1. Agreeing to these terms
These terms are an agreement between you and BuildThread, based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA ("BuildThread", "we", "us"). They cover the BuildThread iPhone app, the buildthread.app website (including the estimate and approval pages), and the text messages we send (together, the "Service"). By using the Service, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.
2. What BuildThread does
BuildThread gives a home-improvement contractor and their client one place for a job: estimates the client can review, accept, and sign; a shared timeline of daily updates and blockers; tagged project photos; and signed approvals for added work. BuildThread is currently offered free of charge while in beta, and features may change. If we introduce paid features, we'll tell you the price before you're charged.
3. Your account
- You must be at least 18 and able to enter a binding contract.
- You sign in with your mobile number and a one-time code. Keep your phone secure: anyone who can receive your codes can use your account.
- Give accurate information, including your name and, for contractors, your business details and license number where your state requires one.
- Tell us at [email protected] if you think someone else is using your account.
4. Contractors
- You're responsible for your estimates, prices, schedules, terms, and work, and for following the laws that apply to your business (including licensing, permits, required contract notices, and consumer-protection rules).
- BuildThread's standard terms, payment schedules, and state notices are a starting point, not legal advice. Have them reviewed for your business.
- Only turn on texts for a client after the client has told you they agree to get texts from BuildThread about their job, and only at the number they gave you. You may not make that agreement a condition of hiring you.
- Only add clients you're actually working with or quoting, and only post content about their job.
5. Agreements between contractors and clients
An estimate a client accepts, and any added work they approve, is an agreement between the contractor and the client. BuildThread provides the tools and keeps the record, but isn't a party to that agreement, doesn't perform or guarantee the work, and doesn't handle payments between you.
6. Electronic signatures and records
When you accept an estimate or approve added work in BuildThread, you agree to sign electronically, and your electronic signature has the same effect as a handwritten one. We record the signer's name, signature, sign-in phone number, and the time from our server, and the signed record can't be changed afterwards. Both the contractor and the client can view it in the app. You can ask the contractor for a paper copy.
7. BuildThread text messages (SMS program)
- Program: BuildThread job notifications. BuildThread texts a homeowner, on behalf of their contractor, about their own job: an invitation to follow the project, a new or updated estimate with a link to review and accept it, and requests to approve added work.
- How you opt in: you tell your contractor you agree to get texts from BuildThread about your job, and your contractor confirms that in the app before any text is sent.
- Consent is optional. Agreeing to texts is not a condition of hiring your contractor, of any purchase, or of using BuildThread. Without it, your contractor can share links with you themselves.
- Message frequency varies with your job, usually a few messages per project. Message and data rates may apply.
- To stop: reply STOP to any message. You'll get one confirmation and no further texts. Reply START to resume.
- For help: reply HELP or email [email protected].
- Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
- We don't send marketing or promotional texts. How we handle your number is in our Privacy Policy and SMS terms.
8. Your content
You keep ownership of what you put into BuildThread: text, photos, estimates, and signatures. You give BuildThread permission to store, copy, display, and process it, and to show it to the other people on your project, only as needed to run the Service. You're responsible for having the right to post what you post.
9. Acceptable use
Don't use BuildThread to:
- send messages to people who haven't agreed to them, or send spam or marketing;
- impersonate anyone, misrepresent a license, or forge a signature;
- post unlawful, harassing, or infringing content;
- access other people's projects or accounts, or interfere with or probe the Service's security.
We may suspend or close accounts that break these rules.
10. Disclaimers and limitation of liability
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We work to keep it running and your data safe, but we don't promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that every text or notification will be delivered. To the extent the law allows, BuildThread isn't liable for indirect or consequential damages, or for disputes between contractors and clients, and our total liability for any claim about the Service is limited to $100.
11. Ending your use
You can stop using BuildThread at any time and ask us to delete your account at [email protected]. Signed records are kept for the other party as described in the Privacy Policy.
12. Changes, governing law, and contact
We may update these terms; we'll change the date at the top and tell you in the app for significant changes. Continuing to use the Service means you accept the update. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, USA. Contact: BuildThread, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA · [email protected].