Tree-Ring Services: Terms and Conditions
(Version: 24th August 2017)
- Introduction: These terms and conditions apply to all commissions and supersede all others. Receipt of a call-out fee from you constitutes your acceptance that our conditions are the only conditions that apply to the contract, notwithstanding any purported terms put forward by you. Examples of Tree-Ring Services' written reports are freely available from our website and contain details on the standard methods that Tree-Ring Services employ in dating timber-framed buildings. In the dating of buildings, Tree-Ring Services generally follows Historic England guidelines on dendrochronology (tree-ring dating). The Historic England guidelines on dendrochronology are also freely available online.
- Call-out fee: The call-out fee, which is payable in advance, covers travel and the initial assessment of timbers. If from the initial assessment it is thought unlikely that dendrochronology is possible this will be verbally communicated and no other report will be provided. Where an initial assessment identifies a reasonable potential for dating timbers, this will be verbally communicated along with the associated costs involved. Should these costs then be verbally accepted, it is usual to proceed immediately with sampling.
- Sampling: In line with English Heritage guidelines on dendrochronology, the aim, where possible, is to sample at least eight to ten timbers per building or, for more complex buildings, per phase. Sampling includes the specialist drilling of small (12mm) cores from the timbers, or sometimes, where circumstances permit, the sawing of thin sections from the ends of timbers. The removal of cores does not affect the structural integrity of timbers, but if, for cosmetic reasons, plugging and restoration of a core holes is requested at the time of sampling, this is charged at an additional cost of £5.00 per core hole. No methods of sapwood stabilisation are employed. Once the samples have been taken, they become the property of Tree-Ring Services.
- Reporting: The process of analysing and reporting the results normally takes 6-8 weeks, but this timescale is not guaranteed. Successful dating may be in the form of either a narrow range of years or a single year. The results are produced either as PDF files and/or as printed full-colour written reports, and generally include a floor plan and photographic record of sample locations. The dating results and summaries of all buildings dated are published on the Building Archaeology Research Database (located at www.buildingarchaeology.com) and also published annually in a scientific journal called Vernacular Architecture. Reports are also made available for purchase from our web-site.
- Prices: The prices quoted on our website are not subject to VAT.
- Payment: It is not always possible to tree-ring date samples, so, with the exception of the assessment/call-out fee (which is payable in advance), in the unfortunate event that samples cannot be dated, Tree-Ring Services will inform you of this and make no further charge. Where at least one sample is dated from a building/phase, payment is required. An invoice for the balance of payment will be issued with the final report. Our terms are strictly 30 days and we reserve the right to charge interest on overdue accounts at 1.5% per month under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
