Terms & Conditions

These are the terms Dio-Met Fabrications Ltd sells on. They apply to every quotation and every order unless we have agreed otherwise in writing. If you are looking for something specific, the section list below will take you straight to it — the product warranty is at the end.

1. Definitions and Interpretation

1.1 In these conditions ‘the Company’ shall mean DioMet Fabrications Ltd. and ‘the Buyer’ shall mean any person, firm, company or other organisation placing an order with the Company.

1.2 The Company shall be deemed to be the seller of Goods.

1.3 ‘the Goods’ shall mean the product offered by the Company for sale which the Buyer is to purchase in accordance with these Conditions.

1.4 The headings used in these Conditions are for convenience only and shall not be held to affect their interpretation or liability.

2. Application and Variation of Conditions

2.1 The Company shall sell and the Buyer shall purchase Goods in accordance with any quotation or offer made by the Company which is accepted by the Buyer or any order made by the Buyer which is accepted by the Company.

2.2 These Conditions shall be incorporated in all quotations and contracts for the sale of Goods and/or services by the Company and any provision of the Buyers order which is inconsistent with them shall be of no effect.

2.3 These Conditions cannot be varied without the prior written consent of the Company stating the variation and referring expressly to the Condition which is to be varied.

2.4 In the event that the Buyer has not held strictly to these conditions, the Company shall be entitled to rely on them later if it so wishes.

2.5 The Company’s employees are not authorised to make any representations concerning the Goods unless confirmed by the Company in writing. In entering into contract the Buyer acknowledges that it does not rely upon any such representations that are not confirmed.

3. Specifications & Orders

3.1 The specification for Goods shall be those set out in the Company’s sales literature or as closely matched to the information supplied to the Company where specification is not given.

3.2 Illustrations, photographs and descriptions in regard to specifications of the Goods are intended as a guide only and shall not be binding upon the Company unless specifically referred to in tender documents or quotation provided by the Company.

3.3 The Company reserves the right to alter specifications as it deems appropriate in order to comply with relevant statutory or regulatory requirements or where the alteration to specification has no material affect on quality or performance.

3.4 The Company accepts no liability for specification alterations made by the Buyer in relation to the safety or performance of the Goods.

3.5 No order that has been agreed may be cancelled or amended by the Buyer unless agreed in writing by the Company, which shall be on the terms that the Buyer shall indemnify the Company against all losses, costs, damages or expenses incurred as a result of the cancellation or amendment.

3.6 All orders accepted are subject to survey and agreement of the Company’s design criteria.

3.7 Meeting the requirements of any relevant Building Regulations is the responsibility of the Buyer, any third party installers and the owner of the building. The building regulations apply to most building work, therefore it is important to know when approval is needed. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/responsibilities/buildingregulations/

4. Prices & Quotations

4.1 Prices given or quoted are exclusive of VAT at the current rate or any other applicable tax or duty imposed unless otherwise stated in sales literature or on quotation.

4.2 Unless otherwise stated, delivery or installation will be charged extra at the rate determined by the Company.

4.3 No quotation, estimate or tender given or made by the Company shall form a binding contract capable of acceptance by the Buyer. A binding contract for sale of Goods shall only be made upon the acceptance in writing by the Company.

4.4 Any typographical, clerical or other error or omission in any sales literature, quotation, specification, invoice or other document or information issued by the Company shall be subject to correction without any liability on the part of the Company.

4.5 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, quotations will remain valid for 30 days from the date of quotation.

4.6 Sales information, price lists and other related documents issued by the Company in relation to the sale of Goods are subject to alteration or modification without notice.

4.7 The price of Goods shall be noted in the tender or quotation issued by the Company.

4.8 The Company reserves the right, by giving notice to the Buyer prior to delivery of Goods, to increase the price of Goods to reflect any subsequent increase in cost to the seller as a result of changes to delivery date, quantities, specification, any delay caused by the Buyers instructions or failure of the Buyer to supply adequate information relating to the sale, delivery or installation of Goods.

5. Payment and Credit Terms

5.1 Orders accepted on Pro-Forma terms shall not be dispatched until cleared payments have been received for the Goods, in full.

