Terms of Service
The agreement governing use of the Trustline Builds platform.
Important notice — please read. These Terms describe what the Trustline Builds platform is and, just as importantly, what it is not. Trustline Builds is a project-oversight, construction-inspection and procurement-management platform. It is not a construction insurer, an engineering certifier, or a structural guarantor. By using the platform you accept the allocation of responsibility set out below.
1. Agreement to These Terms
These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) form a binding agreement between you (“you”, “User”) and Trustline Builds Limited, which operates the Trustline Builds platform (“Trustline Builds”, “the Company”, “we”, “us”). They govern your access to and use of the Trustline Builds website, dashboards, and related services (together, the “Platform”).
By creating an account, submitting a project brief, or otherwise using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.
2. Definitions
- Platform. The Trustline Builds software, including the client, contractor, administrator, inspector, and supplier dashboards, and all related features.
- Client. A diaspora or other property owner who commissions a construction or renovation project through the Platform.
- Contractor. A vetted builder or specialist, based in the country where the project is located (its “market” — currently Ghana or Nigeria), engaged to carry out works on a project.
- Inspector. An independent field inspector who records inspection reports through the Platform.
- Supplier. A materials vendor that receives payment against an approved procurement package.
- Project. A construction or renovation engagement managed through the Platform.
- Procurement Package. A batch of materials and/or labour funded and verified through the Platform’s procurement and funding-request workflow.
- Content. Any data, photographs, documents, messages, or other material uploaded to or generated on the Platform.
3. Nature of the Service — What Trustline Builds Is and Is Not
Scope. This Section is fundamental to the agreement and prevails over any contrary impression created elsewhere. Capitalised undertakings are made only to the extent expressly stated here.
3.1 Trustline Builds IS:
| The Platform provides | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A Project Oversight Platform | Software and managed-service tools that help coordinate a construction project — assignment, milestone tracking, communication, document storage, and an audit trail. Trustline Builds facilitates and records; it does not perform the physical building works. |
| A Construction Inspection Platform | Tools for recording independent site inspections and GPS- and time-verified site photography, and for scoring the integrity of that evidence. Inspection is an observational, point-in-time record of apparent progress and condition — not an engineering or regulatory certification. |
| A Procurement Management Platform | A workflow for requesting, reviewing, funding, and verifying materials and labour batches, including supplier payment coordination and delivery-evidence checks. |
3.2 Trustline Builds is NOT:
| Trustline Builds is NOT | What this means for you |
|---|---|
| A Construction Insurer | We do not insure, underwrite, or indemnify any project, build, party, loss, theft, injury, defect, delay, or damage. We provide no insurance cover of any kind. You are responsible for obtaining your own construction, property, liability, and other insurance. |
| An Engineering Certifier | We do not certify, approve, or sign off on engineering designs, structural calculations, building-code compliance, or fitness for occupation. Inspection reports and verification badges are records of observation and evidence integrity — they are not professional engineering certifications or permits. |
| A Structural Guarantor | We do not guarantee, warrant, or stand behind the structural soundness, quality, durability, safety, or completion of any build. Responsibility for the works rests with the Contractor and the relevant licensed professionals, not with Trustline Builds. |
Plain-English summary
Trustline Builds gives you visibility, verified evidence, and financial control over a project. It does not build, insure, certify, or guarantee anything. Those responsibilities stay with the contractors, engineers, suppliers, and licensed professionals who actually perform and certify the work.
4. Eligibility, Accounts & Roles
- Eligibility. You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract. The Platform is not directed to children.
- Authentication. Accounts are accessed by secure email sign-in links. You are responsible for keeping access to your email account secure and for all activity under your account.
- Accuracy. You agree to provide true, current, and complete information, and to keep it updated.
- Roles. Access is role-based (Client, Contractor, Inspector, Supplier, Administrator). You may use only the access granted to you and must not attempt to access other users’ data.
- Suspension. We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these Terms, that we reasonably believe are fraudulent, or where required by law.
5. Contractor Vetting & Engagement
Trustline Builds operates an onboarding process for Contractors that may include identity verification (the market’s national identity document — Ghana Card in Ghana, NIN in Nigeria), document checks, references, and a platform contract. Vetting is a screening process carried out with reasonable care; it is not a guarantee of a Contractor’s performance, honesty, skill, solvency, or the quality or safety of their work.
Verified status. A verification badge or “verified” status indicates that a Contractor has completed our onboarding checks at a point in time. It is not a warranty of present or future performance. The contract for the building works is between the Client and the Contractor; Trustline Builds is not a party to it and is not liable for the Contractor’s acts or omissions.
6. Project Oversight Services
We provide tools and managed-service support to coordinate a Project: assigning Contractors, structuring milestones, logging communications, storing documents, and maintaining an immutable audit trail. Decisions about the design, scope, materials, methods, and acceptance of the works remain the responsibility of the Client and the relevant professionals. We exercise reasonable skill and care in operating the Platform but do not supervise or control the physical works.
7. Inspection & Photo Verification
What it is. The Platform records independent inspection reports and applies automated checks to site photographs, including GPS location, capture time, device metadata, distance from the registered site, integrity hashing, and a trust score.
