PlanPulse Terms of Service

1.1These terms of service (the Terms) govern access to and use of PlanPulse, an online service for searching and tracking planning applications, provided through planpulse.org and its associated subdomains, the PlanPulse API, and related email and push notifications (together, the Service).

1.2The Service is provided by Biran Ltd, trading as PlanPulse, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 15778293, whose registered office is at 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmunds, England, IP28 7DE (we, us and our).

1.3In these Terms, you and your mean the business or organisation that registers for, subscribes to or otherwise uses the Service.

1.4The agreement between you and us (the Agreement) comprises these Terms, any Order Form, and any Service-Specific Terms that apply to the product you use. Our Privacy Policy explains how we process personal data about you and your Authorised Users.

1.5Where there is a conflict between the documents forming the Agreement, the following order of precedence applies: first any Order Form, then any Service-Specific Terms, then these Terms.

2.1In these Terms the following definitions apply.

1. (a)API means the application programming interface we make available on certain Subscription plans, together with its documentation.
2. (b)Authorised User means an individual employee, contractor or agent of yours whom you permit to access the Service under your account.
3. (c)Fees means the fees payable for a Subscription, as shown on our pricing page or in an Order Form at the time of purchase.
4. (d)Group Company means, in relation to a company, any subsidiary or holding company of that company and any subsidiary of such a holding company, as those terms are defined in section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006.
5. (e)Order Form means any order form, proposal or quotation for a Custom plan or other bespoke arrangement that we have agreed with you in writing.
6. (f)Planning Data means planning application records, statuses, decisions, documents and related information obtained from council planning portals and other third-party sources, in the form in which we make them available through the Service.
7. (g)Service-Specific Terms means any additional terms we publish for a particular PlanPulse product, including PlanPulse Trades and PlanPulse Fleets.
8. (h)Subscription means a paid plan giving you access to the Service, and Subscription Period means each monthly or annual billing period of a Subscription.

3.1The Service is provided solely to businesses and to individuals acting for purposes relating to their trade, business, craft or profession. It is not offered to consumers.

3.2By registering, you confirm that you are acting for business purposes and that every individual who registers or accesses the Service on your behalf is at least 18 years old.

3.3If you register on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organisation to the Agreement.

3.4We may ask for reasonable information to confirm that you are using the Service for business purposes, and may decline or close any account that we reasonably believe is held by a consumer.

4.1You accept these Terms by confirming your acceptance when you register for an account or purchase a Subscription, or by following a link in an email from us that states that following it accepts these Terms. We keep a record of the version of the Terms you accepted.

4.2We may amend these Terms from time to time. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice by email of any change that materially affects your rights or obligations. If you do not agree to the change, you may cancel your Subscription before the change takes effect, and we will refund any Fees you have paid in advance for the period after the change takes effect.

4.3Where a change is required by law, by a regulator or to address a security risk, it may take effect with shorter notice, or immediately where necessary.

4.4If you continue to use the Service after a change takes effect, the amended Terms will apply to you.

5.1The Service collects, normalises and presents Planning Data from publicly accessible council planning portals and other sources, and notifies you of changes to planning applications you choose to track. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of any council, local planning authority or portal supplier.

5.2The list of councils published on our website indicates current coverage only. Coverage may change over time. We may add, suspend or remove any source, including where a portal changes its format, becomes unavailable, restricts access, or where its operator or any rights holder objects to our use of it.

5.3We check sources periodically rather than continuously. The time at which a change appears in the Service or triggers a notification depends on when the source publishes it and on our collection schedule. Notifications are not provided in real time, and we do not guarantee that a notification will be delivered by any particular time, or at all, including where delivery is prevented by email filtering or by third-party services outside our control.

5.4We may develop, modify or withdraw features of the Service at any time. If a change materially reduces the core functionality of your Subscription during a Subscription Period for which you have paid in advance, we will notify you and you may cancel and receive a refund of the Fees paid for the unused part of that period.

5.5We will use reasonable endeavours to make the Service available, but access may be interrupted for maintenance, updates or reasons beyond our reasonable control. No service level applies unless one is set out in an Order Form.

6.1Planning Data originates from councils and other third parties. We do not create, verify or control it, and it may contain delays, errors or omissions.

6.2Planning Data and all other content of the Service are provided for general information only. They do not constitute planning, legal or other professional advice.

6.3You must verify Planning Data directly with the relevant local planning authority before relying on it for any decision, submission, objection, representation, deadline or commercial commitment. Statutory and consultation deadlines must be taken from the official record and not from the Service.

6.4Planning Data and documents made available through the Service may be subject to copyright, database rights or other rights of councils and other third parties, and may contain personal data. Nothing in the Agreement grants you any right in Planning Data beyond the rights those third parties permit and the licence in clause 7.1.

7.1Subject to your compliance with the Agreement and payment of the Fees, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence during your Subscription for your Authorised Users to access and use the Service and Planning Data for your own internal business purposes.

