Terms & Conditions of Sale and Service

• •Production Facility: 11 Levin Drive, Pickering, North Yorkshire, YO18 7UF (closed technical facility; courier dispatch only).
• •Registered Office: 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX (correspondence only).

• •Consumer: an individual acting wholly or mainly for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession.
• •Business Customer: anyone ordering in the course of a trade, business, craft or profession.

Some parts of these terms apply differently depending on which you are. Where a clause applies to only one group, we say so. If you are a consumer, you have legal rights in relation to goods and services that are faulty or not as described. Nothing in these terms affects those statutory rights.

These terms apply to all quotations, orders, additive manufacturing services and CAD design work provided by NovaLab 3D. For Business Customers, these terms apply to the exclusion of any other terms you try to impose or incorporate, including any terms printed on or referred to in a purchase order, unless a director of NovaLab 3D expressly agrees otherwise in writing. Our written acceptance of any purchase order is an acceptance on these terms only.

• •All prices are in Pound Sterling (GBP). They are calculated based on part volume, filament material, machine time, post-processing requirements and quantity.
• •No VAT is charged. NovaLab 3D Ltd is not currently VAT-registered, so the price on your quotation is the total price for the parts and services quoted. If we become VAT-registered, we will tell you before you accept any new quotation, and any VAT will be shown clearly in the total.
• •Delivery charges are shown separately on your quotation and are included in the total you pay. There are no other hidden fees.
• •Discretionary Free Delivery: From time to time, NovaLab 3D may waive delivery charges on some orders at its sole discretion. Where delivery is free, your quotation will show this. A waiver on one order does not entitle you to free delivery on any other order.

• •Quote Validity: Written quotations remain valid for 30 calendar days from the date of issue unless otherwise stated in writing.
• •Minimum Machine Setup Fee: All additive manufacturing orders are subject to a minimum machine preparation, slicing and build-plate calibration charge of £5.00.
• •Minimum Post-Processing Fee: Where an order requires manual support-structure removal, deburring, heat-set insert installation or surface finishing, a minimum post-processing labour charge of £5.00 applies.
• •Any of these charges that apply to your order are already included in the total on your quotation.

• •Order Acceptance: Submitting a file or enquiry through our website does not create a binding contract. A binding contract is formed only when:
• ◦you confirm acceptance of our written quotation and we receive payment in full; or
• ◦for approved B2B accounts, we accept a valid Purchase Order in writing.
• •Revisions After Approval: If you ask to change geometry, material or quantity after production has started, we will quote any additional setup and material charges. We will not carry out the change until you agree to them.

• •Design Rate: Custom CAD design and reverse engineering work is billed at our standard studio rate of £55.00 per hour, with a 1-hour minimum charge, unless a fixed project fee is agreed in advance.
• •Estimate Approval: Before starting any billable CAD work, we will give you a written estimate of the hours required for your approval.
• •No Overruns Without Approval: We will not bill beyond the approved estimate without your prior written agreement. If the work turns out to need more time than estimated, we will stop, explain why, and ask you to approve a revised estimate before continuing.

Before manufacturing parts from a CAD model we have created, we will send you digital previews and/or key dimensions for approval. Once you approve the design for printing, you accept responsibility for the approved geometry and dimensions. This does not apply to any error caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill.

• •Dimensional Tolerances: Unless otherwise agreed in writing, our standard manufacturing tolerance is ±0.2% or ±0.10mm, whichever is greater.
• •Surface Finish: Visible layer lines, seam points and minor witness marks where supports were removed are normal characteristics of FDM 3D printing. They are not manufacturing defects.
• •Anisotropy: Printed parts are anisotropic. They are stronger in the X/Y build plane than along the Z-axis, where the layers bond to each other.

Where you supply your own 3D files (.STEP, .STL, .3MF, .OBJ), you are responsible for making sure that wall thicknesses, mating clearances (for example press-fit or sliding clearances) and structural geometry are suitable for your intended application. We are not liable for parts that are printed accurately to your file but fail to assemble or perform because of the geometry in that file.

