eGordian - Information & Tools for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industry

Terms and Conditions of Use

These terms of use, as modified or amended from time to time ("terms") are a binding contract between The Gordian Group, Inc. (Gordian) and you ("you" or "user"). Before using the egordian.com website or any functionality available on or through the website (collectively, the "site"), please read these terms carefully. By using the site, you agree to be bound by these terms, including the privacy policy, and you agree to follow the guidelines and policies that Gordian may post on the site or provide to you from time to time. If you do not agree to these terms, you are not authorized to use the site, in which case you should immediately exit and not use the site. Gordian makes the site content and information on the site available to you conditioned upon your acceptance, without modification, of the terms. These terms apply to all users, including visitors to the site, and registered members authorized to submit content to the site. If you wish to become a registered user, communicate with other registered users and make use of Gordian’s services, you must read this agreement and also indicate your acceptance during the registration process.

MODIFICATIONS TO TERMS
1. You agree that from time to time we may, at our sole discretion, modify, add or remove any or all parts of these Terms and the Privacy Policy. We will provide notice to you of any material changes in the Terms by posting notice to the Site and sending an email to the email address that we have on record for you if any. Your continued use of the Site 30 days after our notice to you of a change in the Terms means that you have agreed to the amended Terms. It is critical that you keep your email contact information correct and updated with Gordian at all times. In addition, we encourage you to check back regularly to review these Terms at least once every 30 days
MODIFICATIONS TO SITE
1. We reserve the right from time to time to temporarily or permanently modify or discontinue, and restrict or block access to, the Site (or any part thereof) without notice. We may temporarily or permanently modify or remove any part or all of your content from the Site at any time without any notice to you. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, discontinuance or removal and any such action by us will not affect Gordian’s license to your content as stated herein.
LIMITATIONS ON USE
1. Gordian licenses very specific, local Construction Task Catalogs® for use on various contracts that are utilized within applications on eGordian. eGordian also provides generic information, including but not limited to costs, that is not appropriate for legal contracts. The use of eGordian for any type of legal contract or agreement directly or indirectly based on eGordian information is expressly prohibited unless provided for in writing by Gordian. You agree to pay Gordian a fee no less than ten percent (10%) of the value of work ordered, either directly or indirectly, utilizing information from eGordian without prior written approval by Gordian.
POSTING USER GENERATED CONTENT ON THE SITE; REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
1. You have the ability to interact with the Site and other users by posting comments, engaging in project discussions, participating in the forums, uploading photos, and a variety of other ways (all such submissions or postings collectively referred to as "User Generated Content"). By submitting or posting any User Generated Content on the Site, you warrant and represent that:
  1. you own all rights in your User Generated Content and the performance contained in your User Generated Content or, alternatively, you have acquired all necessary rights in your User Generated Content to enable you to grant to Gordian the rights in your User Generated Content described herein and for us to exercise the rights with respect to such User Generated Content that you grant herein;
  2. you have paid and will pay in full all license fees, clearance fees, and other financial obligations, of any kind, arising from any use or commercial exploitation of your User Generated Content;
  3. you are the individual pictured, depicted, and/or heard in your User Generated Content, or, alternatively, you have obtained permission (and, if applicable, publicity rights) from each person (including consent from parents or guardians for any individual under the age of eighteen (18)) who appears and/or is heard in your User Generated Content to grant the rights to Gordian described herein;
  4. you will make such permissions available to Gordian upon request;
  5. your User Generated Content is not defamatory in nature, does not infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy, rights to publicity or any other legal or moral rights of any third party.
  6. you will not Post any information or material which may constitute or encourage conduct that is a criminal offense, tort, or civil wrong or otherwise violates any applicable law.
2. You agree to keep all records necessary to establish that your User Generated Content does not violate any of the foregoing representations and warranties and to make such records available upon the reasonable request of Gordian. You acknowledge that the Site does not have any "digital rights management" or other security technology features to restrict someone who receives Content from copying and redistributing it.
3. To post User Generated Content on the Site, you must provide a legitimate email address. You agree to provide accurate current and complete information when contributing User Generated Content or when otherwise using the Site. You also agree that you will review, maintain, correct and update such information in a timely manner to maintain its accuracy and completeness. Should you register an account on the site, you agree to safeguard your user name and password, and you authorize us to accept any use of the Site through your Account as being used by you or someone authorized to act for you. You agree to be liable for any User Generated Content posted using your Account and for any transactions associated with your Account. You agree that we can rely upon the contact and other information that is supplied to us using your Account and that we will rely upon such information. You agree and acknowledge that your Account is non-transferable and non-assignable. You may not share your password with anyone unless you are a minor, in which case you may share your password with your parents or other legal guardians.
