Terms of Service

Clause 01Agreement

Please read these terms carefully. They apply to your use of this website and any of its content (the “Website”), and to your use of our Services. Words that begin with a capital letter are defined in clause 20.

In this Agreement, “Amanda Dsouza”, “we”, “us” and “our” means Amanda Dsouza Interior Design Consultant (TRADE LICENCE NO. 000000) of Shams Business Center, Al Mtsannid, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. “You” and “your” means the person or entity using the Website or our Services, whether as a visitor or as a Client.

This Agreement is between you and us. Your use of the Website and our Services depends on your acceptance of these terms.

By browsing the Website, sending an enquiry through it or engaging us for a Design Project, you:

1. accept the terms set out in this Agreement; and
2. confirm that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into this Agreement.

Clause 02The Website and our Services

The Website presents our interior design practice and gives you a way to enquire about working with us. Through it you can read about our approach, view completed work and request a consultation.

Our Services cover design consultancy, space planning, 3D visualisation, furniture curation, fit out supervision and turnkey delivery for residential, commercial and hospitality spaces, together with anything else described on the Website or in a signed proposal.

Material published on the Website, including project photography, case studies, timelines and indicative budgets, is there to give a general picture of our work. It is not an offer, a quotation or a promise of any particular result for your space. Every project is scoped and priced on its own.

We work with contractors, suppliers, fabricators and specialist consultants on many projects. Those parties are not always our employees or agents, and the basis on which we engage them is set out in your project documents.

Clause 03Term

This Agreement starts on the date you first use the Website or send us an enquiry, whichever comes first, and runs until it is ended by you or by us under clause 15. Where you engage us for a Design Project, it also runs for the length of that project and survives to the extent set out in clause 15.6.

Clause 04Enquiries, accounts and your details

4.1 Making an enquiry

To ask about our Services you submit the consultation form on the Website using your correct and full name and accurate contact details. We use those details to respond to your enquiry and to arrange a consultation. Clause 12 explains how we handle your information.

We may accept or decline any enquiry at our discretion, including where the brief sits outside the work we take on or where our schedule is full.

4.2 Client access

On some projects we give you access to a shared folder, a project board or a client portal so you can review drawings and approvals in one place. Where we do:

1. any username, password or access link we issue is personal to you and must be kept private;
2. you must not share access with anyone outside your project team without telling us first; and
3. you must tell us as soon as you believe your access has been used by someone else.

4.3 Keeping your details current

You are responsible for making sure we hold accurate and current contact details for you at all times, including your full name, address, telephone number and email address. Notices we send to the last details you gave us are treated as received.

Clause 05Design Projects

5.1 Submitting a Design Brief

A Design Project begins when you:

1. select a Service or Package and commit to pay the applicable Fees in the manner set out in clause 7 and in your proposal; and
2. complete and submit a Design Brief in the format we specify.

You must set out your requirements in the Design Brief clearly enough for us to prepare a responsive First Concept. This includes the scope of the space, your Project Budget, access arrangements and any rules set by your developer, landlord or building management.

Once the steps in clause 5.1 are complete, the Design Brief is treated as frozen and the Fees for that Service or Package become due in line with the payment schedule in your proposal. The timing of collection does not affect our entitlement to them.

5.2 Confirmation and scheduling

We confirm the Design Project in writing and assign a designer and, where the scope calls for it, a project coordinator. We then agree a Project Timeline with you. Where a project needs a consultant or trade we do not provide in house, we tell you before that party is appointed.

5.3 First Concept

We submit the First Concept within five (5) working days of the Design Brief being frozen, unless a longer period is recorded in the Project Timeline.

The First Concept follows the requirements set out in the Design Brief and our published design standards. You are responsible for reviewing it and must tell us within forty eight (48) hours of receiving it if you believe it does not meet the Design Brief.

5.4 Design Phase

During the Design Phase we work with you to develop the First Concept into the Final Design Package, following the Project Timeline. We obtain your sign off at each stage before moving to the next one.

1. You may give feedback and request reasonable revisions to elements of the First Concept within seven (7) calendar days of receiving it (the “Design Phase Period”).
2. We may ask for your consent to extend a deadline in the Project Timeline by a reasonable period of no more than fourteen (14) days. Deadlines cannot be shortened without our written agreement.
3. Delays caused by late feedback, late approvals, late payment, restricted site access or changes made by you shift the Project Timeline by at least the length of the delay.

If you have not approved the release of the Final Design Package within twenty one (21) calendar days of receiving the First Concept, we may:

1. pause the Design Project until you choose to continue with the Design Phase; and/or
2. retain the Fees already paid and release the Final Design Package without your approval.