5.2 On orders over £1000, or any amount deemed to be appropriate by the Company, a minimum deposit of 25% will be required unless otherwise agreed in writing. Balance of order must be paid prior to the delivery or installation of Goods.

5.3 Deposits will only be required for custom made Goods or Goods not available from stock. Stock items will be paid for in full by the Buyer prior to dispatch.

5.4 Deposits paid are non-refundable.

5.5 In circumstances where the Goods are ready for delivery and notified to the Buyer, but the Buyer is not ready to accept delivery, balance amount will be payable to the Company within 15 days of such notification. Following this period the Company will accept liability and hold them free of charge for a maximum of 30 days. Should this period need extending permission should be sought form the Company in writing and will be subject to an agreed monetary rate for storage and liability.

5.6 Payments can be made upon collection but cannot be accepted on delivery of Goods.

5.7 Where an order is accepted on credit terms, payment will be due 30 days from the invoice date unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Company.

5.8 Credit accounts are only given subject to prior approval by the Company with written confirmation and are subject to strict credit and reference checks. The Company reserves the right to withdraw credit account status of the Buyer at any time.

5.9 Payment shall be made on the due date notwithstanding that delivery may not have taken place. Goods remain the property of the Company until paid for in full.

5.10 The Company shall be entitled to charge and the Buyer liable to pay interest on any amount not paid by the due date at a rate of 3% above the current bank base rate.

6. Risk and Title

6.1 The risk in the Goods shall pass to the Buyer upon delivery or completion of installation. The risk shall include the damage or loss of Goods.

6.2 Legal and beneficial title of the Goods shall not pass to the Buyer until the Company has received full payment for the Goods in cleared funds or cash.

6.3 Until cleared funds are received by the Company and the title in the Goods has passed to the Buyer, the Buyer shall be in possession of the Goods as bailee for the Company where the Buyer shall store the Goods appropriately and ensure the Goods are clearly identifiable as being supplied by the Company and insure against all reasonable risks.

6.4 Until title has passed to the Buyer, the Buyer shall return the Goods to the Company carriage paid on demand and the Company shall, without prejudice to any other rights be entitled to go onto the property of the Buyer to repossess or remove such Goods.

6.5 The Buyer shall be at liberty to sell the Goods in ordinary course of business. The proceeds of which and any benefit of sale shall be the property and held in trust for the Company, separate from its own monies, in a separate bank account.

6.6 The Buyers right to possession of Goods in which property title has not passed shall terminate immediately upon the case of a body Corporate the appointment of a receiver of liquidator or winding up order or in the case of an individual the making of a Bankruptcy Order against him or his entering into an individual voluntary arrangement.

7. Delivery, Dispatch and Inspection

7.1 Delivery of the Goods by the Company shall be to the Buyer at the place, whether within the United Kingdom or overseas, specified in the Buyers order and/or the Company’s acceptance as the location to which the Goods are to be delivered. For deliveries outside the United Kingdom the applicable shipping terms, for example Ex Works, CPT or DAP, are those stated on the Company’s quotation or invoice.

7.2 The Buyer may collect from the Company’s premises at any time after the Company has given notice to collect. Collections must be prearranged for health and safety reasons and to ensure Goods are conveniently stored for ease of access. The Buyer may enter the Company’s premises at his own risk.

7.3 Dates or periods quoted for delivery or installation of Goods are approximate, given for reference only and time for delivery shall not be of essence unless previously agreed in writing by the Company.

7.4 Failure for any reason of the Company to comply with delivery dates shall not constitute a breach of contract and shall not entitle the Buyer to treat the contract as terminated or to any other remedy against the Company.

7.5 If the Buyer fails to take delivery of the Goods or any part of them on the pre-arranged delivery date and/or fails to provide any instructions, documents or consents required to enable delivery of the Goods, the Company shall be entitled to store or arrange for the storage of the Goods and then risk in the Goods shall pass to the Buyer.

7.6 In the event of Clause 7.5, delivery shall be deemed to have taken place, and the Buyer shall pay to the Company all costs and expenses relating to the subsequent storage and insurance costs along with the cost for re-delivery of Goods.

