Terms & Conditions
Last reviewed: March 2023
Please carefully read through the terms and conditions of business set out below. Please note that upon acceptance of a quotation provided by Crane Creative (Trading name of Crane Designs Ltd) and/or payment of the deposit (as set out below), acceptance of these terms and conditions will be assumed. If you require any clarification on the terms detailed below, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss.
1. All quotations provided by Crane Creative remain valid for 30 days from the date the quotation is sent to you. All quotations are subject to VAT unless otherwise exempt. Please note this period only relates to Crane Creative quotations. If part of the project requires third-party company involvement, any quotation given by them is subject to their own terms and conditions. Crane Creative cannot be held liable for any difference in a quotation provided by a third party.
2. Our normal hours of opening are between 9am and 5.00pm on weekdays. Crane Creative closes at the weekend and on all bank holidays. Crane Creative is closed for a week over the Christmas period and specific dates of such closure will be advised to you if your work is likely to be affected by the Christmas closure.
3. The work which Crane Creative undertake for you will be turned around within a reasonable time frame and, where possible, such a time frame will be mutually agreed at the outset of each project. In the event that a matter is particularly urgent and work outside of Crane Creative usual opening hours is required, Crane Creative reserve the right to charge an additional fee for this. This additional fee will be negotiated separately. Please note that any time frame agreed will assume a timely response from the client and any third parties involved in the project. If timely responses are not received, this will impact the time frame and Crane Creative cannot be held responsible for this.
4. No work will be undertaken until Crane Creative has received written approval of the quotation either by letter or by email AND the minimum deposit as stated in clause 5 below. If an alternate agreement has been reached regarding the deposit, this must first be formalized in writing before any work will commence. If a project is being delivered in ‘stages’ a deposit will be required before proceeding to each new ‘stage’.
5. A 50% deposit of the full price quoted by Crane Creative is required before any work commences. Any work for third-party services including printing, fulfilment and mailing that Crane Creative sources for you, will require a minimum upfront payment of between 75% and 100% of the third parties' costs. The exact percentage will depend upon the value of the service and we will provide you with our requirements for this. Without proof of such third-party payments, Crane Creative will be unable to proceed.
6. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, payment of the remaining monies to Crane Creative will be due in full on the project’s completion. This will be case-specific, however, examples include, the delivery of printed items, publishing of a website and sending of e-shot. Failure to make the final payment at the request point may result in delays in the project's delivery. Crane Creative cannot be held responsible for such delays. If you wish to know exactly when the final payment for your project will be required, please contact us.
7. Where a project is to be approached in ‘stages’, at the beginning of each stage, payment in full for the upcoming stage will be required, before Crane Creative will be able to proceed with the next stage.
8. Crane Creative aims to get a project completed as quickly and efficiently as possible. If a project is held up by a period of 14 days or more, due to failure to provide the information requested, Crane Creative reserves the right to raise an additional 30% charge on the final invoice. If the requested information is not forthcoming after 30 days, the project will be deemed cancelled and all work completed up until that point will be invoiced together with an additional penalty charge of 30% of the total invoice cost.
9. If you wish to terminate Crane Creative acting for you in relation to a project, please let us know as soon as possible in writing. You are under no obligation to see the project through with Crane Creative until its completion. If you do terminate your instructions, Crane Creative will render an invoice for you for all works completed up until cancellation. Upon payment of the invoice, all works completed up until the date of cancellation will be sent to you. If Crane Creative wishes to terminate the contract with you, they may do so at any time. An invoice for the works undertaken will again be sent to you for payment and upon receipt of payment, the work completed would be sent to you. Your deposit will of course be used in the first instance against the accrued costs and any outstanding costs, after the use of the deposit, will be for the client to pay in accordance with condition 10 below.
10. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, all invoices require payment in full within 30 working days of the date of the invoice. Please note that failure to provide payment of such an invoice may have adverse effects on the project as outlined in sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of these terms and conditions of business. In addition, interest will be charged on a daily basis at 8% per annum from the date of the invoice where payment is not made within 30 days of the date of the invoice. If part payment of the invoice is received but there is still a balance owing after 30 days interest will be charged on the outstanding balance.
11. Crane Creative will do its best to ensure that the mutually agreed time frames are adhered to, however, please be aware that certain circumstances are out of our control and may have an effect on the time frame. In addition, if any amendments are required by the client, this may potentially result in delays. Any time frames provided are estimated and Crane Creative cannot be held liable if the project overruns as a result of delays caused by the client n providing us with information or approval, or any third-party delays or issues or any other issues outside of Crane Creative' control.
12. The quotation provided allows for the presentation of at least two creative options per brief for the client’s consideration. In the unlikely event that the client is not satisfied with the first round of presented work, a further round of additional creative development and presentation will be developed. If after the third round, there is still no agreement on direction, we reserve the right to bring to an end any agreement with the client with no refund of the deposit or payments made previously.
13. The quotation provided is inclusive of a maximum of three sets of client amendments to the presented work. Should any additional amendments be required, an additional fee, as agreed with us, will be charged. Crane Creative will make you aware of such charge before the additional amendments are made.
14. At the end of each stage of the process, including, but not limited to, sending an item to print or publishing to a website, the client will need to ‘sign off’ their approval either in person or by email. No further development can be undertaken until Crane Creative is in receipt of written approval confirmation. Any amendments to work after receipt of the signed approval may incur additional charges for further time spent. Crane Creative will advise the client of these additional charges in advance. In addition, should any additional printing or services from a third party be required, the client is expected to fully settle these additional expenses.
15. Unless otherwise specified, costs quoted exclude the following where applicable: commissioned illustration, photography or stock images, image retouching, image scanning; copywriting, postage, in-house colour print-outs, travel, web hosting (it will often be a prerequisite to host your website with Crane Creative, particularly if a website incorporates an e-commerce or content management system), couriers, other third-party costs incurred (such as merchant bank and payment gateway charges) and so on.
16. It is assumed that, unless otherwise stated, the client will provide the majority of text copy and images. However, Crane Creative will contribute to this (through headlines, and top-line messages etc) as a natural part of the creative process. If required, Crane Creative is able to provide a full copywriting service or copy advice, as well as illustration and photography at an additional cost. Purchased royalty-free stock images from our standard sources (if required) will generally be priced at between £15 and £45 plus VAT per image (dependent on source, image size and quality) to cover sourcing time and image costs. Specific image requirements not satisfied by our standard sources will be charged at cost and an additional 15% with prior client notification.
17. Crane Creative recommends that clients use our preferred suppliers for print and is able to provide competitive quotations to ensure high quality and service is maintained until delivery of the final product. We always seek a number of quotations from our trusted print suppliers and provide a complete management service: from print sourcing to print liaison to proof checking. Although clients are not contract-bound to use Crane Creative to provide this service, it is highly recommended for quality control and peace of mind. If a client prefers to use their own print supplier, Crane Creative will simply provide artwork directly to the client to manage and forward, and will be unable to monitor, advise or take any responsibility for the process or final output.
18. In addition to print suppliers, Crane Creative works closely with sign manufacturers and installers, illustrators, interior designers and other relevant partners to provide an extensive high-quality service offering beyond immediate in-house capabilities.