5.5 Final Design Package

The Final Design Package includes, at a minimum:

• the final mood board and material palette;
• a detailed floor plan and layout drawings;
• 3D visuals for the agreed areas;
• an installation or execution guide; and
• a Shopping List of items available for purchase at the time the package is delivered.

You may request major changes to the Final Design Package. We may carry out those changes at our discretion and may charge a fee for them. A request for a completely new concept counts as a major change. We do not start revision work that carries a charge without your written authorisation.

You agree that our internal team may take part in the Design Project at any point to help both sides meet their obligations, and that we may send you notifications and reminders by email, WhatsApp or SMS during the project to help keep the Project Timeline on track.

5.6 Submission and acceptance

1. We submit the Final Design Package to you in line with the Project Timeline.
2. You must accept or reject the Final Design Package within five (5) calendar days of receiving it (the “Acceptance Period”).
3. If you have not accepted or rejected the Final Design Package before the Acceptance Period ends, you are treated as having accepted it.
4. If any Shopping List item cannot be purchased within thirty (30) calendar days of delivery of the Final Design Package, we provide a list of substitutable items as soon as we reasonably can.
5. You may send us questions about the Final Design Package within fourteen (14) days of receiving it, and we respond promptly.

Clause 06Your obligations and warranties

6.1 General restrictions

You must not, and must not allow others to, use the Website or our Services to:

1. publish or send material that is defamatory, offensive, harassing, indecent, threatening, obscene or unlawful;
2. act, or fail to act, in a way that exposes us to liability;
3. engage in misleading or deceptive conduct or fraud of any kind;
4. publish or give access to content that is unsuitable for people under the age of eighteen (18);
5. copy, scrape, republish or resell any part of the Website or our design material; or
6. interfere with the security or operation of the Website, or upload anything that contains a virus or other harmful code.

You are responsible for scanning any file you send to us or download from us, and for keeping your own backup of project files, including Design Briefs, concepts and Final Design Packages.

6.2 Your Content

You undertake that all of Your Content:

1. does not infringe the Intellectual Property Rights or any other rights of any person, and that all royalties or licence fees due on that material have been paid;
2. is not obscene, unlawful, offensive, defamatory or in any way unsuitable for people under the age of eighteen (18); and
3. cannot be used for any purpose or activity that is unlawful, fraudulent or defamatory.

You acknowledge that we may, at our discretion:

1. refuse to provide Services to you where we believe Your Content breaches this Agreement;
2. limit, suspend or end any Service, or remove any of Your Content;
3. decline to display or store any of Your Content that we consider offensive or inappropriate; and
4. stop providing Services where Fees are not paid in full and on time.

You warrant and represent that you are solely responsible for Your Content, that you have the authority to enter into this Agreement and grant the rights it contains, that you will comply with all applicable laws, and that Your Content is not the subject of any claim, demand, action or legal proceeding, or any pending or threatened claim you are aware of.

We may, but are not obliged to, monitor or moderate use of the Website or our Services, including Your Content.

6.3 Client obligations on a project

If you engage us for a Design Project, you must:

1. give accurate information about the space, including drawings, title documents, dimensions and any known defect;
2. obtain and keep current every approval, permit and no objection certificate required by your developer, landlord, owners association or authority, unless we have agreed in writing to handle those;
3. give us and our appointed trades safe and reasonable access to the site during agreed hours;
4. nominate one person with authority to approve drawings, materials and variations, and tell us in writing if that person changes;
5. give feedback and approvals within the periods set out in the Project Timeline; and
6. pay the Fees when they fall due.

You must not approach any member of our team, or any contractor or supplier introduced to you through us, to carry out the same or similar work outside this Agreement during the project and for twelve (12) months after it ends.

Clause 07Fees and payment

7.1 Fees

Fees are set out in the proposal or quotation we issue for your project. Unless stated otherwise, a quotation is valid for fourteen (14) days from its date and is based on the scope, drawings and information available when it was prepared.

All Fees are stated and payable in United Arab Emirates Dirhams (AED). Bank charges, international transfer fees and currency conversion costs are yours to bear.

7.2 Payment terms

1. Fees are paid in the stages set out in your proposal. Work on a stage begins once the payment for that stage is received in cleared funds.
2. Invoices are due within seven (7) days of the invoice date unless a different period is recorded in your proposal.
3. Procurement, fabrication and supplier orders are placed only once the funds for those items are received in full.
4. Where payment is late, we may pause work on the project, hold delivery of drawings or goods, and re-programme the Project Timeline once payment is received.
5. Amounts already paid to us are applied against work carried out and commitments made on your behalf.