4. When you submit ideas, suggestions, or proposals (collectively, "Ideas") to us, you represent, warrant, and agree that: (i) your Ideas do not include confidential or proprietary information, you have all necessary rights to submit them to us and that they do not and will not infringe or violate any third party rights of any kind; (ii) if we so choose, we may use and disclose your Ideas in any way; and (iii) we have no obligation to pay or reimburse you for your Ideas or our use of your Ideas. You also acknowledge that (a) we may have already created, or be in the process of creating, content that may be substantially similar to your Ideas or work samples at the time you submit those ideas or samples to us, and (b) elements of your Ideas and work samples may not be subject to protection under copyright law.
PROHIBITED CONTENT
1. You agree not to post or submit to the Site any content or any other materials whatsoever that is or could appear to be:
  1. untrue, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive to another person's privacy or protected data, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
  2. infringing or alleged to be infringing upon a third party's rights, including any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other proprietary rights of any party, including, without limitation, any content that is the subject of any third party claim of infringement;
  3. of a type that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships, such as inside information and proprietary and confidential information;
  4. unsolicited, undisclosed or unauthorized advertising;
  5. software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  6. data or information obtained through access that was not authorized by the owner of the data or information, or with respect to which such posting would constitute unauthorized use; or
  7. in violation of any applicable local, state, national or international law, regulation, or statute (including export laws).
PROHIBITED CONDUCT; LIQUIDATED DAMAGES
1. You agree not to do, or attempt to do, any of the following, subject to applicable law:
  1. access or use the Site in any way that violates or is not in full compliance with any applicable local, state, national or international law, regulation, or statute (including export laws), contracts, intellectual property rights or constitutes the commission of a tort, or for any purpose that is harmful or unintended (by us), or other than in full compliance with these Terms;
  2. alter information on or obtained from the Site;
  3. tamper with postings, registration information, profiles, submissions or User Generated Content of other users;
  4. use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access the Site or extract data or gather or use information, such as email addresses, available from the Site or transmit any unsolicited advertising, "junk mail," "spam," or "chain letters";
  5. frame any part of the Site, or link to the Site, or otherwise make it look like you have a relationship to us or that we have endorsed you or your User Generated Content for any purpose except as expressly permitted in writing by eHow;
  6. impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
  7. reverse engineer any aspect of the Site or do anything that might discover source code, bypass or circumvent measures employed to prevent or limit access to any area, content or code of the Site (except as otherwise expressly permitted by law);
  8. send to or otherwise impact us or the Site (or anything or anyone else) with harmful, illegal, deceptive or disruptive code such as a virus, "spyware," "adware" or other code that could adversely impact the Site or any recipient; or
  9. take any action which might impose a significant burden (as determined by us) on the Site's infrastructure or computer systems, or otherwise interfere with the ordinary operation of the Site.
2. If you send unsolicited commercial email or advertising, bulk email, spam, or chain letters (collectively, "unsolicited email or other communication") through the site, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to us, but that the amount of the harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you will pay Gordian $40 for each such unsolicited email or other communication.
MONITORING OF USER GENERATED CONTENT
1. Although we strive to maintain high standards for this Site, we are under no obligation to regularly monitor the accuracy or reliability of User Generated Content appearing on the Site. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right to modify or remove any User Generated Content at any time. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or User Generated Content expressed or made available by third parties, including other users, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of Gordian. Gordian neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice, information, or statement made on this Site by anyone other than authorized Gordian employees acting in their official capacities.
PROTECTION OF SITE CONTENT
1. Our Site is protected by intellectual property laws and you agree to respect them. Gordian grants you a limited, revocable, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive license, under the rights Gordian has in the content on the Site, to privately display and perform the Site on your computer for your own personal, noncommercial purposes. Gordian reserves all other rights in the content on the Site, on its own behalf and the behalf of its licensors (including contributors), and Gordian does not, directly or by implication, by estoppel or otherwise, grant any other rights or licenses to you under these Terms. Except as expressly stated in this paragraph, you may not reproduce, distribute, modify, publicly perform or display, or prepare derivative works of any content on the Site without prior written consent from Gordian or the third-party owner of the rights in that User Generated Content (if any).
TERMINATION OR CANCELLATION
1. You agree that we may, at any time and at our sole discretion, with or without cause or any notice to you, terminate these Terms, your access to the Site, and/or your Account, or suspend or block your access to the Site. If applicable law requires us to provide notice of termination or cancellation, we may give prior or subsequent notice by posting it on the Site or by sending a communication to any address (email or otherwise) that we have for you in our records. You will still be liable for any breaches of these Terms and/or obligations incurred before the Terms end. If you use the Site after termination of these Terms, that use will constitute your agreement to the Terms then posted on the Site.
2. If your Account or access to the Site is terminated for any or no reason, you may no longer have access to the User Generated Content you posted on the Site. In such event, Gordian may continue to exploit electronic or printed materials it has created, or developed specific plans to create, that contain such User Generated Content.
