Hire Terms and Conditions
These Hire Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern the hire of equipment from Plant Ecology Beyond Land (PEBL) CIC ("PEBL", "we", "us"). They apply to every hire unless we agree otherwise in writing.
Effective date: 22 June 2026
The specific equipment, hire period and charges for your hire are set out in a Hire Confirmation that we issue to you. The Hire Confirmation and these Terms together form the agreement between us. Placing a hire order, or signing the Hire Confirmation, means you accept these Terms.
1. Definitions
- Equipment: the PEBL kit listed on your Hire Confirmation, including any accessories, cables and cases supplied with it.
- Hire Period: the period stated on your Hire Confirmation, including any agreed extension.
- Hire Fee: the charges for the hire stated on your Hire Confirmation.
- Hirer ("you", "your"): the person or organisation named as hirer on the Hire Confirmation.
2. The Equipment
2.1 We agree to hire the Equipment to you for the Hire Period.
2.2 Unless your Hire Confirmation says otherwise, hire does not include mooring or deployment hardware. We can supply mooring separately by written agreement, which may carry additional charges.
2.3 We will supply the Equipment in working order and with the instructions needed to operate it. We may provide instructions in writing, by video call, or both.
3. Hire Period and extensions
3.1 The Hire Period begins and ends on the dates stated on your Hire Confirmation.
3.2 You may extend the Hire Period only by written agreement with us. Email is acceptable. Extensions may carry additional charges.
4. Charges, VAT and payment
4.1 The Hire Fee, any VAT, and any shipping charges are stated on your Hire Confirmation.
4.2 Unless we agree otherwise in writing, the Hire Fee is payable within 30 days of the invoice date.
4.3 We may charge interest on late payment at the statutory rate for business debts.
5. Delivery, title and return
5.1 We will arrange delivery to the address on your Hire Confirmation.
5.2 Title to the Equipment stays with PEBL at all times. You do not own the Equipment and must not sell, pledge, sub-hire or part with possession of it.
5.3 You must return the Equipment by the return date on your Hire Confirmation, using a tracked and insured service. Please contact us for the return address before you ship.
5.4 Unless we agree otherwise, you are responsible for return packaging and carriage costs, and must package the Equipment securely to prevent damage in transit.
6. Risk and insurance
6.1 Risk in the Equipment passes to you on delivery and stays with you until we confirm safe receipt of the returned Equipment.
6.2 While risk is with you, you should insure the Equipment for its full replacement value. If you choose not to insure it, you remain responsible for it under clause 10. We may ask for evidence of insurance.
7. Use, deployment and care
7.1 You will use the Equipment only for lawful marine and environmental monitoring, and in line with the instructions we provide.
7.2 You are responsible for your own deployment and recovery of the Equipment, and for making sure suitably competent people carry this out.
7.3 You must take all reasonable care of the Equipment. This includes keeping it clean and secure, preventing unauthorised access, and operating it within any stated environmental or usage limits (for example the depth rating in the specification).
8. Tamper seals and no disassembly
8.1 You must not (and must not let anyone else) open, modify, repair, disassemble, reverse-engineer or tamper with the Equipment without our prior written consent.
The Equipment is supplied with tamper-evident seals (amalgamating tape) on its external fasteners. These seals must not be removed, broken or interfered with.
If a seal is broken or degraded through normal wear during deployment, you must tell us in writing within 48 hours of finding it, with photos of the affected seal and a description of what happened.
8.2 If a seal is found broken, damaged or missing when the Equipment is returned, and you have not reported it under clause 8.1, we will treat this as evidence of unauthorised tampering or disassembly.
8.3 In that event we may: (a) charge the full replacement cost of the Equipment; (b) end the hire immediately; and (c) pursue any other legal remedy available to us, including in relation to our designs and intellectual property.
9. Intellectual property
9.1 All intellectual property rights in the Equipment, including its design, hardware, firmware, software and documentation, remain our exclusive property.
9.2 You must not reverse-engineer, disassemble, decompile, copy, photograph the internal components of, or try to derive the design or manufacturing process of any part of the Equipment.
9.3 You must not use anything learned from the Equipment to develop, manufacture, or help develop or manufacture, any competing or similar product.
10. Loss and damage
10.1 You are responsible for any loss, theft, destruction or damage to the Equipment while risk is with you, however caused, except to the extent caused by our negligence in preparing or packaging it before delivery.
10.2 If any Equipment is lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged beyond reasonable repair, you will reimburse us for its full replacement cost, including shipping, any taxes or duties, and reasonable administrative costs.
10.3 If the Equipment is damaged but repairable, you will reimburse us for the full cost of repair, including parts, labour, calibration or testing, and shipping.
10.4 We will tell you about any loss or damage we identify and give you reasonable evidence of the repair or replacement cost, such as a supplier quote or invoice.
As a guide, the SubCam 3 has a current published replacement price of £1,499 plus VAT. The replacement value for your Equipment is confirmed on your Hire Confirmation or at the time of any claim.
11. Condition reporting
11.1 We may record the condition of the Equipment with photographs before we ship it.
11.2 We encourage you to photograph the Equipment on arrival and again before you return it. This helps both of us tell pre-existing wear apart from any damage during the Hire Period.
12. Late return and non-return
12.1 If you return the Equipment late without an agreed extension, we may charge an additional hire fee for each day (or part day) until we receive it, at the daily rate implied by your Hire Fee.
12.2 If the Equipment is not returned within 14 days of the return date and you have not contacted us, we may treat it as a total loss and charge the full replacement cost under clause 10.
13. Support
13.1 We are happy to provide additional support with deployment by email, phone or video call, in kind (at no extra charge), subject to reasonable availability.
13.2 This support does not transfer deployment responsibility to us, and does not mean we supervise the deployment or accept its risk.
14. Data and outputs
14.1 Unless we agree otherwise in writing, all data you collect using the Equipment is yours.
14.2 You may acknowledge PEBL in public communications and on social media about your use of the Equipment, where appropriate (for example "Equipment supplied by PEBL"), subject to your own policies.
15. Our warranty and liability
15.1 We warrant that, at the time we dispatch it, the Equipment will be in working order (subject to reasonable wear and tear) and consistent with the instructions we supply.
15.2 Other than as set out in these Terms, the Equipment is hired "as is", and we do not guarantee that it is fit for any particular purpose of yours.
15.3 Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited or excluded by law.
15.4 Subject to clause 15.3, we are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of data, or loss of profit arising from the hire or use of the Equipment.
15.5 Subject to clause 15.3, our total liability under the agreement will not exceed the Hire Fee you have paid.
16. Termination
16.1 Either of us may end the agreement immediately by written notice if the other commits a material breach that is not put right within 14 days of a written request to do so.
16.2 We may end the agreement immediately by written notice if you breach clause 7 (Use, deployment and care), clause 8 (Tamper seals) or clause 9 (Intellectual property).
16.3 When the agreement ends, you must stop using the Equipment and return it under clause 5. Clauses 6 to 10 continue to apply until we confirm safe receipt.
17. Force majeure
Neither of us is liable for delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond reasonable control, including severe weather, transport disruption or acts of government, provided we tell the other as soon as we reasonably can.
18. Governing law
The agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
19. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. The version that applies to your hire is the one in force on the date of your Hire Confirmation.
Questions?
Get in touch at hello@pebl-cic.co.uk.