Words and their Meanings

MEANING OF WORDS, POLICIES AND INTERPRETATION

This Section of Checkatrade’s Terms and Conditions has three parts:

  1. Meaning of words - where we explain what the words we have used mean;

  2. Policies - where we list our Policies that apply across Our Membership and Platform; and

  3. Interpretation - where we set out some rules by which our Terms and Conditions, our Policies and our Agreements should be read and interpreted.

Part One - What does that word mean?

So we are clear and consistent, we have put together a list of words which require defining across all of our Checkatrade Terms and Conditions and Policies as contained in our Members Area and on our Website. The following words have the following meaning, unless it says otherwise in the Policy or Terms and Conditions in question:

We, Us, Our, CAT or Checkatrade means Vetted Limited, trading as ‘Checkatrade’ a company incorporated in England & Wales (company number 04285394)) with its registered office at Checkatrade, Building 2000, Lakeside North Harbour, Western Road, Portsmouth, PO63EN;

You or Your In the context of our Website Terms of Use - means someone who has used our Website to either look up or procure the Services of one of our Members or wishes to leave a review for one of our Members; or is a Member wishing to use our Website to access the Services or update their Membership Details or profile. In the context of our Membership T&Cs - means a tradesperson identified in an application for membership and includes (where the context requires) Your owners, officers, directors, partners, employees, agents, representatives, suppliers or contractors;

Agreement
means and relates to the membership agreement reached between each Member and Checkatrade which incorporates the Confirmation Email, the Terms and the Policies and which can be found at https://www.checkatrade.com/membership-terms;

Application Fee
means the fee that Checkatrade may charge (which may include part or all of a Member’s initial Membership Fee) to enable Checkatrade to process an application to become a Member or to vary a Membership category;

Approved
means our entry tier of membership which provides Members with vetting, an online profile and marketing assets but the Members are only visible on Our Website to Homeowners when they are searched for by name and they are not provided with leads. This Membership Tier is designed to be for Members who want to manage their reputation by being endorsed by Checkatrade and who wish to maintain a profile page and showcase their business and have the flexibility to sign up to our lead generating Flexible Tiers when the Member wishes to grow their business or fill gaps in the diary;

Business Content
means any descriptions of or other content or data about a Member’s business that the Member may upload on the Website including any Member Details and any descriptions, written copy, photographs, trademarks and logos;

Business Days means a day, other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in England, when banks in London are open for business;

Business Owner means the Owner of the business if a sole trader, any partner if a partnership and for a limited company any registered director of the company;

Business Materials
means a Member’s business website, business marketing materials, business stationery Including email and social media, vans and equipment;

Checkatrade Standard
means the high standards which Customers and Checkatrade can expect the Members to uphold when conducting themselves and providing their Work which can be found at Checkatrade Standard ;

Commencement Date
means in respect the Agreement the date of the first Confirmation Email sent to the Member;

Community Content
means any photographs, descriptions, opinions or any other content that a Member uploads onto the members Community Forum;

Community Forum
means the Checkatrade community forum which is available to be accessed by Members, their Customers and members of the public;

Confirmation Email
means the official email Checkatrade sends to a Member which sets out the categories, Membership Tier and the associated Membership Fee selected by the Member and which provides a link to and incorporates these Terms;

Customer
means a customer of a Member who uses the Platform to source a tradesperson with a requirement for the provision of Work, also referred to as a Homeowner;

Customer Dispute
means a dispute or disagreement between a Member and a Customer arising from an agreement or arrangement between the Member and the Customer to carry out Work;

Directory
means hard copy directories that Checkatrade publishes and distributes providing information about Members;

Flexible Membership Tier
means either Lite, Standard or Pro which can be flexed up and down through the life of the Agreement according to the Member’s needs;

Guarantee
means the Checkatrade Guarantee the Homeowner Guarantee can be found here: https://www.checkatrade.com/guaranteed-terms and the Trade version of the Guarantee can be found here: https://www.checkatrade.com/guaranteed-trade-terms;