• •Not Food-Safe: Parts we manufacture are not food-safe. They are not supplied, certified, tested or intended for contact with food or drink. FDM parts have microscopic layer gaps that can trap bacteria and cannot be reliably sanitised. Thermoplastics such as PLA and PETG can soften or deform at hot-drink temperatures.
• •Orders We Do Not Accept: We do not accept orders for items designed or intended to hold, carry, serve or come into contact with food or drink. This includes cups, mugs, flask lids or cups, bottle caps, food containers, utensils, cookie cutters and drinking straws.
• •Refusal & Refund: If we find after an order is placed that it falls into this category, we may cancel it and refund you in full.
• •Labelling: Where a part could be mistaken for a food or drink item, we may mark it or its packaging "Not for food or drink use".
• •Your Responsibility: If you use, or allow others to use, any of our parts in contact with food or drink, against this clause, you do so entirely at your own risk. Business Customers will indemnify us against any claims arising from such use.
• •Nothing in this clause affects consumers' statutory rights, or our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.

• •Ownership Retained by You: You keep full ownership of, and all intellectual property rights in, the 3D files, drawings and specifications you send us.
• •Custom CAD Deliverables: Where we create a CAD design for you, we hereby assign to you, with effect from receipt of full payment for that design work, all copyright, design right and other intellectual property rights in the final deliverable CAD files. This includes rights that come into existence in the future. On request, we will sign a separate written confirmation of this assignment.
• •What We Keep: We keep ownership of our pre-existing know-how, general techniques, slicer profiles and internal processes.
• •Limited Manufacturing Licence: By submitting files to us, you grant NovaLab 3D a strictly limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to process, slice and reproduce those files solely to prepare your quotation and manufacture the parts you order.
• •File Retention: We delete files for quotations that do not proceed within 60 days, and files for completed orders 12 months after dispatch, unless you ask us to archive them for repeat orders. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

• •No Unauthorised Sharing or Marketing: We will never sell, distribute or publish your files or parts. We will never photograph your parts for publication, case studies, marketing or social media without your express prior written permission. We may take photographs for internal quality-control records; these are kept confidential.
• •NDAs: Formal Non-Disclosure Agreements are available on request before you submit files.
• •IP Warranty: You confirm that you own the intellectual property rights in any files you send us, or have the permission needed to have them manufactured. You also confirm that manufacturing them will not infringe any third party's patent, design right, trademark or copyright.

• •Estimated Dispatch: We aim to dispatch standard rapid prototyping orders within 48 hours, and composite or small-batch runs within 2–5 business days. The lead time for your order is stated on your quotation.
• •Consumers: We will deliver within the lead time stated on your quotation, or within 30 days of the contract being formed if no time is stated.
• ◦If we are late, you may give us a further reasonable period to deliver.
• ◦If we still don't deliver within that period, you may cancel and receive a full refund for the undelivered goods.
• ◦You may cancel immediately for late delivery only if you told us before the contract was formed that delivery by a specific date was essential.
• •Business Customers: All lead times are good-faith estimates. Time of delivery shall not be of the essence unless expressly agreed in writing by a director of NovaLab 3D. We are not liable for any loss arising from late delivery.

All completed orders are dispatched by tracked UK courier, for example Royal Mail Tracked, DPD or Parcelforce. Our Pickering site is a dedicated manufacturing facility, so we do not offer customer collection or walk-in visits.

We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control. Examples include courier failures, power outages, severe weather and supplier shortages.

If such an event happens, we will:

• •tell you as soon as possible; and
• •take reasonable steps to minimise the delay.

If the delay is likely to be substantial, you may cancel the affected order and receive a refund for anything not yet supplied.

Risk of damage to or loss of the goods passes to you on delivery to the address in your order. Ownership (title) of the goods passes to you only once we have received payment in full.

Under Regulation 28(1)(b) of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, the statutory 14-day right to cancel does not apply to goods made to the customer's specifications or clearly personalised. All 3D printed parts we produce are made to your specification.

As a goodwill gesture, if you contact us before material preparation or printing has started, we will cancel your print order and refund you in full. Once printing has started, print orders cannot be cancelled for a change of mind.

If you are a consumer, you have the right to cancel a contract for CAD design services within 14 days of the contract being formed, without giving a reason.