3. The provisions entitled "Posting User Generated Content on the Site; Representations and Warranties," "Ownership of Rights for User Generated Content; License Rights," "Prohibited Conduct; Liquidated Damages," "Termination or Cancellation," "Indemnification," "Disclaimer of Warranties," "Exclusion of Damages; Limitation of Liability," "Copyright Infringement," "Additional Terms," the Notices regarding the availability of filtering software, 'No Harvesting or Dictionary Attacks Allowed', trademarks, and copyright ownership, and the Privacy Policy will survive termination of these Terms.
DEALINGS WITH MERCHANTS; LINKS
1. The Site contains advertisements, offers, or other links to other websites and resources of third parties that we do not control. That information, as well as advertisements, may or may not be or remain wholly accurate. You acknowledge and agree that Gordian is not responsible or liable for (i) the availability or accuracy of such sites or resources; or (ii) the content, advertising, or products or services on or available from such sites or resources. The inclusion of any link on the Site does not imply that we endorse the linked site. You use the links at your own risk. Gordian’s Privacy Policy is applicable only when you are on our Site. Once you choose to link to another website, you should read and understand that website's privacy statement before disclosing any personal information.
2. Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, third party merchants or advertisers that are found on or through the Site or which provide links on the Site, including, for example, "click to purchase" and other similar programs, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such merchant or advertiser. You waive any claim against Gordian and agree to hold Gordian harmless from any loss or damage of any kind incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such merchants or advertisers on the Site.
INDEMNIFICATION
1. As a condition of your access to and use of the Site, you agree to hold Gordian, and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, attorneys, and suppliers, and each of their respective successors and assigns, harmless from, and indemnify them for, all damages, costs, expenses and other liabilities, including but not limited to attorneys' fees and expenses, relating to any claim arising out of or related to: (i) your access to and use of the Site and the content therein; (ii) your violation of these Terms (including terms incorporated into them, e.g., the Privacy Policy), and any applicable law or the rights of another person or party; (iii) any dispute you have or claim to have with one or more users of the Site; (iv) Gordian’s resolution (if any) of any dispute you have or claim to have with one or more users of the Site; (v) your improper authorization for Gordian to collect, use or disclose any data or User Generated Content provided by you; and (vi) any disclosures made with your permission (including, without limitation, your consent that Gordian disclose your personal information and other information collected as set forth in our Privacy Policy). Furthermore, you fully understand and agree that: (a) Gordian will have the right but not the obligation to resolve disputes between users relating to the Site and Gordian’s resolution of a particular dispute does not a create an obligation to resolve any other dispute; and (b) Gordian’s resolution of a dispute will be final with respect to the Site.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
1. Since operation and functionality of the site depend on factors such as the type of hardware, software, or network you are using, there is a possibility that the site may not work on your computer, be interrupted or have errors in its operation, or may interfere or even harm the operation of your computer; Gordian does not warrant the successful operation of the site on your computer, and we are not liable for any such problems that result from your use of the site.
2. Moreover, the site may contain advice, opinions, instructions and statements from Gordian, its users and other content and information providers. This content is intended to be used for informational and entertainment purposes only. You use the site and content at your own risk. We strongly urge you to consult a professional or some other authority in the appropriate field before using any of the content. The site is provided by Gordian on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Gordian makes no representations, warranties or conditions of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation of the site or the information or content included on the site. Gordian makes no representations or warranties that the site will be uninterrupted, error-free, virus-free, secure, or timely. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Gordian expressly disclaims all representations, warranties or conditions of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied representations, warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement and those arising from a course of dealing, trade, usage or performance. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, and therefore some of the above limitations may not apply to you. We urge you to keep backup copies of content and other material, if any, that you maintain on or use with the site. If your use of the site results in the need for servicing or replacing property, material, equipment or data, we are not responsible for any resulting costs or damages.
EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
1. To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree that Gordian, nor their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, attorneys and suppliers, nor each of their respective successors and assigns, will be liable to you and/or any other person for direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, exemplary, special or consequential damages, lost profits, lost revenue, loss of data, loss of privacy, loss of goodwill or any other losses, even if advised of the possibility of such damages and even in the event of fault, tort (including negligence) or strict or product liability. Without limiting the foregoing, in no event will the aggregate liability to you of Gordian, and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, attorneys, and suppliers and each of their respective successors and assigns exceed, in total, the amounts paid by you to us.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
1. Gordian respects the intellectual property rights of others and requests that the people who use the Site do the same. If you believe that your work has been reproduced and is accessible on the Site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our copyright agent with the following information in writing:
  1. the electronic or physical signature of the owner of the copyright or the person authorized to act on the owner's behalf;
  2. identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
  3. identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to permit Gordian to locate the material (for example, by providing a URL to the material);
  4. your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
  5. a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
  6. a statement that the information in your notification is accurate and a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
2. Notification of claimed infringement can be sent to Gordian at:
  
  The Gordian Group, Inc.