Homeowner
means a person living in residential accommodation (although this can also include a person in commercial premises) who is or wishes to be, a Customer of a Member;

IP
means the intellectual property rights being the rights to any data, content or material, inventions or patents, copyright, design rights, trademarks, goodwill in any business names or signs or domain names, database rights, know-how and other intellectual property rights, whether registered or unregistered, existing anywhere in the world in relation to the Platform the Directories and the Trademarks;

Insolvent
means where the Member is incorporated as a business or company, going into liquidation or administration, or having a receiver or manager appointed to its assets, or, where the Member is an individual or partnership, being made bankrupt or compounding with creditors or in either case, suffering any analogous action in consequence of a debt;

PLI Insurance
means public liability insurance, at adequate level to cover the risks associated with the type of Work that a Member undertakes and which the Member should take out, hold and renew as part of their Agreement with Checkatrade;

Lite
means our Flexible Membership Tier which includes all the benefits of Approved, but which allows the Member to appear when Homeowners search on our website for a trade category and which sends a few leads a month to fill gaps in the diary or take on additional part time work;

Member
means a tradesperson who after completing the relevant application process is accepted to be and remains a member of the Platform during the period of Membership;

Members Area
means the dedicated Members area of the Website;

Membership
means in relation to a Member, belonging to the Checkatrade Platform and being entitled to Membership Services;

Membership Agreement means the Agreement;

Member Details
means all documents, information, items and materials Checkatrade needs to take from a Member to hold on file and to include in the Member’s profile – including but not limited to the Member’s business name and full business address including the full address details provided of corporate bodies such as limited liability partnerships, limited companies and Scottish partnerships;

Membership Dispute
means any dispute between a Member and Checkatrade in relation to any or all aspects of Membership;

Membership Fee
means together the fees appropriate to the Membership Tier, postcode and trade categories as agreed with the Member during the sales call and confirmed in the Confirmation Email following and including where relevant any Application Fees, and any other fees and costs payable by a Member during Membership, Probation, Suspension and/or as part of termination of Membership;

Membership Tiers
means either Approved, Lite, Standard or Pro being Checkatrade’s membership tiers as selected by the Member in relation to each postcode and category and confirmed in the Confirmation Email;

Membership Services
means listing the Member on the Platform, providing leads if appropriate for the relevant Membership Tier and any other services Checkatrade provides to a Member such as access to the Community Forum, Trade App and member benefits;

Policies
means Checkatrade’s policies which apply to the Membership body, and which are listed as used in these Terms as may be amended from time to time and such expression includes any new or replacement policy applicable;

Previous Member
means the status of a Member whose Membership has terminated and at Checkatrade’s discretion has been listed as such on the Platform as further described in Schedule 1 to the Agreement;

Platform
means the Website, the Directory, the database of Members, the Trade App the systems and processes (including database, design, text, graphics layout and software) which is owned, operated, controlled by Checkatrade and which enables Checkatrade to provide the Membership Services;

Pro
means our top-level Flexible Membership Tier which includes all the benefits of Approved, but which allows the Member to appear when Homeowners search on our website for a trade category. Pro increases the leads over that which a Standard Membership Tier can provide and is for a Member who is looking to grow their business;

Probation
means the status of a Member who will remain listed in the Membership Database but who shall not be listed in any new edition of a Directory during the period of probation; Profile means the profile relating to a Member containing the Members Details and displayed on the Platform;

Renewal Date
means each anniversary of the Commencement Date;

Review
means any comment or extract thereof posted by a User on the Platform and such expression includes a score issued by any Customer for any Work a Member may have quoted for, carried on, or completed;

Secure Contacts
means unique dedicated phone numbers or email addresses provided to each Member. For further details please go to: https://www.checkatrade.com/Consumer/SecureContacts/

