutory exceptions are limited; portfolio advertising is not automatically permitted merely because it is described as fair dealing.

Limited platform licence. Only to the extent you have authority to do so, you grant builtby a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, technically resize or format, and communicate your content to the public as necessary to operate your published listing, platform search and previews. The licence permits necessary processing by our service providers and internet display in the territories authorised by the rights holder. If your permission does not cover how this public website operates, do not upload the work. It does not give builtby ownership, a right to sell or license the work independently, or permission for unrelated advertising. It does not enlarge any third-party licence or override a rights holder’s restrictions.

Attribution and moral rights. Nothing in these Terms requires an author, director or performer to waive applicable moral rights. We and members must respect applicable attribution, integrity and protection against false attribution rights, subject to the qualifications in New Zealand law. Do not remove required credits or watermarks. Technical processing must not be used to justify unlawful derogatory treatment.

Duration and removal. Content may remain displayed only while the listing remains published, the necessary permission remains valid and you have not requested removal. Tell us promptly if permission expires or is withdrawn, and remove the affected content or request removal through Get in Touch. We will act promptly to stop unauthorised display and take reasonable steps to remove copies under our control. Necessary restricted backups or evidence may be retained only where lawfully permitted and must not be used to republish removed content without authority. Independent third-party copies are outside our direct control, but we will not knowingly authorise their infringing use.

Copyright complaints. Report suspected infringement through Get in Touch with the content URL, a description of the work and your rights or authority, supporting information and a way to contact you. We will assess reports promptly and remove or disable access to infringing material where required by law. We may restrict disputed material while investigating and seek a response from the uploader where appropriate. We will not knowingly restore infringing material without a lawful basis. Repeated or serious infringement may lead to proportionate account restrictions. A report is not itself a final finding of infringement, and the parties retain their legal remedies.

No blanket copyright protection. These Terms do not make unauthorised uploads lawful, bind a rights holder who has not agreed to them, or excuse builtby’s own infringement. Any liability or reimbursement clause is subject to applicable law and does not reduce a third-party rights holder’s rights. Viewing or paying through builtby does not itself transfer copyright in a project: the tradie and customer must agree the relevant ownership and usage rights consistently with the law.

6. Free accounts

builtby accounts are currently free. There is no paid membership or automatic subscription renewal.

7. Quotes and project arrangements

Listings, packages and proposals help tradies and customers discuss and record their requirements. builtby does not collect, hold or transfer project payments. Agree the scope, GST treatment, timing and any payment arrangements directly with the other party before work begins.

8. Bugs, security, outages and recovery

We take reasonable care in operating and securing the platform, but software may contain bugs and we cannot promise uninterrupted, error-free or completely secure access. Cyberattacks, malware, DDoS attacks, severe weather, natural disasters, power or network failures and supplier outages may disrupt access or damage data. Report faults through Get in Touch with the affected page, time and steps to reproduce them; do not send passwords or card details. Our target is to investigate and fix reported bugs within five working days after receiving the report. If a fix takes longer, we will provide an update within that period explaining the known issue, any workaround and expected next steps or when another update will be available. Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding New Zealand national public holidays, in New Zealand time. Serious security incidents are prioritised promptly rather than waiting for this target. Complex faults and dependencies may prevent a fix within five working days; this is a service target, not a guarantee of resolution in every case. We will make reasonable efforts to restore service and recover data as soon as reasonably practicable. We do not guarantee a recovery time or that every file or record can be recovered. Keep independent copies of your files, agreements and payment receipts. Lost records or an outage do not remove a refund obligation imposed by law. Where an event beyond a party’s reasonable control prevents performance, that party must take reasonable steps to reduce its effects and resume performance; this does not excuse a failure to take reasonable care beforehand, erase accrued payment obligations, or remove non-excludable rights.

9. Acceptable use and account restrictions

Do not use builtby for fraud, impersonation, harassment, spam, unlawful discrimination, malicious uploads, security attacks, unauthorised access or deceptive reviews. Do not scrape private data or bypass account and plan restrictions. We may remove content or restrict an account where reasonably necessary to address a breach, legal obligation or genuine security risk. We will normally explain the reason and offer a chance to respond or correct the issue; urgent action may occur first, and we may withhold details where disclosure would undermine security or break the law. Contact Get in Touch to request review. Restrictions must be proportionate. Account closure does not cancel existing project obligations or statutory refund rights. We may preserve relevant evidence for legitimate legal and security purposes.

10. Liability and third-party claims

You are responsible for loss caused by your own unlawful conduct or breach. builtby is not responsible for another member’s services, statements or non-payment merely because you met on this platform, but remains responsible to the extent our own conduct caused loss. Subject to section 2, we are not liable for indirect business losses that were not reasonably foreseeable. Where a liability limit can lawfully and fairly apply, our aggregate liability for claims arising in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of NZ$500 or the fees you paid builtby in that period. This limit does not apply to fraud, wilful misconduct, our breach of confidentiality or privacy obligations, or any liability that cannot lawfully be limited. It does not cap a refund expressly owed under these Terms. For a third-party claim caused by your knowingly unlawful upload or material breach of another person’s rights, you must reimburse reasonable, proven loss and defence costs to the extent caused by your conduct. This does not cover loss caused by builtby or another party, require payment merely because an allegation is made, or remove your right to contest a claim. We must notify you promptly, take reasonable steps to minimise loss, allow you to participate in the defence and obtain your agreement before a settlement imposing obligations on you.

11. Changes, ending your account and applicable law

We may update these Terms for legal, security or service changes. Material changes will be notified at least 30 days before taking effect, except where a more urgent change is reasonably needed for law or security; we will explain it as soon as practicable. We will seek acceptance where needed, and changes do not retrospectively alter an agreed project or accrued rights. You may stop using the platform . You can request account closure through Get in Touch. Clauses needed for existing payments, disputes, lawful record retention and accrued rights survive closure. If a clause is unenforceable, the remaining lawful clauses continue. New Zealand law applies, without removing mandatory protections available to you or your right to use an appropriate tribunal or court. Contact builtby through the Get in Touch page for legal, copyright, privacy or account enquiries.