7.7 In the event that the Company fail to deliver Goods on a specified delivery date outside of the Company’s reasonable control or be it the Buyer’s or carriers fault the Company shall hold no liability in respect of such late delivery.

7.8 The Company strongly advises that no installation plans are implemented until the Buyer is in receipt of the Goods and fully satisfied with the product. No reimbursements will offered for any Buyer's costs incurred due to neglect of the aforesaid.

7.9 All consignments are dispatched via a 3rd party courier. A copy of individual couriers terms and conditions can be requested at the time of arranging delivery.The Company will not accept responsibility for any issues which arise whilst Goods are in transit, save that where the Buyer deals as a consumer the Goods remain at the Company’s risk until they come into the physical possession of the Buyer or of a person identified by the Buyer to take possession of them as noted in Section 8.

7.10 Delivery of larger fabricated goods such as our balconies, staircases, glass floors etc will often only be possible by a flatbed vehicle and too large for any tail-lift courier service. In such instances the customer must have available a fork-lift truck, crane, or multiple able-bodied persons available to unload the delivery vehicle. The Company reserves the right to charge any redelivery required where such provision is not made, and safe delivery is not possible.

7.11 Where the Buyer is unavailable to accept delivery at the specified address, the courier instructed by the Company may, at its discretion, leave the Goods in a safe place nominated by the Buyer (if provided in the order instructions) or, in the absence of such nomination, a location deemed reasonably secure by the courier (such as a porch, outbuilding, or with a nominated neighbour). For the purposes of these Conditions and the Consumer Rights Act 2015, delivery shall be deemed complete, and risk in the Goods shall pass to the Buyer, upon such placement, save that where the Buyer deals as a consumer this applies only where the Buyer nominated the place or the carrier. The Company shall provide photographic evidence of the delivery location upon request, but accepts no liability for any subsequent loss, damage, or theft once risk has passed. The Buyer is responsible for providing clear access and instructions to facilitate safe delivery.

8. Inspection and Defective Goods

8.1 The Buyer is under a duty to inspect the Goods on delivery or on collection from the Company’s premises.

8.2 Where Goods can be seem to be damaged upon arrival, delivery should be refused or the carrier’s note signed for as ‘damaged’.

8.3 Where Goods cannot be reasonably inspected upon delivery, the carrier’s note should be signed for as ‘unchecked’.

8.4 The Company accepts no liability for any defect, damage or shortages that would be apparent upon reasonable inspection of Goods. If these Conditions are not complied with the Company shall be under no liability if a written complaint is not delivered to the Company within 48hrs of delivery, detailing the alleged defect, damage or shortage.

8.5 In the respect of complaints reported in accordance with clause 8.4 the Company shall be under no liability unless an opportunity to inspect the Goods is supplied to the Company before any use is made of the goods, or any alterations made to them by the Buyer.

8.6 No Goods shall be returned to the Company without the prior written agreement in writing of the Company.

8.7 Any Goods returned to the Company in compliance with clause 8.6 where the Company is satisfied that the Goods are defective of quality or otherwise shall be replaced free of charge or refunded but the Company shall have no further liability to the Buyer.

8.8 Any Goods returned to the Company by the Buyer shall be at the Buyers own risk and shall be suitably packaged by the Buyer prior to return. Under no circumstances will the Company be responsible for loss or damage beyond that expressly referred to in clause 8.4, in particular any form of consequential loss.

8.9 The Company will hold no liability for Goods that are subject to wear and tear or those that have not been maintained in the correct manner suitable for such a product. The Company may offer maintenance advice and literature in relation to the Goods as a guide only but it remains ultimately the responsibility of the Buyer to ensure Goods are correctly cared for and maintained.

8.10 The Company accepts no liability for defects arising as a result of any wilful damage, negligence, failure to follow the Company’s instructions (whether oral or in writing), misuse or alteration of the Goods without the Company’s approval. Installations by the Buyer or any person or other company working on behalf of the buyer are in no way guaranteed or approved by the Company.

8.11 Return of Goods to the Company with a resale value may be subject to a re-stocking fee, wholly at the discretion of the Company.