  140 Bridges Rd., STE E
  Mauldin, SC 29662
  (864) 233-9100 (fax)
  info@gordian-group.com
3. It is our policy to terminate in appropriate circumstances any Account for repeated infringement of intellectual property rights, including copyrights, and we also reserve the right to terminate an Account for even one instance of infringement.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
1. You acknowledge that we have no obligation to provide you with customer support of any kind. However, we may provide you with customer support from time to time, at our sole discretion, provided that you have created an Account and that you submit your customer support inquiries using such Account.
MISCELLANEOUS TERMS
1. Compliance with Laws. You are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws, keeping in mind that access to the Site by certain persons or in certain countries may not be legal.
2. No Agency; No Third Party Beneficiary. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchisor-franchisee relationship is intended or created by these Terms. Neither of us intends that any third party will be a beneficiary of or entitled to rely on any part of these Terms.
3. Severance. If any part of the Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, the invalid or unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible and the remainder will remain in full force and effect, provided that the allocation of risks described herein is given effect to the fullest extent possible.
4. No Assignment. These Terms (including terms incorporated into them, e.g., the Privacy Policy) are personal to you and you may not transfer, assign or delegate them to anyone without the express written permission of Gordian. Any attempt by you to assign, transfer or delegate these Terms without the express written permission of Gordian will be null and void. Gordian shall have the right to transfer, assign and/or delegate these Terms to one or more third parties without your permission.
5. Jurisdiction; Choice of Law; Export Limitations. This Site is controlled by us from our offices within the United States of America and is directed to U.S. users. If you choose to access this Site from locations outside the U.S., you do so at your own risk and you are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. You may not use or export anything from the Site in violation of U.S. export laws and regulations or the Terms. These Terms and all performances and claims of every nature (including without limitation, contract, tort and strict liability) relating in any way to any aspect of the Site will be governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, U.S.A., without regard to any conflicts of laws principles that would result in the application of the law of a different jurisdiction. You and Gordian agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Greenville County, South Carolina. Any disputes regarding such claims or arising under or related in any way to these Terms or the Site shall be heard exclusively in the appropriate forum in South Carolina. You hereby consent to jurisdiction in a state or federal court sitting in Columbia, South Carolina and waive any claim or defense that such forum is not convenient or proper, and consent to service of process by any means authorized by South Carolina or federal law.
6. Limitations on Actions. Any action concerning any dispute you may have with respect to this Site must be commenced within one year after the cause of the dispute arises, or the cause of action is barred.
7. Paragraph Headings. The paragraph headings in these Terms are included to help make these Terms easier to read and have no binding effect.
8. Entire Agreement. These Terms (including terms incorporated into them, e.g., the Privacy Policy) comprise the entire agreement (the "Entire Agreement") between you and Gordian with respect to the use of the Site and supersedes all contemporaneous and prior agreements between the parties regarding the subject matter contained herein, and neither party has relied on any representations made by the other that are not expressly set forth in the Entire Agreement.
9. No Waiver. The failure of Gordian to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms, including any failure to act with respect to a breach, will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision or Gordian’s right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. We suggest that you print out a copy of these Terms for your records.
LEGAL NOTICES.
1. Various laws require or allow us to give users of this Site certain notices and each of them is incorporated into these Terms.
2. Further Information: If you have a complaint, you may contact us at The Gordian Group, Inc., 140 Bridges Rd., STE E, Mauldin, SC 29662, U.S.A.
3. Notice of availability of filtering software: All users are hereby informed by the provider of this interactive computer service that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. A report detailing some of those protections can be found at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/ntiageneral/cipa2003/index.html (Children's Internet Protection Act: Report on the Effectiveness of Internet Protection Measures and Safety Policies).
4. Notice regarding trademarks: The trademarks The Gordian Group, eGordian, PROGEN, Construction Task Catalog, Construction Estimating Catalog, Catalog of Construction Tasks, and all other trademarks listed below or used in the Site are owned or used under license by Gordian and its affiliated organizations. The names of third parties and their products mentioned may be their trademarks. You may not use any of the above or other trademarks displayed on this Site or in any Site content. All rights are reserved.
5. Notice regarding copyright ownership: © 2011 The Gordian Group, Inc. U.S.A. All rights reserved. All content on the Site is subject to intellectual property rights, contractual or other protection. The intellectual property rights are owned by us or our licensors. No content may be copied, distributed, republished, uploaded, posted or transmitted in any way except as provided expressly in the Terms or with our prior express written consent. Modification or use of the materials for any other purpose may violate intellectual property rights.