What it is not. These features establish the integrity and provenance of evidence — that a photo was, on the available metadata, taken at a particular place and time and not altered or reused. They do not assess, certify, or warrant the engineering adequacy, code-compliance, structural soundness, or safety of the works depicted. A “Verified Inspection” badge means the evidence passed integrity checks, not that the construction is sound or approved.
Limitations. Inspection reports reflect the apparent condition observed at a point in time and may not reveal latent or concealed defects. They are not a substitute for professional structural, engineering, or regulatory inspection, which you should obtain separately.
8. Procurement, Milestones & Handling of Funds
Coordination role. The Platform coordinates the funding of materials and labour in batches through procurement and funding-request workflows, and records milestone payments. Where the Platform facilitates the flow of funds to Suppliers or Contractors, it does so as an operational coordinator and record-keeper.
- Not a bank or payment institution. Trustline Builds is not a bank, e-money issuer, escrow agent, or licensed payment-services provider, and these Terms do not create any such relationship.
- Verification, not guarantee. We verify payment proofs and delivery evidence with reasonable care before recording a milestone or releasing funds to a Supplier. Verification reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of error, fraud, or non-delivery, and is not a guarantee of either.
- Client responsibility. Clients are responsible for transferring funds through their own banking channels and for the accuracy of payment information they submit.
- Currency. Amounts may be displayed in your preferred currency using third-party exchange rates for convenience only; the operative amount is the one actually transacted.
9. Fees
Trustline Builds charges for its services, which may include a scoping/onboarding fee, a milestone management commission, a procurement oversight fee, inspection fees, software subscription fees, and property-management fees. Applicable fees are presented before you incur them. Unless stated otherwise, fees are exclusive of taxes, which are your responsibility. Fees are non-refundable except where required by law or expressly agreed in writing.
10. Your Obligations & Acceptable Use
- Provide accurate information and use the Platform lawfully and in good faith.
- Do not upload false, misleading, infringing, or unlawful Content, or tamper with photo metadata or verification.
- Do not attempt to access accounts, data, or systems you are not authorised to access, or to disrupt or reverse-engineer the Platform.
- Do not use the Platform to launder money, finance illegal activity, or evade sanctions or applicable law.
- Comply with all applicable building, planning, tax, and other laws in the relevant jurisdiction.
11. Intellectual Property
The Platform, including its software, design system, Trustline Builds Core, trademarks, and branding, is owned by the Company and its licensors and is protected by law. You receive a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Platform for its intended purpose. You retain ownership of Content you upload, and grant the Company a licence to host, process, and display it as needed to operate the Platform, maintain records, and improve the service.
12. Disclaimers of Warranties
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Platform and all services are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement.
Construction-specific. Without limiting Section 3, Trustline Builds expressly disclaims any warranty or guarantee as to: the quality, safety, structural soundness, code-compliance, completion, or timeliness of any build; the performance, honesty, or solvency of any Contractor, Inspector, or Supplier; and the absence of fraud, defect, or loss. Trustline Builds provides no insurance, no engineering certification, and no structural guarantee.
13. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Company is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of profit, data, goodwill, or for any construction defect, delay, cost overrun, theft, injury, or property damage arising from the works or from the acts or omissions of Contractors, Inspectors, Suppliers, or third parties.
Cap. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Company’s total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Platform is limited to the total fees you paid to the Company for the service giving rise to the claim in the [twelve (12)] months preceding the event. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
14. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Company and its officers, employees, and partners from claims, losses, and expenses arising out of your use of the Platform, your Content, your breach of these Terms, or your dealings with other Users, including Contractors, Inspectors, and Suppliers.
15. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to any non-waivable consumer rights you may have in your country of residence, the parties will first attempt to resolve any dispute amicably. Failing resolution, disputes shall be [referred to arbitration in Accra, Ghana under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2010 (Act 798)] / [subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ghana]. [Confirm the dispute mechanism with counsel, including treatment of overseas consumer clients.]
16. Term, Suspension & Termination
These Terms apply while you use the Platform. We may suspend or terminate access for breach, suspected fraud, legal requirement, or discontinuation of the service. On termination, your right to use the Platform ends, but provisions that by their nature should survive (including Sections 3, 12–15) continue. Consistent with our record-keeping practice, certain records are retained and versioned rather than deleted, as described in the Privacy Policy.
17. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified through the Platform or by email. Continued use after the effective date of an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
18. General
- Force majeure. We are not liable for failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
- Severability. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
- Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them to an affiliate or successor entity.
- Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding the Platform.
- Notices. We may give notices through the Platform or by email to the address on your account.
19. Contact
Market-specific provisions
The Platform operates in more than one country (each a “market”). The market of a project or service request is the country where the property is located, chosen at intake. For projects in Ghana: contractor identity verification uses the Ghana Card and payments are charged in Ghana Cedis (GH₵). For projects in Nigeria: contractor identity verification uses the National Identification Number (NIN) and payments are charged in Nigerian Naira (₦). [Nigerian entity, tax and regulatory registrations are being completed; Nigeria-specific terms will be confirmed with Nigerian counsel before ₦ card payments go live ●.] Where a market-specific provision conflicts with these general Terms, the market-specific provision applies to that project.
Questions about these Terms may be sent to the Company at [[email protected]], +233 55 057 5987, Trustline Builds Limited, [registered address ●].