1. About these terms
These Terms of Business set out the general basis on which Phoenix Additive supplies additive manufacturing, prototyping and related services. Phoenix Additive is the industrial-facing brand operated by The Creative Parrot, a UK sole-trader business.
They are intended primarily for business-to-business work. If you are acting as a consumer, nothing in these terms removes or limits rights that cannot lawfully be excluded. If a separate written agreement, marketplace contract or expressly agreed quote term conflicts with these terms, the more specific agreed term takes priority for that order.
2. Quotes and orders
- A website enquiry is not an order and does not create an obligation to manufacture.
- A quote is based on the information, files, quantities, material and assumptions available when it is issued.
- An order is accepted when we confirm acceptance in writing, issue an agreed payment request/invoice, or begin work following your written approval.
- Changes to geometry, quantity, material, finish, tolerance, deadline or delivery requirements may require a revised price or lead time.
3. Customer files, design responsibility and intellectual property
You are responsible for checking that drawings, CAD files, dimensions and specifications supplied to us are correct and suitable for your intended use. Unless design or engineering work is specifically included in our quote, manufacturing from your file does not mean we have independently validated the design.
By supplying a file or design, you confirm that you have the right and authority to ask us to manufacture from it and that doing so will not knowingly infringe another person’s intellectual property or other rights.
Your supplied files remain yours. We do not acquire ownership of your design simply because you send it to us. We may make temporary production copies and process files as reasonably necessary to quote, manufacture, inspect and support the order.
4. Additive manufacturing characteristics
FDM additive manufacturing is a layer-based process. Unless a specific tolerance, surface standard or cosmetic requirement is agreed in writing, parts may show normal process characteristics such as layer lines, support marks, seams, minor colour variation, slight warping or other small production variations.
Published material datasheets describe material properties under specified test conditions. Finished-part performance can also depend on geometry, print orientation, infill, walls, environment, load direction, temperature, chemicals, UV exposure and other application-specific factors.
We can advise on material and manufacturing route, but the customer remains responsible for final validation of a part for its specific application unless a separate validation service has been expressly agreed.
5. Safety-critical and regulated uses
You must tell us before ordering if a part is intended for a safety-critical, medical, food-contact, pressure-retaining, electrical safety, structural, aerospace, automotive safety or other regulated application. We may decline work where the required assurance, certification or traceability is outside our scope.
No part should be relied upon in a safety-critical application solely because it was successfully printed or because a material has a particular generic property.
6. Samples, prototypes and approval
Where a sample or prototype is supplied for fit, appearance or functional approval before a production batch, you are responsible for testing it promptly and identifying any required changes. Production based on an approved sample may still contain normal process variation unless specific measurable acceptance criteria have been agreed.
7. Prices, payment and taxes
Prices and payment terms are those stated in the quote, invoice, payment link or platform order. Unless stated otherwise, delivery and any applicable taxes or platform charges are treated as described in the order confirmation.
We may require full or partial payment before material is committed or production starts, particularly for bespoke or higher-value work.
8. Lead times and delivery
Lead times are estimates unless we expressly agree a guaranteed date in writing. Production can be affected by file changes, material availability, machine faults, quality reprints, courier disruption and other events outside reasonable control. We will communicate material delays where practicable.
Delivery risk and responsibility are subject to the delivery method and any marketplace or carrier terms that apply. Please inspect delivered parts promptly and report obvious damage, shortage or manufacturing issues as soon as reasonably possible.
9. Cancellations and changes
Because most parts are manufactured specifically to a customer’s files or specifications, work may become non-recoverable as soon as material is committed or production begins. For business customers, cancellation or change requests are subject to our written agreement and we may charge for work, material and non-recoverable costs already incurred.
If you are a consumer, your statutory cancellation and consumer rights apply. Custom-made or personalised goods can be treated differently from ordinary distance-sale goods under UK consumer law, so we will apply the law that applies to the particular order rather than these terms overriding statutory rights.
10. Defects, reprints and remedies
If you believe a supplied part does not match the agreed specification, contact us with photographs and a clear description of the issue. We will assess the evidence and, where appropriate, may ask for the part to be returned or measured.
Where we are responsible for a manufacturing defect, an appropriate remedy may include correction, reprint, replacement, credit or refund depending on the circumstances and applicable law. Normal FDM characteristics or a design problem present in the customer-supplied file are not automatically manufacturing defects.
11. Liability
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where the law does not allow us to do so. For business customers, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for indirect or consequential business losses that were not reasonably foreseeable from the agreed scope of work.
Any specific liability allocation, warranty, certification or consequential-loss exposure required for a project must be agreed in writing before the order is accepted.
12. Confidentiality and publicity
We treat non-public customer project information as confidential in the ordinary course of business and use it only as needed to provide the service. If your project requires a formal NDA or specific confidentiality controls, these must be agreed in writing.
We will not intentionally publish a confidential customer design or technical drawing without permission. Where we want to use a completed project as a case study or marketing example, we will seek appropriate permission where the work is not already public.
13. Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the law applicable to the contract and the parties. For business customers where no different jurisdiction is agreed, the parties intend the courts of England and Wales to have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory legal rights that apply.
We prefer to resolve issues directly first. Please contact arty@phoenixadditive.co.uk with the order details and the outcome you are seeking.