Terms & Conditions

Contour ("Contour", "we", "us") operates an online marketplace connecting clients who need remote landscape design work with freelance designers and studios. We operate in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. All amounts are in Australian dollars (AUD) and include GST where applicable. You can reach us at support@contour-au.com.

Contour is a venue and payment facilitator. We are not a party to the contract for design services between a client and a designer, we are not the employer of any designer, and we do not supply landscape design services ourselves. Designers are independent contractors who control how, when and where they perform their work.

We do not warrant the accuracy, buildability, code-compliance or fitness for purpose of any plan, drawing, model or render produced through the platform. Design documentation may require certification by a suitably qualified or registered practitioner before it is used for construction or lodged with an authority.

You must be at least 18 and legally able to work in or contract within Australia. You must give accurate information, keep your credentials secure, and you are responsible for activity under your account. You may sign in with an email and password or with Google. We may suspend or close accounts that breach these terms, misuse escrow, or attempt to move a transaction off the platform to avoid fees.

A client posts a brief with a budget. Designers submit a quote and a cover note. A binding engagement is formed between client and designer when the client hires a specific designer through the platform, on the scope, price and deliverables shown at that time. Changes to scope should be agreed in the project thread.

After hiring, the client funds the full project amount into escrow through our payment processor, Stripe. Funds are held and are not available to the designer while work is in progress. The designer submits the completed work for approval. The client then either approves and releases payment, or requests changes.

Release is final. Once released, funds are transferred toward the designer and cannot be recalled through the platform. If a client does not act on a submission, we may contact both parties to resolve it. We do not release escrow to a designer without the client's approval, and we do not refund a client after release except where the law requires it.

Contour charges the designer a commission deducted from the project amount at release. The rate depends on the designer's tier, which is earned from completed, escrow-released jobs:

• Bronze — 20% commission, from 0 completed jobs (designer keeps 80%).
• Silver — 15% commission, from 5 completed jobs (designer keeps 85%).
• Gold — 10% commission, from 15 completed jobs (designer keeps 90%).
• Diamond — 5% commission, from 30 completed jobs (designer keeps 95%).

Clients pay no commission. Posting a project and quoting are free. Payment processing fees charged by Stripe are borne by Contour out of its commission. We will give notice before changing commission rates, and changes do not apply to work already in escrow.

Contour never charges a designer a fee to register, to be referred to work, to view projects, or as a condition of obtaining work. See our Work Seeker Rights page. Commission is only ever deducted from money actually earned on a completed job.

To receive payment a designer must complete payout onboarding with Stripe, including any identity and bank verification Stripe requires. Payout timing is determined by Stripe and the designer's bank. If a designer has not completed onboarding, released funds are held by Contour until they do.

Unless the client and designer agree otherwise in writing, the designer retains ownership of their work until escrow is released, at which point ownership of the delivered drawings, models and files passes to the client. The designer may display the work in their Contour portfolio unless the client asks them not to. Each party keeps ownership of the material they brought to the project.

Communication about a live project must stay in the project thread, and contact details are deliberately not shared. This protects escrow, keeps a record for disputes, and is how we keep both sides accountable.

You must not post unlawful, misleading or infringing content; misrepresent your identity, qualifications or registration; submit work you do not have the right to supply; use the platform to harass anyone; scrape or attack the service; or use it to arrange work that is not remote landscape design.

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where we are permitted to limit liability, our liability to you for any claim connected with the platform is limited to the greater of the commission we received on the relevant project or AUD $100. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including loss of profit or loss of opportunity.

Raise a dispute with us at support@contour-au.com while funds are still held in escrow. We will review the brief, the project thread and the delivered files, and may release, partially release or refund. We act as a facilitator, not a court, and either party may still pursue rights through the relevant Australian tribunal or court. These terms are governed by the law of Queensland.

We may update these terms and will post the revised version here with a new date; continued use means you accept the update. You may stop using Contour at any time, but obligations attached to escrow already funded continue until that project is resolved.