9. Free Issue Materials

9.1 Free issue materials or other property supplied to the Company by or on behalf of the Buyer are held and processed by the Company entirely at the Buyer’s own risk.

9.2 The Company shall not be responsible for any intrinsic value of the materials or any damage or destruction of materials however caused.

9.3 If materials are damaged or rendered useless due to fault of the Company, it shall process substitute materials supplied by the Buyer, at no additional charge, but shall have no further liability to the Buyer whatsoever.

10. Made to Order Goods

10.1 Where the Company is unable to produce Goods ordered due to unexpected technical or other problems it reserves the right to cancel the order without liability to the Buyer.

10.2 Goods made to order which are custom to the Buyer’s requirement cannot be returned for refund.

10.3 Cancellation or variation of an order will not be accepted unless at the absolute discretion of the Company, on terms which indemnify the Company against any loss or expense occurred. Deposit payments will not be refunded.

10.4 Where Goods are manufactured to designs or schemes supplied by the Buyer and not advised by the Buyer as being subject to copyright or patent by a third party, the Company will accept no liability for loss, damage or costs incurred as a result of any breach of that patent or copyright.

10.5 Hand crafted fabricated products may not be free of all imperfection but are subject to our quality control system. Each item is rigorously inspected and as far as is reasonably practicable all issues are addressed at this stage.

11. Installation

11.1 Where the Company is contracted to carry out installation works it will be the responsibility of the Buyer to ensure a suitable fixing surface that is appropriate for the given product. The Company will offer advice on what it deems to be appropriate but for reference only.

11.2 The Buyer shall contact building control to confirm what surface / construction the Goods should be installed upon and where necessary consult a structural engineer to gain confirmation and clarification. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/responsibilities/buildingregulations/

11.3 Any installations made by the Company that become defective as a direct result of unsuitable fixing surfaces, or for any reason not attributable to the installation itself will hold no liability upon the Company.

11.4 Clause 11.3 includes for any landslide, hurricane or natural event that may disrupt the installation or cause damage upon the Goods installed.

11.5 Reasonable wear and tear can be expected transporting any large, heavy goods into a building and particularly during installation. For example a wall or door may get marked and need minor touch-up / painting following installation which could be reasonably expected over the course of any such project and remedied at the final snagging by the appropriate trade and as such the Company hold no liability for such minor occurances.

11.6 Once installed the risk in the Goods passes wholly to the Buyer.

11.7 It is the Buyer’s responsibility to check the installation and Goods upon completion of installation and the Company shall be under no liability if a written complaint is not delivered to the Company within 3 days of delivery stating the defect.

11.8 Where dimensions are supplied to the Company, it will be deemed that these dimensions are accurate. All drawings and interpretations supplied by the Company will be checked thoroughly by the Buyer. Any installation defect as a result of inaccurate dimensions supplied by the Buyer or any costs incurred as a result shall be fully indemnified to the Company by the Buyer. Any discrepancies should be notified in writing.

11.9 Where Goods are supplied to the Buyer for self-assembly the Company holds no liability for any incorrect handling, assembly, damage or defect caused by the Buyer, or any firm acting on behalf of the Buyer.

11.10 Where further site visits are required to either survey or install at no fault to the Company, a charge will be made to the minimum value of £50 per operative, per hour plus any travel expenses. Additional deliveries will be charged at cost.

11.11 It will be reasonably assumed that there is access for the Company to carry out the necessary installation works and that any fixed scaffolding will be provided by the Buyer or main client unless otherwise agreed in writing.

12. Standards

12.1 Goods supplied will be of ordinary commercial quality or the standard of quality which is customary for the type of Goods ordered or as specified by the Company in writing.

12.2 Except as set out in the Product Warranty below, no condition or warranty is given or implied as to the fitness or suitability of the Goods for any particular purpose which has not been made known to the Company in writing and accepted by it in writing.

12.3 Guidance on standards and normal practice adopted by the Company are available on request.

12.4 Unless requested by the Buyer to the Company in writing, it will be reasonably assumed that the Buyer has sought the necessary advice with regard to installation and safety standards as required by Building Control and all relevant legislation for the Goods required.