7.3 Processing of payments

You must tell us as soon as possible about any change to your billing or account details. Card and online payments are handled by third party payment processors and are subject to the terms those processors publish. We do not store your full card details.

7.4 Cancellation

A Design Project cannot be cancelled once the Design Brief has been frozen under clause 5.1. If you choose to stop a project after that point, you remain liable for the Fees covering work carried out up to the date you tell us, together with any non-cancellable commitments we have made on your behalf with suppliers, fabricators or trades.

7.5 Refunds

You may request a full refund of the Fees paid for a Design Project if:

1. we have not started the Design Project by the date recorded in the Project Timeline and the delay is ours; or
2. the First Concept, assessed objectively, does not meet our published design standards, you have told us in writing within forty eight (48) hours of receiving it, and the additional concept we then submit also fails to meet those standards.

A refund request must be made in writing to hello@amandadsouza.com. Telling us about a concept that falls short of our standards is your responsibility, and the notice must reach us before you ask for further work on that concept.

Deposits paid against supplier orders, custom fabrication and made to order items are not refundable once those orders are placed. Where a refund is issued, you keep no rights or interest of any kind in the concepts, drawings or other work delivered for that Design Project.

Nothing in this clause removes or limits any right or remedy you have under the consumer protection laws of the United Arab Emirates that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Clause 08Value Added Tax

Terms used in this clause carry the meaning given to them in Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on Value Added Tax and its Executive Regulations, as amended.

Unless a document says otherwise, every amount payable under this Agreement is exclusive of VAT. Where VAT applies to a supply we make, you pay the additional amount at the same time and in the same manner as the amount it relates to, against a valid tax invoice.

You are responsible for any other tax, duty, levy or charge imposed on the supply of our Services, other than tax on our own income. If any such charge would reduce what we receive under this Agreement, the Fees are grossed up so that our net position is unchanged.

Clause 09Furniture, materials and third party suppliers

9.1 How procurement works

Items on a Shopping List, and any furniture, fixtures or materials we source for you, are supplied by third party sellers, manufacturers and fabricators. Where we place an order on your behalf, we do so as your agent and the contract of sale is between you and that supplier, not with us.

You should read the terms on which each supplier sells its goods. We are not a party to those terms and, to the maximum extent the law allows, we are not liable for any loss or claim arising from goods you purchase from a supplier, except where the loss arises from our own breach of this Agreement.

9.2 Pricing and availability

1. Prices shown on a Shopping List reflect the supplier price at the time the Final Design Package is delivered and can change without notice.
2. Supply problems or unexpected demand can make an item unavailable. If that happens we propose a substitute of comparable quality and price for your approval.
3. Natural materials such as stone, timber and leather vary in grain, tone and veining between batches. Variation between a sample and the delivered item is normal and is not a defect.
4. Lead times quoted by suppliers are estimates. We pass on what we are told and follow up on your behalf, and we do not control a supplier’s production or shipping schedule.

9.3 Delivery, installation and returns

Delivery is subject to each supplier’s own delivery terms. Once goods reach the site you are responsible for their safekeeping, unless we have taken on storage or installation in writing.

Returns, exchanges and warranty claims follow the supplier’s own policy. Custom and made to order items are usually non-returnable. Tell us as soon as you notice damage or a shortfall, ideally within forty eight (48) hours of delivery, so we can raise it with the supplier while the claim window is still open.

Manufacturer warranties on goods and on installed work pass to you. We assist in making a claim, and we do not act as the guarantor of another party’s product.

Clause 10Intellectual Property Rights

10.1 Your licence to use the Website

The Website is protected by copyright and other Intellectual Property Rights. We grant you a limited, non-transferable licence to access and use the Website to learn about our Services, to enquire about a project and to communicate with us about work we are doing for you.

We and our licensors keep all right, title and interest in the Website. Nothing you do on the Website transfers any Intellectual Property Rights to you or licenses you to use them, beyond the licence in this clause. Any other use or copying of the Website is prohibited without our written consent. Write to hello@amandadsouza.com if you would like to request it.

We may withdraw this licence and suspend or deny your access to the Website at any time if you breach this Agreement or we reasonably believe you have.

10.2 Your Content

By sending us Your Content, including Design Briefs, reference images, photographs of your space and written requirements, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty free licence to use, reproduce, adapt and display that content for the purpose of carrying out the Design Project and running our Services.

You must tell us straight away about any infringement, threatened infringement or unauthorised use of Intellectual Property Rights connected to Your Content that comes to your attention, and give us reasonable assistance in dealing with it.