• •If you asked us to start straight away: you can still cancel within the 14 days, but you must pay for the design work we have carried out up to the point you cancel. This is calculated at the agreed rate (§3.1) or as a proportion of any fixed fee. We will refund the balance within 14 days.
• •If the design file has already been delivered: where you asked us to start immediately and acknowledged that you would lose your right to cancel once the design was complete and the file delivered to you, you can no longer cancel once that happens.
• •How to cancel: email support@novalab3d.com with a clear statement that you wish to cancel, or use the model cancellation form below.

Business Customers have no statutory right to cancel. Once design work has started, Business Customers are liable for all hours worked up to the point of cancellation.

If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

A part is faulty if it:

• •arrives damaged;
• •does not match the agreed material or specification; or
• •falls outside our stated tolerance (§4.1).

To help us put things right quickly, please:

1. 1.tell us as soon as possible, and if possible within 5 working days for transit damage, at support@novalab3d.com, with your order number and clear photographs of the issue; and
2. 2.keep the part and its packaging. We may ask you to return the part for inspection. If it is faulty, we pay the return postage.

Within 30 days of delivery, you may choose either a full refund or a free priority reprint.

After 30 days, we will first offer a free reprint or repair. If that is not possible, or the reprint is also faulty, you may choose a price reduction or a refund. These rights can apply for up to six years from delivery.

Refunds are made within 14 days of us agreeing that you are entitled to one, using your original payment method.

What is not a fault:

• •normal FDM characteristics described in §4.1;
• •issues caused by geometry you supplied (§4.2) or approved (§3.2), except where §3.2 says otherwise;
• •damage caused by misuse, modification, incorrect assembly, or exposure to conditions beyond the material's normal specification (for example excessive heat, UV, chemicals or load).

• •Inspection: Business Customers must inspect goods on delivery. Any damage, shortage or non-conformity that is visible must be reported in writing, with photographs, within 7 days of delivery. Any defect that is not visible on reasonable inspection must be reported within 7 days of discovery, and in any event within 30 days of delivery.
• •Our Remedy: If we agree that goods are defective, we will, at our option, reprint, repair or refund the price of the defective goods. This is our only obligation in respect of defective goods.
• •Implied Terms: To the fullest extent permitted by law, all terms implied by sections 13 to 15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and sections 3 to 5 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 are excluded.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please email support@novalab3d.com. We aim to acknowledge complaints within 2 business days and respond in full within 14 days.

NovaLab 3D Ltd is not currently a member of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme. If we cannot resolve your complaint, we will tell you in writing and give you details of a relevant ADR provider, and say whether we are willing to use it.

• •Safety-Critical Exclusion: Unless expressly agreed in a signed quality assurance contract, parts we manufacture are not certified for use in:
• ◦human medical implants;
• ◦life-support equipment;
• ◦certified flight-critical aerospace hardware; or
• ◦primary safety-critical load-bearing systems where part failure could result in personal injury, death or severe property damage.
• •Fitness for Purpose Testing: You are responsible for testing and validating any prototype or end-use component in its intended operating environment before deployment. This includes thermal, chemical, UV and mechanical load testing. This clause applies to business customers only. Nothing here affects consumers' statutory rights.

If you are a consumer, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach of these terms or our failure to use reasonable care and skill. Loss is foreseeable if it is obvious it will happen, or if both of us knew it might happen when the contract was made.

We are not responsible for loss or damage that is not foreseeable. We supply parts for domestic and private use only. If you use them for commercial or business purposes, we have no liability to you for loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.

This clause applies to Business Customers only.

Excluded losses. We shall not be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, for any:

• •loss of profit;
• •loss of revenue;
• •production downtime;
• •loss of or damage to tooling or other goods into which our parts are incorporated; or
• •indirect or consequential loss

arising under or in connection with any order.

Overall cap. Our total aggregate liability to any Business Customer arising under or in connection with an order shall not exceed the greater of (a) 100% of the total price paid for the specific order giving rise to the claim, or (b) £500.

Corrected transit-damage reporting period to 5 working days (§8.3); added file retention clause (§5.1) to match Privacy Policy.

Initial publication of Terms & Conditions of Sale and Service.