Terms of Service

1. The service

PVDCal is web software for the design, simulation and back-analysis of ground improved with prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs). It is available only by paid subscription, after a free trial.

2. Your account

• You must be at least 18 years old and give accurate details.
• An account is for one person. Do not share your sign-in with anyone else. PVDCal works on one device at a time: signing in on a new device signs you out of the previous one.
• Keep your password secure and tell us straight away through the contact form if you think someone else has used your account. We recommend turning on two-factor authentication.
• You are responsible for what happens under your account.

3. Subscriptions, trials and payment

• Our order process is conducted by our online reseller Paddle.com. Paddle is the Merchant of Record for all our orders: it takes your payment, charges any applicable tax, issues your receipts and handles billing enquiries. Paddle's buyer terms also apply to your purchase.
• Prices are shown in US dollars on our pricing page. Any applicable tax is calculated at checkout.
• New subscriptions start with a 7-day free trial. A payment card is needed to start it. If you do not cancel before the trial ends, your first payment is taken when it ends.
• Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each monthly or yearly period until you cancel. You can cancel at any time from Account → Manage billing. Cancelling stops the next renewal, and you keep access until the end of the period you have paid for.
• If we change a price, we will tell you at least 30 days before it applies. A new price takes effect from your next renewal, so you can cancel before then.
• If a renewal payment fails, access pauses until the payment details are updated.

4. Refunds

Our Refund Policy, including the 30-day money-back guarantee, forms part of these terms.

5. Engineering results and your professional responsibility

PVDCal is a calculation aid for qualified geotechnical engineers. It does not replace professional judgement, site investigation or independent checking.

• Results depend on the methods, assumptions and input values used. They can be wrong if the inputs are wrong or if the ground does not behave as the chosen model assumes.
• You are responsible for choosing appropriate inputs, checking results, and deciding whether and how to use them in any design, report, specification or construction decision, including compliance with applicable standards and regulations.
• PVDCal is not certified or approved by any authority for any particular project or jurisdiction.

6. Acceptable use

You must not:

• share, sell, rent or sub-license access to your account or to PVDCal;
• copy, decompile or reverse-engineer the software or its calculation methods, or try to extract them by systematic automated use;
• get around sign-in, subscription, device or usage limits, or overload the service;
• test the security of the service without our written permission; or
• use PVDCal unlawfully or to harm anyone.

7. Your content

You keep ownership of the inputs, projects and results you create in PVDCal. You allow us to store and process them only to provide, secure and support the service. How we handle personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy.

8. Our intellectual property

PVDCal, including its software, calculation methods, design and content, belongs to GeotechLogic or its licensors. While your subscription is active, we give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use PVDCal under these terms. No other rights are granted.

9. Availability and changes

We work to keep PVDCal available and correct, but it may sometimes be unavailable, for example during maintenance. We may improve or change features. If a change significantly reduces what you pay for, you may cancel and ask for a refund of any unused prepaid period.

10. Consumer law and liability

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or other laws that cannot be excluded. Where those laws allow our liability to be limited, our liability for a failure to comply with a consumer guarantee is limited to supplying the services again or paying the cost of having them supplied again.

To the extent permitted by law, and apart from those guarantees:

• we are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, data or opportunity;
• we are not liable for loss arising from design, construction or other decisions made using results from PVDCal; and
• our total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid for PVDCal in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

11. Suspension and ending the agreement

• You can stop using PVDCal at any time. To close your account and have its data deleted, send a request through the contact form.
• We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, puts the service or other users at risk, or has not paid. Where reasonable, we will warn you first.
• Sections 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12 continue to apply after the agreement ends.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. You and we submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. For a material change, we will tell you by email or in PVDCal at least 30 days before it applies. Continuing to use PVDCal after that means you accept the updated terms.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms: use our contact form.