10.3 Rights in the design work

1. Until the Fees for a Design Project are paid in full, we retain all rights in the concepts, drawings, visuals, specifications and other Works produced for that project.
2. On payment of the Fees in full, we assign to you all right, title and interest in the Works produced for your project, including copyright, for the full term of copyright and all renewals, for use on the space the project relates to.
3. You are then free to use the Works, or authorise others to use them, in connection with that space, free from further claims by us.
4. Our design method, drawing templates, detail libraries, supplier lists and pricing data remain ours and are not assigned to you under this clause.
5. Works may not be reused to build, license or resell the same design for another property without our written consent.

10.4 Portfolio and credit

You grant us a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty free licence to photograph, film, reproduce and display the completed project for promotional purposes, including on this Website, in social media, in press features and in marketing material. We do not publish your name, your exact address or any identifying detail about you without your written consent. If you would prefer that we do not publish the project at all, tell us in writing and we will respect that.

10.5 Our warranties

We warrant that we have the authority to grant the rights in this clause, that the Works are original, and that to our knowledge they do not infringe the Intellectual Property Rights of any other person. Where any part of a Work is owned by a third party, we obtain the licences and consents needed for you to use it as this Agreement contemplates.

Clause 11Communication with you

By accepting this Agreement you agree that we may send you electronic communications, including email, SMS and WhatsApp, about a Design Project, your use of the Website, and services we think may interest you.

You can opt out of marketing messages at any time by following the instructions in the message or by writing to hello@amandadsouza.com. Messages that relate to a live project, an invoice or this Agreement continue while the project is running.

Clause 12Privacy

Personal information we collect from you is handled in line with our Privacy Policy and with Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data.

Where we share your details with a contractor, supplier or consultant so they can carry out part of your project, we share only what that party needs. We ask each of them to use your information for that purpose alone, keep it secure, and tell us without delay if it is lost or accessed by someone who should not have it.

Clause 13Liability

13.1 The Website and its content are provided on an “as is” basis. To the fullest extent the law allows, all guarantees, conditions and warranties implied by legislation or otherwise in connection with the Website are excluded.

13.2 We make no warranty that the Website will meet your expectations, that access will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or free of viruses, or that every error will be corrected.

13.3 Our design Services are carried out with the reasonable care and skill expected of a professional interior design practice. We do not warrant that a supplier will deliver on time, that an authority will grant an approval, or that site conditions hidden behind existing finishes will match the information available when the design was prepared.

13.4 To the maximum extent the law allows, neither we nor our employees, officers or representatives are liable for loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of opportunity, loss of data, loss of goodwill, wasted management time, or any indirect, special or consequential loss, whether the claim arises in contract, tort, negligence or statute.

13.5 To the maximum extent the law allows, our total liability for all claims connected with this Agreement is capped at the total Fees you have paid us for the project that gave rise to the claim.

13.6 Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded under the laws of the United Arab Emirates.

Clause 14Indemnity

14.1 You indemnify and hold us, together with our directors and employees, harmless against all loss, damage, liability, cost and expense, including legal costs, that we suffer or incur:

1. in connection with any claim made by any person about Your Content, including a claim that Your Content infringes the Intellectual Property Rights of another person;
2. in connection with your use of our Services or the Website, or a breach of this Agreement by you, or your breach of any law;
3. in connection with inaccurate information you gave us about the space, its ownership, its condition or the approvals in place; and
4. in connection with any claim that you, or any of your employees or contractors, is our employee or contractor, or is entitled to any employment related payment or benefit from us.

14.2 This indemnity applies whether or not legal proceedings are brought and, if they are, regardless of how they are settled or determined.

Clause 15Suspension and termination

15.1 You may close any account you hold with us and end this Agreement at any time by written notice to us, subject to clauses 15.5 and 15.6 and to your obligations on a live Design Project under clause 7.4.

15.2 We may end this Agreement at any time by written notice to you, subject to clauses 15.5 and 15.6.

15.3 We may suspend or withdraw access to any Service without notice if you fail to meet an obligation under this Agreement, until the breach is remedied to our reasonable satisfaction. While you are in breach, we are not required to release drawings, files or deliverables.

15.4 Amounts paid to us up to the date of termination are not refundable, except where clause 7.5 applies.

15.5 On termination you must pay all outstanding amounts owed to us as at the date of termination, together with any non-cancellable commitment we have made on your behalf.

15.6 Termination does not affect rights or remedies already accrued. Clauses 6, and 9 to 20 inclusive, continue to apply after this Agreement ends.

Clause 16Confidentiality

16.1 Neither party may disclose the other party’s Confidential Information without prior written approval. Disclosure required by law is not a breach of this clause.