7.2You must not sell, resell, sublicense, publish, redistribute or otherwise make Planning Data available to any third party in bulk or systematic form, or use it to create or supply a product or service that competes with the Service.

7.3Planning Data may include personal data, such as the names and addresses of applicants, agents and other individuals. Where you extract, retain or use any such personal data, you do so as an independent controller. You are solely responsible for complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 in respect of that use, including establishing a lawful basis, providing any required transparency information and complying with the rules on direct marketing.

7.4We process personal data relating to you and your Authorised Users in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

8.1You must provide accurate registration information and keep it up to date.

8.2Access is limited to the number of Authorised Users permitted by your Subscription plan. Login credentials are personal to each Authorised User and must not be shared.

8.3You are responsible for keeping login credentials and API keys secure, for all activity that takes place under your account, and for the acts and omissions of your Authorised Users as if they were your own. You must notify us promptly at hello@planpulse.org if you become aware of any unauthorised access to your account.

9.1You must not, and must ensure that your Authorised Users do not:

1. (a)use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in breach of the Agreement,
2. (b)access or extract data from the Service by scraping, crawling or any other automated means, other than through the API within the limits we set,
3. (c)circumvent or attempt to circumvent any usage limit, access control or security measure,
4. (d)copy, modify, decompile, reverse engineer or create derivative works of the Service, except to the extent that such restrictions are not permitted by law,
5. (e)use the Service to build, train or improve a competing product or dataset,
6. (f)interfere with or place an unreasonable load on the Service or our infrastructure,
7. (g)transmit viruses, malware or other harmful code,
8. (h)impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation with any person, or
9. (i)use Planning Data to harass any individual or to send unsolicited communications in breach of applicable law.

10.1Where your Subscription includes API access, the API provides access to the planning applications tracked in your account and their current status, as described in the API documentation. It does not provide access to the wider dataset underlying the Service.

10.2API keys are confidential and must be used only by you. You must comply with the rate limits and other usage limits stated in the API documentation or notified to you.

10.3We may change or deprecate any part of the API on at least 30 days’ notice, or on shorter notice where required for security or legal reasons. We may suspend or revoke an API key where we reasonably believe it is being misused or has been compromised.

11.1New accounts may be offered a free trial of 30 days, or such other period as we specify. No payment details are required to start a trial. Some features may be limited during the trial.

11.2When the trial ends, access to the Service will cease unless you purchase a Subscription.

11.3The Service is provided free of charge during a trial. Subject to clause 16.1, we have no liability to you in connection with your use of the Service during a free trial.

11.4During a trial, we may identify other planning applications in the Planning Data that appear to name you or your business as agent, and add them to your account so that you can track them. You may remove any of these applications from your account at any time.

12.1The Fees for each Subscription plan are those shown on our pricing page or in an Order Form at the time of purchase. All Fees are exclusive of VAT, which is payable in addition at the prevailing rate.

12.2Fees are payable in advance for each Subscription Period through our payment provider. By purchasing a Subscription, you authorise us and our payment provider to charge the payment method you provide for the Fees for each Subscription Period.

12.3Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each Subscription Period for a further period of the same length until cancelled in accordance with clause 13.1.

12.4If a payment fails, we may retry the charge. If payment remains outstanding seven days after we notify you, we may suspend your access to the Service until payment is received. If payment remains outstanding 30 days after we notify you, we may terminate the Agreement.

12.5Where Fees are invoiced under an Order Form, they are payable within 30 days of the invoice date unless the Order Form states otherwise. We may charge interest on overdue amounts in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

12.6We may change our Fees on at least 30 days’ notice. A change will take effect from the start of your next Subscription Period after the notice period ends. If you do not agree to the change, you may cancel your Subscription before it takes effect.

12.7Except as expressly stated in these Terms or required by law, Fees are non-refundable.

13.1You may cancel your Subscription at any time through your account settings or by emailing hello@planpulse.org. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current Subscription Period, and you will retain access until then.

13.2We may suspend your access to the Service, in whole or in part, with immediate effect where we reasonably believe that you have breached clause 7 or clause 9, where your use presents a security risk to the Service or to other users, where we are required to do so by law, or in accordance with clause 12.4.

13.3We may terminate the Agreement by notice to you:

1. (a)if you commit a material breach of the Agreement which is capable of remedy and you fail to remedy it within 14 days of our notice requiring you to do so,
2. (b)with immediate effect, if you commit a material breach which is not capable of remedy, or
3. (c)with immediate effect, if you become insolvent, enter into any arrangement with your creditors, have a receiver, administrator or liquidator appointed, or cease to carry on business.

13.4We may terminate the Agreement for any reason, or discontinue the Service or any PlanPulse product, on at least 30 days’ notice. In that case we will refund any Fees you have paid in advance for the period after termination takes effect.