19. Clients should be aware that due to a variety of factors there will often be variance in colours shown between in-house proofs, colours on screen, printer’s proofs, and final printed items. These factors are determined by the source of the print or visual (each output source e.g. our printer, the client’s printer, the image setter, the difference of monitors), the types of inks or make-up of colours (even Pantone colours can vary significantly and often surprisingly depending on what stock or substrate they are printed on), the type of print process (short-run digital, longer-run litho printing), the substrate (paper, card, plastic etc) used, individual preferences (ambient light, personal computer settings etc) and other such reasons. As a result of this, Crane Creative is unable to guarantee 100% consistency and accuracy of colour on all items and may not always be able to achieve the exact result expected by the client. In the case of printed items, the only true guide as to what is likely to be produced, is to request a ‘wet-proof’ on the actual intended substrate with the actual inks to be used, although this will incur additional costs. However, as long as the client accepts there may be inconsistencies across the work produced, this step may not be necessary. Crane Creative does not accept any responsibility for colour variations as a result of these indeterminate factors.
20. Until payment is received in full, all designs, artwork and rights to design and artwork (whether in digital or printed format) remain the intellectual property of Crane Creative. Full copyright and ownership of all ‘commissioned’ work will reside with Crane Creative until full payment has been received, at which point Crane Creative will surrender to the client, all claims of ownership and full copyright for final work produced (not including alternative designs, concepts, options, files, images or documents developed throughout the process). This agreement is subject to appropriate credit and acknowledgement appearing and Crane Creative right to use the work for self-promotion in its portfolio, in presentations, in advertising, in print and online.
21. Crane Creative will never knowingly infringe any copyright or trademark and will deliver, to the best of our knowledge, creative solutions that are original and unique to the company. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, it is the responsibility of the client to ensure that no copyright or trademark has been infringed and to make their own application for copyright or trademark with the ‘UK Intellectual Property Office’ if required.
22. If requested, Crane Creative will (at its discretion) provide the client with end-artwork in its final form (e.g. print-ready PDF; outlined EPS file etc), however, we do not by default (and without further charge) provide clients with original artwork or HTML code (for example an InDesign file, layered Photoshop file or HTML source file) or any working or development files, rejected concepts and designs, images or documents generated throughout the project. Ownership and copyright of all unused or rejected files, documents and designs will reside with Crane Creative for non-exclusive future use.
23. Crane Creative will not at any time or in any manner, either directly or indirectly, use for our personal benefit or divulge, disclose or communicate in any way any information that is proprietary to the client. We will act reasonably to protect such information and treat it as strictly confidential.
24. The client agrees to indemnify Crane Creative and keep the agency indemnified and hold the agency harmless from and against any claims, actions, proceedings, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses suffered or incurred in relation to work or services provided. Crane Creative is not liable for any loss that may occur before, during or after the development of projects undertaken. Crane Creative will not be held responsible for any delays, errors or losses arising from any third party.
25. For all web-related projects, unless specifically stated, the client will retain 100% ownership of the web page design only (ownership is not applicable to proprietary software and programs or source code, such as databases, e-commerce and/or content management systems or web application source code).
26. Crane Creative offers a web hosting service to host the websites we have built for our clients. This is recommended in order to ensure ongoing quality of service and is a mandatory requirement for websites incorporating a content management system (CMS) or e-commerce system. Although the standard of our hosting packages is high. Crane Creative is unable to guarantee 100% up-time (as no web host would) nor accept any responsibility for any error, omission or misrepresentation in relation to the websites hosted or for any loss, damage, cost or expense (whether direct, indirect, consequential or otherwise) suffered by any user of the websites hosted. Crane Creative makes no warranties or representations of any kind that hosting will be uninterrupted, and error-free or that the website or the server that hosts the website are free from viruses or other forms of harmful computer code. In no event shall Crane Creative, its employees or its agents be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential damages resulting from the hosting of websites on our servers.
27. Appropriate credit and acknowledgement for work produced by Crane Creative should be attributed to Crane Creative where possible (for instance written in small text on the back of a printed item or at the bottom of a website) and may be referenced for the agency’s promotional purposes unless otherwise (in exceptional circumstances) prearranged with the client.
28. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, these terms and conditions of business supersede any previous versions and apply to all present and future projects. Crane Creative reserves the right to change or modify these terms at any stage with immediate effect.