13. Law Jurisdiction

13.1 The contract shall be governed by English Law. The Buyer on entering into the contract submits to the jurisdiction of the English courts.

13.2 The condition headings are inserted for convenience only and shall not affect the construction of these conditions.

14. Communication

14.1 All communications between Buyer and the Company shall be in writing and delivered by hand, sent by prepaid 1st class post or by electronic mail.

14.2 After purchase the Company may occasionally send marketing offers which can be opted out at any time.

15. Force Majeure

15.1 In the event that either party is prevented from fulfilling its obligations under this Contract by reason beyond its control, including but not limited to war, national emergency, strike action or natural events the party shall not be deemed to be in breach of its obligations under this Contract.

Product Warranty

Warranty Statement

Policy

We are Dio-Met Fabrications Ltd (Company No 2571825) of 150 Worksop Road, Sheffield, S9 3TN, England ( “Our, “us”, “we” and “The Company”).

Our aim is to provide our customers with defect free products that provide them with years of trouble-free service. To ensure this, all our balconies, balustrades, handrails, canopies, staircases and glass floor units are manufactured to the highest standards and conform to stringent British and European Quality Standards in accordance with UKCA certification to BS EN 1090.

We are so confident that our products will meet or exceed the expectations of our customers that we offer a free 10 year warranty on all of our products.

The warranty covers any defect that is attributable to a manufacturing, assembly, or material fault.

Conditions / Limitations

The warranty covers all parts and labour for the first twelve months and all parts for the remaining 9 years. Labour provision is provided on a like-for-like basis whereby any goods installed by The Company would be repaired on site where possible and any supply-only goods would need returning to The Company’s premises for rectification. Should labour be required on a supply-only product, at the Customers’ premises, such would be a chargeable event.

To ensure that our products provide you with the service that we expect, it is important that they are installed by competent persons with the appropriate fixings. The warranty does not cover any defect arising from installation by a third party or due to mishandling, transportation, misuse, or storage.

Where Dio-Met install the product, installation is covered under the warranty as part of a 12 month defect or ‘snagging’ period. The installation warranty will only cover defects attributable to the product itself and not those arising from any insufficient fixing surfaces, subsidence, or accidental damages outside of the normal and intended use of the product.

The warranty does not cover general wear and tear of product finishes and all products should be properly maintained including regular cleaning, in particular for any stainless steel materials used. Maintenance after a period of 12 months would include annual inspection and tightening of any mechanical fixings or glazing clamps.

Products with moving or electrical parts

This section applies to our hinged glass floors, wine cellar doors, glass floor hatches and well covers, and to any other product supplied with gas struts, electric actuators, hinges or controls. Where it differs from the general warranty above, this section applies.

The ten year cover applies in full to the parts of these products that do not move: the steel framework, the welds, the galvanising and powder coating, and the glass. Moving and electrical parts are covered for a shorter period, because they have a finite service life and wear in normal use. This is not a comment on their quality. A gas strut is a sealed gas charge that loses lift gradually with age and with every cycle, and it will eventually want replacing on any door, however well it was made.

Steel framework, welds, galvanising and powder coat finish: 10 years
Glass unit, against manufacturing defects: 10 years
Hinges, brackets and mechanical fixings: 10 years
Gas struts: 2 years
Electric actuators, control box, wall switch and remote handsets: 2 years
Inline UPS unit: 2 years, excluding its battery
UPS battery, seals, gaskets and setting blocks: consumable items, covered for the first 12 months only

Replacement struts, actuators and UPS batteries are available from us for the life of the product, and where a part has been withdrawn by its manufacturer we will supply a suitable equivalent. Please contact us for current prices.

Gas struts lose a little of their lift every year, because the gas gradually works past the seal whether the door is being used or not. On a wine cellar door, which is opened infrequently, it is age rather than the number of openings that decides when the struts want replacing, and we would expect that to be somewhere around five to eight years.

Conditions specific to moving and electrical products

These products are designed for infrequent domestic use. Operating a motorised unit more than five times in any hour shortens the life of the motor and is outside the warranty.