13.5On termination or expiry, your right to access the Service ends. You may export any data you have entered into the Service, where the Service provides that facility, before termination takes effect. We will retain and delete account data in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

13.6Any provision of the Agreement which is intended to survive termination, including clauses 7.2, 7.3, 14, 16, 17, 20 and 22, will continue in force.

14.1We and our licensors own all intellectual property rights in the Service, including its software, design and presentation, and in the collection, compilation, normalisation and enrichment of Planning Data as presented through the Service. Nothing in the Agreement transfers any of those rights to you.

14.2The PlanPulse name and logo are our trade marks and may not be used without our prior written consent.

14.3If you provide suggestions or feedback about the Service, we may use them without restriction or obligation to you.

15.1We will provide the Service with reasonable care and skill.

15.2Except as expressly set out in the Agreement, all warranties, conditions and other terms implied by statute or common law are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

15.3Without limiting clause 15.1, we do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, that Planning Data will be accurate, complete or up to date, or that every change to a planning application will be detected or notified.

15.4You are responsible for determining whether the Service meets your requirements and for any decision you make or action you take using it.

16.1Nothing in the Agreement limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability which cannot be limited or excluded by law.

16.2Subject to clause 16.1, we shall not be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, for any of the following losses, in each case whether direct or indirect:

1. (a)loss of profits,
2. (b)loss of revenue, sales or business,
3. (c)loss of business opportunity, instructions or contracts,
4. (d)loss of anticipated savings,
5. (e)loss of goodwill or damage to reputation,
6. (f)loss or corruption of data, except to the extent of the cost of restoring it from our most recent backup, or
7. (g)any indirect or consequential loss.

16.3Subject to clauses 16.1 and 16.2, our total aggregate liability to you arising under or in connection with the Agreement, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, shall not exceed the greater of the total Fees paid by you in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim and £100.

16.4Subject to clause 16.1, you must notify us of any claim within 12 months of the date on which you became aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, of the facts giving rise to it. We shall have no liability for any claim not notified within that period.

16.5You acknowledge that the Fees reflect the allocation of risk set out in this clause 16, and that the Service is designed to supplement, not replace, verification against official records.

17.1You shall indemnify us against all losses, liabilities, costs (including reasonable legal fees) and expenses arising from any claim by a third party, including any individual, regulator, council or rights holder, to the extent that the claim arises from your breach of clause 7 or clause 9, or from your processing of personal data obtained through the Service.

17.2We will notify you promptly of any such claim, allow you reasonable conduct of its defence at your expense, and provide reasonable cooperation. We will not settle the claim without your consent, which you must not unreasonably withhold.

18.1We shall not be in breach of the Agreement or liable for any delay or failure to perform where it results from events beyond our reasonable control. Such events include the unavailability, failure, restriction or change of council planning portals or other data sources, failures of hosting, email, messaging or payment providers, internet or telecommunications failures, cyber attacks, and acts of government or regulators.

19.1Notices to us must be sent by email to hello@planpulse.org. Notices to you will be sent to the email address associated with your account, and you are responsible for keeping it up to date.

19.2A notice sent by email is deemed received at the time of transmission if sent during business hours on a working day in England, and otherwise at 9.00 am on the next working day.

20.1We may assign, transfer, novate or subcontract any or all of our rights and obligations under the Agreement to any Group Company, or to any person that acquires all or part of the business through which we provide the Service. We will notify you of any such transfer.

20.2You consent in advance to any novation under clause 20.1 and agree, on request, to sign any document reasonably required to give effect to it. The transfer will not reduce your rights under the Agreement.

20.3You may not assign, transfer or otherwise deal with any of your rights or obligations under the Agreement without our prior written consent.

21.1Where you use PlanPulse Trades, PlanPulse Fleets or any other PlanPulse product for which we publish Service-Specific Terms, those terms apply to that product in addition to these Terms.

21.2Custom plans are provided under an Order Form, which will set out the scope, Fees and any variations to these Terms that we have agreed with you.

22.1Entire agreement. The Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and us relating to its subject matter and supersedes all prior agreements, arrangements and understandings. You acknowledge that in entering into the Agreement you have not relied on any statement, representation or description of the Service, including any on our website or in marketing materials, that is not expressly set out in the Agreement. Nothing in this clause limits liability for fraud.

22.2Severance. If any provision of the Agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, or, if that is not possible, deleted. The remaining provisions shall not be affected.

22.3Waiver. A failure or delay in exercising any right or remedy does not waive that right or remedy.

22.4Relationship. Nothing in the Agreement creates a partnership, joint venture or agency between you and us.

22.5Third-party rights. A person who is not a party to the Agreement has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms.

22.6Governing law and jurisdiction. The Agreement and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it, including non-contractual disputes or claims, are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.

23.1For any questions about these Terms, please email hello@planpulse.org.