Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Planmetrix website, dashboards, tools, estimators, and related services (collectively, the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Who We Are and What We Do

Planmetrix provides an online analytics platform that aggregates, normalises, models, and visualises building plan submission data and related datasets obtained from multiple sources (including public and third-party sources). The Service provides interactive dashboards, analytical tools, and a Building Development Tariff Estimator to help users explore and analyse data via our proprietary data model.

2. Eligibility and Accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old and capable of forming a binding contract to use the Service.
• You may need an account to access certain features. You agree to provide accurate registration information, keep credentials secure, and be responsible for all activity under your account.
• If you sign in via an external identity provider, you authorise us to receive basic profile information necessary to create and manage your account.

3. Your Content and Customer Data

• Customer Data means information you submit to the Service, including tariff estimator inputs (e.g., property type, building size, construction value, location) and other files or data you upload.
• Licence to operate the Service: You grant Planmetrix a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, copy, process, transmit, and display Customer Data solely as necessary to provide, maintain, protect, and improve the Service and to comply with law.
• You represent that you have the necessary rights to submit Customer Data and that your submission and use comply with applicable laws and these Terms.
• We do not sell Customer Data. Please see our Privacy Policy for details about how we process personal information.

4. Rights to the Service and Content

• The Service, proprietary data models, software, design, and all materials made available by Planmetrix (collectively, "Service Materials") are owned by Planmetrix or its licensors and are protected by law.
• We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use the Service Materials for your internal business or personal use in accordance with these Terms. Except as expressly permitted, you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, reverse engineer, or create derivative works of the Service or Service Materials.
• Any feedback or suggestions you provide may be used by Planmetrix without restriction or compensation.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service in a manner that violates law or infringes third-party rights.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or other users, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to accounts, systems, or networks.
• Circumvent or attempt to circumvent security or access controls, or test system vulnerabilities without written permission.
• Use any scraper, crawler, spider, bot, or other automated means to access the Service, extract data, or monitor availability or performance, except through documented interfaces we expressly provide.
• Resell, sublicense, or provide the Service to third parties as a managed service without our written consent or agreement.
• Introduce malware or engage in activity that imposes an unreasonable load on the Service.

We may implement rate limits, technical measures, and monitoring to enforce these Terms.

6. Data Sources and Third-Party Data Disclaimers

• The Service aggregates data obtained from multiple sources (including but not limited to public bodies and third parties). Such data may contain errors, omissions, or delays from the generator, publisher, or distributor of those datasets and it may change or be delayed without notice.
• Planmetrix cannot and will not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of every single data-points or rows from third-party data. We independently attempt - to our best ability - to verify and do due diligence on the complete accuracy or completeness of third-party data. However since such data is generated and distributed by third parties, you acknowledge that Planmetrix cannot and will not be held liable for any inaccuracies or errors in such data.
• The Service may transform, normalise, or model source data; these processes may introduce differences from original sources. Our outputs are provided "as is" for your evaluation and analysis only and should not be used as the basis for legal and financial decisions without your own due diligence.
• You are solely responsible for how you use the data and outputs. Do not rely on the Service as the sole source of truth. Where accuracy is critical to your decision-making, verify against the primary source in conjunction with other reliable sources for cross-checking and validation.

7. Estimators, Models, and No Professional Advice

• Estimators and analytical models (including the Building Development Tariff Estimator or other Estimators) provide outputs based on inputs and assumptions. Outputs are estimates only and do not guarantee fees, timelines, approvals, or outcomes from the Municipality.
• Planmetrix does not provide financial, investment, legal, tax, property, or professional advice. Information is for informational and analytical purposes only. You should seek advice from appropriately qualified professionals before making any decisions.
• Planmetrix does not provide architectural or urban design services. The information related to municipal estimates is for informational use only and should not be used as the sole and final basis for any design or planning decisions. You are responsible for seeking professional advice from appropriately qualified professionals before making any decisions related to your Building Plan Submissions.

8. Privacy

Our processing of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. By using the Service, you acknowledge our privacy practices and your choices, including with respect to analytics and diagnostics data.

9. Third-Party Services and Links

The Service may integrate with or link to third-party services. We are not responsible for third-party services, their content, or their practices. Your use of third-party services is at your own risk and subject to their terms and policies.

10. Availability, Changes, and Support

• The Service may change over time. We may add, modify, or discontinue features without notice. We may provide previews or beta features that may be unstable or change at any time.
• We aim to provide a reliable Service but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. Planned and unplanned maintenance may occur and we may not necessarily be able to provide notice.
• Support is provided on a commercially reasonable basis. We do not guarantee response or resolution times unless expressly agreed in writing.

11. Fees and Payment (If Applicable)

• In the future we may offer paid plans or subscriptions. Fees, billing cycles, and taxes will be disclosed at purchase. By subscribing, you authorise us (or our payment processor) to charge you as described.
• Unless stated otherwise, fees are non-refundable except where required by law. You may cancel at any time; cancellations take effect at the end of the then-current billing period.
• We may change prices on notice. Price changes take effect in the next billing cycle.

12. Ownership of Data and Insights

• As between you and Planmetrix, you retain ownership of your Customer Data (User Profile data or any other data identified in the Privacy Policy). Planmetrix retains ownership of the Service, Service Materials, proprietary data models, and any derivative datasets, machine learning models or embeddings we create that do not include your personal information.
• Aggregated/De-identified Data: We may generate and use de-identified or aggregated statistics about Service usage and performance for benchmarking, analytics, and improving the Service, provided they do not identify you.

13. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Service and Service Materials are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. Without limiting the foregoing and after doing our best effort, Planmetrix makes no warranty that the Service will be complete, current, uninterrupted, and free of errors as you acknowledge that we cannot take responsibility for the data provided at source.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

Planmetrix will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of profits, revenues, goodwill, data, or business interruption, or claims arising out of or related to your use of the Service, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Some jurisdictions do not allow exclusion of certain damages; the above limitations apply to the extent permitted by South African law.

15. Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Planmetrix and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from or related to: (a) your Customer Data; (b) your use of the Service in breach of these Terms or law; or (c) your violation of any rights of another person or entity.

16. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Service at any time, with or without notice, including for suspected violation of these Terms, risk to the Service or users, or non-payment (if applicable). You may stop using the Service at any time. Upon termination, your licence ends and you must cease use of the Service. Sections that by their nature should survive (e.g., intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnities, governing law) will survive termination.

17. Compliance and Export

You will comply with all applicable laws and regulations when using the Service. You represent that you are not located in a sanctioned territory and are not a prohibited person under applicable sanctions laws.

18. Notices

We may provide notices via the Service, email, or by posting to the Site. You consent to receive communications electronically. You should maintain current contact information in your account settings.

19. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The updated version is effective when posted as indicated by the "Last Updated" date above. If changes materially affect your rights or obligations, we will use reasonable efforts to provide advance notice (e.g., via the Service or email). Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance.

20. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to conflict of laws rules. You consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the courts located in Cape Town, South Africa for any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service.

21. General

• Entire agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any applicable order forms or feature-specific terms, are the entire agreement between you and Planmetrix regarding the Service.
• Severability: If any provision is found unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remainder will remain in effect.
• No waiver: Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.
• Assignment: You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms.
• Force majeure: We are not liable for delays or failures due to events beyond our reasonable control (e.g., acts of God, internet failures, outages, government actions, labour disputes).

22. Contact