16.2 Each party takes reasonable steps to make sure its employees and agents do not disclose the other party’s Confidential Information.

16.3 A party may disclose the other party’s Confidential Information to its related companies, lawyers, auditors, insurers and accountants where they need it for the purposes of this Agreement, or where disclosure is required by law or by a regulator.

Clause 17Changes to this Agreement

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we publish the updated version on this page and change the date shown at the top. Where a change is significant and you have a live project with us, we also tell you directly.

Updated terms take effect from the date they are published. Continuing to use the Website or our Services after that date means you accept the updated terms. The version that applies to a live Design Project is the version in force on the date your Design Brief was frozen.

Clause 18Governing law and disputes

18.1 This Agreement is governed by the federal laws of the United Arab Emirates and the laws of the Emirate of Dubai. The parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Dubai.

18.2 Neither party may start court proceedings about a dispute until it has followed this clause, except where urgent injunctive relief is needed.

18.3 If a dispute arises in connection with this Agreement:

1. the party raising it must notify the other in writing, with enough detail for the dispute to be understood;
2. both parties must then discuss the dispute in good faith and try to resolve it; and
3. if it is not resolved within thirty (30) days of that notice, either party may refer it to the courts named in clause 18.1.

Clause 19General

19.1 You may not assign this Agreement without our prior written consent.

19.2 We may assign, novate or otherwise deal with this Agreement, or any right or obligation under it, by transfer to a third party, and you give your consent to that transfer to the extent it is required.

19.3 Notices must be in writing and sent to the address or email each party has given under this Agreement.

19.4 Each party will take the steps the other reasonably requires to give effect to this Agreement.

19.5 This Agreement, together with any signed proposal, contains the entire agreement between the parties on its subject matter. Where a signed proposal conflicts with this Agreement, the proposal prevails for that project.

19.6 Each party confirms it has not relied on any representation about the subject matter of this Agreement other than those set out in it.

19.7 A delay in enforcing an obligation under this Agreement does not operate as a waiver of it.

19.8 If any provision is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the rest of this Agreement continues in full force and that provision is treated as deleted.

19.9 Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including fire, flood, extreme weather, strike, supply chain failure, regulatory action or restrictions imposed by an authority. The affected party tells the other promptly and both work in good faith to re-programme the Project Timeline.

Clause 20Definitions and interpretation

20.1 Definitions

“Acceptance Period”

has the meaning given in clause 5.6(b).

“Agreement”

means these Terms of Service, as updated from time to time.

“Client”

means a person or entity that engages us for a Design Project.

“Confidential Information”

means information of a party relating to the subject matter of this Agreement that is not already public through no breach of confidentiality by the recipient.

“Design Brief”

means the document setting out the requirements for a Design Project, in the format we specify.

“Design Phase”

means the period following delivery of the First Concept during which we work with you to develop the Final Design Package.

“Design Phase Period”

has the meaning given in clause 5.4(a).

“Design Project”

means a project that is the subject of a Design Brief.

“Fees”

means the total amounts payable by you for our Services, as set out in your proposal or quotation.

“Final Design Package”

means the deliverable package for a Design Project, comprising the items listed in clause 5.5.

“First Concept”

means the first visual representation of a proposed design prepared in response to a Design Brief.

“Intellectual Property Rights”

means all industrial and intellectual property rights, including copyright, trade marks, patents, designs, confidential information and know how.

“Project Budget”

means the budget for a Design Project specified by you in the Design Brief.

“Project Timeline”

means the period within which a Design Project is to be delivered, including the deadlines agreed for particular tasks or deliverables.

“Services”

has the meaning given in clause 2.

“Shopping List”

means the list of items recommended for purchase in connection with a Design Project.

“Term”

means the duration of this Agreement, as described in clause 3.

“Website”

has the meaning given in clause 1.

“Work or Works”

means the designs, drawings, visuals, specifications and other works we create for you during a Design Project.

“Your Content”

means all content and material you provide to us or to the Website, including images, documents, written material, specifications and information.

20.2 Interpretation

1. headings are for convenience and do not affect interpretation;
2. the singular includes the plural and the reverse;
3. a reference to a gender includes all genders;
4. where a word is defined, its other grammatical forms carry a corresponding meaning;
5. the words “such as”, “including” and similar expressions are not words of limitation;
6. a reference to a person includes a body corporate or other entity, and the reverse;
7. a reference to a clause is a reference to a clause of this Agreement;
8. a reference to a party includes that party’s successors and assigns;
9. a reference to a document is to that document as amended or replaced from time to time; and
10. a reference to legislation includes any amendment or re-enactment of it and any instrument issued under it.