They are specified for internal, dry areas only. They are not watertight and they are not designed for external use. Damp corrodes the steel and the plated parts and causes electrical failure, and damage arising from installation in a damp or external position, from standing water, from water or cleaning liquid entering the unit when the surrounding floor is washed, or from localised flooding, is not covered.

Where a unit is installed by others, the completed Installation Checklist must be returned to us within 14 days of installation for the warranty to take effect.

Guarding the open edges of the opening, and never leaving an open hatch unattended, remain the responsibility of the owner. Damage arising from a fall through, or an object dropped into, an unguarded opening is not covered. The owner is also responsible for making sure that anyone using the unit knows how to operate the manual release. Damage caused by forcing the unit open, and any consequential loss arising from a power failure or from gaining emergency access, is not covered.

Glass

Glass is covered against manufacturing defects for the full ten years.

Whether a mark or a blemish counts as a manufacturing defect is judged against the visual quality standards published by the Glass and Glazing Federation, which are the standards used across the UK glass industry. Glass is a manufactured product with recognised tolerances, and anything falling within those tolerances is not a defect.

Glass is not covered against breakage, impact, thermal shock, scratching, or damage caused during handling, storage or installation by others. Toughened and laminated glass is strong but it is not indestructible, and once it is on site it is exposed to things we have no control over.

Goods delivered outside the United Kingdom

The warranty applies worldwide, and the cover and the periods set out above are the same wherever the goods were delivered. What changes is who pays to move a replacement part.

In the first twelve months we supply the replacement part free of charge and we pay the outbound carriage to the original delivery address. Any customs duty, clearance fee or import tax charged by the destination country remains the customer’s responsibility.
From the thirteenth month to the end of the tenth year we supply the replacement part free of charge ex works from our Sheffield factory. Carriage, insurance, export packing, import duties and any local taxes are the customer's responsibility.

Our installation and labour cover applies within the United Kingdom only. We do not attend site overseas under the warranty. Where we are asked to, and are able to, it is chargeable at our current day rate plus travel and accommodation, agreed in writing beforehand.

The warranty applies at the address the goods were originally delivered to. It does not follow the goods if they are later moved to another country. It is the customer’s responsibility to satisfy themselves that the goods meet the electrical supply requirements, building regulations and any other local rules that apply at the destination.

Before a replacement is dispatched we may ask for the failed part to be returned to us for inspection, at the customer's cost. Where returning it is impractical, which it often is on an overseas order, we will accept photographs and a written description instead, at our discretion.

Glass panels for overseas customers. A replacement glass panel is expensive to crate and to freight, often out of proportion to the value of the panel itself. As an alternative to shipping one from Sheffield we can supply the full specification and manufacturing drawing free of charge so the panel can be made locally. A panel made by a third party is not covered by our warranty and does not carry our Declaration of Performance, and responsibility for its specification and installation rests with the customer, so we will always quote for supplying the panel ourselves as well and leave the choice to you.

Your statutory rights

This warranty is given in addition to your legal rights and does not replace or reduce them. If you are buying as a consumer, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you rights that cannot be excluded by any term of this warranty or of our conditions of sale, including the right to goods that are of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Nothing in this warranty limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud.

Warranty Claims

All warranty claims must be made by the original customer and received by the Company within 30 days of discovery of the fault and delivered to the Company in writing for evaluation. All claims must contain the following information:

Invoice number and delivery / installation date.
Type and number of products failed
Description of the failure with supporting photographs.

In the event of a fault that is not able to be diagnosed or photographed by the customer, the Company reserves the right to charge a fee to survey for the purposes of assessing and diagnosing the fault- Any such fee will be credited back to the customer if the products are found to be defective.

Legal

Any disputes arising in conjunction with this warranty statement shall be governed in accordance with UK law and with exclusive jurisdiction in the courts of England and Wales.

The Company reserves the right to modify this warranty statement from time to time and will be effective on all products purchased on or after the modification date.

This warranty statement should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Terms and Conditions of sale.

The Company reserves the right to discontinue products at any time. If the product or part is no longer available following its withdrawal, a suitable equivalent will be provided.