Standard
means our mid-range Flexible Membership Tier which includes all the benefits of Approved, but which allows the Member to appear when Homeowners search on our website for a trade category. Standard increases the amount of leads over those provided in Lite Membership Tier can provide and is for a Member who wants a regular flow of leads;

Suspend
means the action Checkatrade may take to remove a Member Details from the Site, and not include that Member in any Directory to be published during the period of Suspension, both in certain specified circumstances and “Suspension” means the status of being Suspended;

Terms
means the terms and conditions governing Membership and governing the provision by Checkatrade of Membership Services as posted to the Members Area and sent to the Member in the Confirmation Email and such expression includes any new amended or replacement terms applicable to the Membership body as a whole;

Trade App
means the application available to trades to manage their leads and their Membership;

Trademarks
means the trade mark checkatrade.com, the word Checkatrade the Checkatrade tick and all other Checkatrade trade marks from time to time and the corresponding ‘Checkatrade’ brand name and logo used from time to time;

Use
means to copy, modify, adapt, distribute, publicly share or make available, rent or lend, republish, frame, provide links to or upload;

User
means a user of the Website;

Website
means www.checkatrade.com

Work
means any work carried out or to be carried out for a Customer and includes the supply of a service and/or the supply of goods and/or the installation of those goods also called a job.

Part Two – Checkatrade’s Policies

The following policies are applicable to Checkatrade’s Services:

Checkatrade Standard (Homeowner)
[https://www.checkatrade.com/checkatrade-standard]
[https://cms-images.checkatrade.net/GF_000251_The_Checkatrade_Standard_Booklet_CONSUMER_v7_DIGITAL_PAGES_163ae4e8cc/GF_000251_The_Checkatrade_Standard_Booklet_CONSUMER_v7_DIGITAL_PAGES_163ae4e8cc.pdf]

Checkatrade Guarantee (Trade)
https://www.checkatrade.com/guaranteed-trade-terms

Checkatrade Guarantee (Homeowner)
https://www.checkatrade.com/guaranteed-terms

Brand Guidelines
Click here

Terms of Use - User terms and conditions for the Site
https://www.checkatrade.com/legal

Privacy Notice
https://www.checkatrade.com/privacy

Notice and Take Down Procedure
https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/notice-and-takedown/

Modern Slavery statement
https://www.checkatrade.com/modern-slavery

Secure Contacts
https://www.checkatrade.com/Consumer/SecureContacts/

Complaints about a Member (Complaints Policy)
https://www.checkatrade.com/resolving-issues

FAQ
https://www.checkatrade.com/faq

Cookie Policy
https://www.checkatrade.com/privacy

Part Three - Interpretation

To help with explaining and interpreting Terms and Conditions, Agreements and Policies, the following shall be incorporated into any of these, or other wording as set out in our Platforms:

  1. Any reference to a clause or schedule is to a clause of or schedule to that document.

  2. Use of the singular includes the plural and vice versa, use of the present tense includes future, past or other tenses, use of any gender includes the other genders and any reference to a person includes natural persons, firms, partnerships, companies, corporations, associations, organisations, governments, states, foundations or trusts;

  3. Headings are to be ignored in the interpretation of the document.

  4. The use of the words ‘includes’, ‘including’ or ‘in particular’ shall be treated as illustrative only and are not intended to limit or restrict the general meaning of the preceding or following words or phrases.

  5. All references to a statutory provision shall be construed as including references to:

a) any statutory modification, consolidation or re-enactment (whether before or after the date of the document) for the time being in force;
b) all statutory instruments or orders made pursuant to a statutory provision;
c) any modification, consolidation or re-enactment thereof;

  1. Any Terms that expressly or impliedly is intended to continue in force after termination shall remain in full force and effect.

  2. If a document is sent in written form, it will be considered signed and agreed when a box is actively ticked as part of the required process; or when all copies are signed, or for our Website Terms of Use shall be considered formed when a User uses our Website. If the document is created by an email or an exchange of emails, any agreement shall be created by the last official confirmation email from Checkatrade.