1. Agreement to Terms
By accessing or using BuilderBase ("Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you disagree with any part of these terms, you may not access the Service. These Terms apply to all users of the Service, including but not limited to construction companies, contractors, project managers, staff members, and clients.
2. Description of Service
BuilderBase is a cloud-based construction project management platform that provides tools for project tracking, estimating, invoicing, staff management, file storage, reporting, and related business functions for the construction industry.
Infrastructure: Our Service operates on Google Cloud Platform and Firebase infrastructure. By using our Service, you acknowledge that your data will be processed and stored on servers managed by Google Cloud Platform, located in data centres that may be in New Zealand, Australia, or other regions as determined by Google's infrastructure.
3. Data Ownership, Security & Confidentiality
3.1 Your Data Ownership
You retain full ownership of all data you input into the Service. This includes but is not limited to project information, client data, financial records, estimates, invoices, files, photos, documents, staff records, and all commercial pricing/costing information (“Your Data”). BuilderBase claims no ownership rights over Your Data.
3.2 Data Storage and Infrastructure Integrity
Your Data is stored using Firebase and Google Cloud Platform services. We maintain automated multi-region backups and continuous Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) systems. While we implement industry-standard security measures and Google provides robust infrastructure reliability, you acknowledge that:
- Data storage is dependent on Google Cloud Platform's infrastructure and availability.
- While rare, cloud service outages, data loss, or corruption can occur.
- You are responsible for maintaining your own independent backups of critical business data.
3.3 Duty of Confidentiality for Commercial Data
We treat all customer data—including labour rates, material margins, estimates, invoices, supplier costs, and tendering details—as strictly confidential. BuilderBase personnel and platform administrators are bound by strict non-disclosure obligations and will never use, disclose, or leverage customer business data for external commercial advantage.
3.4 Commercial Conflict Separation (Commerce Act 1986 Compliance)
To ensure complete market fairness and compliance with the New Zealand Commerce Act 1986 regarding commercially sensitive information:
- Conflict Recusal: If a subscriber requests technical support regarding a project, estimate, or tender where BuilderBase, its operators, or an affiliated business entity has a direct commercial interest (e.g., actively tendering on the same construction contract), platform administrators will refuse direct account login access.
- Alternative Guidance: Support for such items will be conducted exclusively via guided communication (e.g., phone or non-access screen-sharing) to ensure strict commercial separation and prevent any handling of competing tender data.
3.5 Immutable Audit Logging
To guarantee absolute data integrity, accountability, and legal transparency, platform operations are continuously logged via immutable, append-only Google Cloud Audit Logs and Firestore audit trails:
- Every database read, write, and administrative action is permanently recorded with exact millisecond timestamps, user/IP credentials, and resource paths.
- Audit logs are append-only and cannot be altered, edited, or deleted by any party, including platform owners.
- Any administrative attempt to alter security permissions or logging configurations generates an unerasable, permanent audit log entry.
4. User Accounts, Security & Authorized Support Protocol
4.1 Account Registration & Credentials
You must provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities conducted under your account.
4.2 User Roles and Access Controls
The Service provides role-based access control (Owner, Admin, Staff). You are responsible for:
- Properly configuring user roles and permissions.
- Monitoring user access and activity.
- Promptly removing access for terminated employees.
- Any actions taken by users granted access to your account.
4.3 Superadmin & Technical Support Access Protocol
Platform administrators cannot access, impersonate, or view a subscriber's account or database workspace at will. Technical support access is governed by the following strict security controls:
- Mandatory Authorization Key: Superadmins can only enter a subscriber's workspace if the subscriber explicitly generates a short-lived, 6-digit authorization key within their account settings and provides it alongside a valid Support Ticket ID.
- Active Support Banner: During an active support session, a prominent, high-visibility notification banner is displayed at the top of the subscriber's screen across all pages. This banner explicitly displays:
- Active support status (“Support Session Active”).
- Admin identity & Support Ticket ID (e.g.,
Corey | Ticket #1042). - Real-time location telemetry indicating the exact route/page currently being inspected (e.g.,
Viewing: Jobs › Estimating).
- Instant Session Revocation: Subscribers retain total control and may immediately terminate an active support session at any time by clicking the End Support Session button on the banner, which instantly revokes admin access tokens and logs out the administrator.
- Session Telemetry Logging: Every support session automatically records an immutable telemetry audit record containing the ticket ID, session start/end timestamps, specific pages visited (
pagesVisited), and session termination source (endedBy: “ADMIN” or “USER”).
5. Acceptable Use
5.1 Permitted Use
The Service is intended for legitimate business purposes in the construction industry. You may use the Service to manage projects, clients, staff, financials, and related business operations.
5.2 Prohibited Use
You agree NOT to:
- Upload malicious code, viruses, or harmful software.
- Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service or other users' data.
- Use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any laws.
- Interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers.
- Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code.
- Resell, lease, or provide the Service to third parties without authorisation.
- Upload content that infringes intellectual property rights.
- Store or transmit personally identifiable information of individuals without proper consent.
6. Subscriptions, Payment & Data Retention
6.1 Billing & Fees
Subscription fees are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) and include GST where applicable. Continued use of the Service following a price change constitutes acceptance of the new terms.
6.2 Data Backup & Export
- Paid JSON Data Export: Subscribers can export their complete company database in JSON format at any time via Company Settings → Export Data.
- Post-Cancellation Retention: Following subscription cancellation, data is retained for 90 days to allow for account reactivation, after which data may be permanently purged. Subscribers are responsible for exporting data prior to account deactivation.
7. Service Availability and Support
While we strive for high availability, the Service is provided “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” without guarantees of uninterrupted uptime. Support is provided via email and in-app chat during New Zealand business hours.
8. Third-Party Integrations & AI
- Xero Integration: Connecting Xero grants permission to sync financial data between BuilderBase and Xero as configured.
- AI Features (Google Gemini): AI-assisted features process queries via Google's enterprise APIs. Proprietary customer business data is never used to train public AI models.
9. Limitation of Liability
9.1 Exclusion of Consequential Damages
To the maximum extent permitted by law, BuilderBase shall not be liable for loss of profits, revenue, business opportunities, project delays, data loss, or indirect/consequential damages arising from Service use, calculation errors, or third-party outages.
9.2 Liability Cap
Our total liability for any claim arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed the total amount paid by you to BuilderBase in the 12 months prior to the claim, or NZD $1,000, whichever is less.
10. Compliance and Governing Law
10.1 Regulatory Compliance
Subscribers and BuilderBase agree to comply with all applicable New Zealand legislation, including the Privacy Act 2020 (Information Privacy Principles), the Commerce Act 1986, and relevant tax and employment laws.
10.2 Governing Law & Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed exclusively by the laws of New Zealand. Any legal disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand.
11. Contact Information
For legal inquiries or terms clarification, please contact us at: