Terms of Use

Terms of Use

These Terms of Use explain the rules for using TradeKind.

TradeKind is a Sussex-only trades directory and trust network for homeowners and tradespeople across East Sussex and West Sussex.

By using TradeKind, creating a profile, submitting a request or contacting a trade business through the platform, you agree to use the platform responsibly and follow these terms.

These are starter terms for the early MVP version of TradeKind. They should be reviewed before wider commercial launch, paid lead features, payments, internal messaging, quoting, invoices, mobile apps or CRM features are added.

What TradeKind is

TradeKind is an online directory and platform that helps homeowners find and request local tradespeople.

TradeKind may provide:

• public trade profiles
• town pages
• category/town pages
• Fleet pages
• request forms
• review features
• trade dashboards
• admin moderation tools

TradeKind is not the tradesperson carrying out the work.

What TradeKind is not

TradeKind does not:

• carry out trade work
• employ the listed tradespeople
• guarantee the quality of any work
• guarantee availability
• guarantee pricing
• guarantee suitability
• guarantee insurance or qualifications
• act as a party to the contract between homeowner and tradesperson
• supervise the work carried out by tradespeople

Any agreement for work is between the homeowner and the trade business directly.

Sussex-only launch area

TradeKind currently focuses on East Sussex and West Sussex.

Profiles and pages outside this area may be restricted, rejected or added later only if TradeKind expands.

Homeowner responsibilities

Homeowners using TradeKind are responsible for making their own decision before hiring a tradesperson.

Before agreeing work, homeowners should consider:

• checking previous work
• asking for references where appropriate
• asking for a written quote
• confirming what is included and excluded
• checking qualifications for regulated work
• checking insurance where relevant
• agreeing timescales
• avoiding large upfront cash payments without protection
• keeping written records of important agreements

TradeKind can help with discovery and requests, but it does not replace sensible checks.

Tradesperson responsibilities

Tradespeople and trade businesses are responsible for:

• providing accurate profile information
• only listing services they genuinely provide
• keeping contact and business details up to date
• using real work photos or photos they have permission to use
• complying with all relevant laws and regulations
• holding appropriate qualifications where required
• holding appropriate insurance where relevant
• responding honestly to customer requests
• carrying out work safely and professionally
• respecting customer data received through TradeKind

TradeKind may remove profiles that appear fake, misleading, unsafe, duplicated, abandoned or unsuitable.

Profiles

Trade profiles may require approval before becoming public.

TradeKind may approve, reject, suspend, edit or remove profiles at its discretion, especially where a profile appears to:

• contain false information
• impersonate another business
• use copied content or photos
• mislead homeowners
• expose private information improperly
• include spam or keyword stuffing
• promote unsafe or unlawful services
• breach platform rules

Profile approval does not mean TradeKind guarantees or endorses the business.

Public profile pages

Approved trade profiles may be public and indexable by search engines.

Tradespeople should only publish information they are comfortable being public.

TradeKind is designed to keep private trade phone numbers and private email addresses hidden from public profile pages. Homeowners should normally contact trades through the Request This Trade system.

Request This Trade

Homeowners can submit a Request This Trade form to contact a specific trade business.

When a request is submitted:

• the request is saved in TradeKind
• the requested trade business may be notified
• TradeKind admins may access the request where needed for platform operation, moderation or support
• the homeowner's details are not intended to be published publicly

In the MVP phase, requests may be free for tradespeople.

TradeKind may later introduce paid lead marketplace features, including lead credits or unlocks, but those features are not part of the current free MVP unless clearly stated.

No guarantee of response

TradeKind does not guarantee that a tradesperson will respond to a request.

Tradespeople may be busy, unavailable, outside the requested area, or may choose not to quote.

Quotes and contracts

Any quote, price, timescale or agreement is between the homeowner and the tradesperson.

TradeKind is not responsible for:

• the quoted price
• changes to price
• delays
• disputes about scope
• quality of workmanship
• materials supplied
• non-payment
• cancellation
• damage
• missed appointments
• disagreements between homeowner and tradesperson

Users should keep their own written records.

Fleets

A Fleet is a trade business's trusted working network.

A Fleet may include:

Team

Team members are internal to a business and are shown as part of that business.

Partners

Partners are independent trade businesses that may work with or be trusted by the main business.

Partner businesses keep their own profiles and identity.

Fleet links are for transparency and trust-building, but they do not mean TradeKind guarantees the relationship, quality or availability of any Team member or Partner.

Reviews

TradeKind aims to support trustworthy reviews.

The intended long-term review rule is:

• the trade marks the job complete
• the customer confirms completion
• only then can a review be left

This is designed to reduce fake reviews and keep reviews connected to real work.

TradeKind may remove, reject or investigate reviews that appear:

• fake
• abusive
• discriminatory
• threatening
• misleading
• unrelated to completed work
• posted by competitors
• posted by the business itself as a customer
• incentivised without disclosure
• used to manipulate a profile

Reviews are opinions of users, not statements by TradeKind.

Prohibited use

You must not use TradeKind to:

• submit fake requests
• harass tradespeople or homeowners
• scrape contact details
• copy or clone the platform
• upload harmful code
• impersonate another person or business
• post fake reviews
• publish unlawful, abusive or discriminatory content
• bypass security or access controls
• misuse customer personal data
• use the platform for spam

TradeKind may restrict or remove access if these rules are breached.

Customer data

Tradespeople must treat homeowner request details responsibly.

Homeowner contact details received through TradeKind should only be used to respond to that specific enquiry or related job discussion, unless the homeowner clearly agrees otherwise.

Tradespeople must not sell, publish, scrape or misuse customer data.

Admin moderation

TradeKind may moderate:

• profiles
• photos
• categories
• towns
• Fleet entries
• reviews
• requests
• account access

TradeKind may remove content or accounts where needed to protect users, comply with law, prevent abuse, improve quality or maintain trust.

Availability of the platform

TradeKind may sometimes be unavailable due to maintenance, hosting issues, updates, bugs or technical problems.

TradeKind does not guarantee uninterrupted access.

Changes to TradeKind

TradeKind is an early-stage platform and may change over time.

Features may be added, changed or removed, including:

• lead management
• paid credits
• messaging
• quotes
• reviews
• CRM tools
• profile upgrades
• admin controls
• mobile apps

Where paid features are added later, additional terms may apply.

Liability

TradeKind is not liable for trade work carried out by listed businesses.

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded.

To the fullest extent allowed by law, TradeKind is not responsible for losses caused by:

• user-provided profile information
• trade work or failure to complete work
• disputes between users
• inaccurate listings
• missed leads or missed enquiries
• platform downtime
• third-party services
• search engine ranking changes

Intellectual property

TradeKind owns or licenses the platform design, branding, structure and original platform content.

Tradespeople are responsible for making sure they have the right to upload business logos, photos, descriptions and other content.

By adding content to TradeKind, users give TradeKind permission to display that content on the platform and related public pages.

Account suspension or removal

TradeKind may suspend or remove accounts or profiles where there is a concern about:

• safety
• fraud
• spam
• false information
• misuse of customer data
• repeated complaints
• illegal activity
• platform abuse
• breach of these terms

Contact

For questions about these terms, email hello@tradekind.co.uk.

For platform support, email support@tradekind.co.uk.