Australian Furniture Removers Association Contract For Removal And Storage 2023
This was prepared on 4 October 2023 (document: QF-ad-05 (b) V8)
1 Definitions
Terms & Conditions
In these conditions:
1.1 “We” means The Trustee for the Dace Trust – Kent Relocation Group Pty Ltd ACN 005 040 200 ABN 54 712 591 791, and “Us” and “Our” have corresponding meanings;
1.2 “You” means the party entering into the agreement for Services with Us, and includes the party to whom Our quotation is addressed and the party by whom the acceptance is signed, and “Your” has a corresponding meaning;
1.3 “Ancillary Services” means services which are ancillary to the Services, but which We do not offer or provide, including transportation by sea, rail or air, and transportation of vehicles, trailers, caravans, boats and animals;
1.4 “Goods” means all furniture and other effects which are to be the subject of the Services;
1.5 “Services” means the whole of the work to be undertaken by Us in connection with the Goods including removal and (if applicable) storage;
1.6 “Subcontractor” means any person other than one of Our employees who, under any agreement or arrangement with Us (whether directly or indirectly) performs or agrees to perform the whole or any part of the Services, other than a Third Party Provider;
1.7 “Third Party Provider” means any person who We, as Your agent, have arranged to carry out:
(a) the Services; and/or
(b) any Ancillary Services;
1.8 Words in the singular include the plural, and words in one or more genders include all genders.
2 Terms
2.1 This agreement is made between Us and You.
2.2 You acknowledge and agree that You have read this agreement and to be bound by this agreement.
2.3 This agreement excludes and supersedes all prior discussions, representations and arrangements and any other oral or written terms and conditions whether or not they are endorsed on, delivered with or referred to in any Purchase Order or other document delivered by You to Us.
2.4 All terms capitalised but not defined in this agreement has the meaning given to those terms in the Purchase Order.
3 We are not Common Carriers
We are not common carriers and accept no liability as such. We reserve the right to refuse to quote for the carriage of goods for any particular person and for carriage of any goods or classes of goods at Our discretion.
4 Your Obligations and Warranties
4.1 Information supplied by You. You warrant that any information which You have provided to Us and on which We have reasonably relied in assessing any quotation or estimate of the resources necessary to carry out the work is accurate. You must promptly notify Us in writing of any changes.
4.2 Owner or Authorised Agent. You warrant that, in entering into this agreement, You are either the owner of the Goods, or the authorised agent of the owner.
4.3 Presence at Loading/Unloading. You will ensure that You or some person on your behalf is present when the Goods are loaded or unloaded, except if they are being unloaded into or loaded from store.
4.4 Dangerous Goods. You warrant that the Goods do not include any firearms or goods which are or may become of a dangerous, corrosive, highly combustible, explosive, damaging or noxious nature nor likely to encourage any vermin or pest unless You have disclosed to Us in writing the presence and nature of any such items prior to them being made available to Us for loading or storage. We may refuse to remove or store such items. If We discover any article or substance of this nature after the Goods have been received by Us, We may take any reasonable action, including destruction or disposal, as We may think fit without incurring any liability to You.
4.5 Fragile Goods and Valuable Items. You will, prior to the commencement of the removal or storage, give to Us written notice of any Goods which are of a fragile or brittle nature and which are not readily apparent as such, or which comprise jewellery, precious objects, works of art, money, collections of items or precision equipment in any case having a value in excess of $1,000.
4.6 Goods Left Behind or Moved in Error. You will ensure, to the best of Your ability, that all Goods to be removed (other than Goods being removed from store) or stored are uplifted by Us and that none are taken in error.
5 Method of Carriage and Subcontractors
5.1 Mode of Carriage. We shall be entitled to carry, or arrange for the carriage of, the Goods by any reasonable route (having regard to all the circumstances including the nature and destination of any other goods being carried on or in the conveying vehicle or container) and by any reasonable means, including, where We consider it necessary or desirable, by sea, rail or air, and for that purpose, as Your agent, to arrange for a Third Party Provider effect such carriage by sea, rail or air.
5.2 Subcontractors. We may use a Subcontractor or Subcontractors to undertake the whole or any part of the Services, but if We do so, We will continue to be responsible to You for the performance of the Services.
5.3 Liability of Subcontractors and Employees. Any provisions in these conditions which limit Our liability also apply to Our Subcontractors and to Our employees and to the employees of Our Subcontractors. For the purposes of this subclause, We are, or are deemed to be, acting as agent or trustee on behalf of each of the persons referred to, and each of them shall to that extent be deemed to be parties to this agreement.
6 Brokerage Services
6.1 We may as Your agent:
(a) Where We cannot or elect not to provide the Services, arrange to have the Services undertaken by Third Party Providers;
(b) at Your request, arrange to have Ancillary Services undertaken by Third Party Providers
(Brokerage Services).
6.2 We will notify You if we propose to engage a Third Party Provider and will notify you of the associated charges. If We do, You may elect not to receive the Services and/or the Ancillary Services.
6.3 We accept no liability, including liability for any loss or damage, arising out of the Brokerage Services. However, if We arrange for a Third Party Provider to undertake carriage of the Goods by sea, rail or air, and the Goods suffer loss or damage at some time when they are either in Our possession or the possession of the Third Party Provider, and if We cannot establish, on a balance of probabilities, that the Goods were in the possession of the Third Party Provider when that loss or damage occurred, the Goods will be deemed to have been in Our possession at the time.
6.4 All contracts that are entered into by Us with Third Party Providers (Services Contracts) are contracts:
(a) entered into by Us for and on behalf of You in Our capacity as Your agent and You grant Us all of the authority that We need to enter into Services Contracts for and on behalf of You as Your agent; and
(b) that bind You as principal and directly entitles You to all of the contractual benefits and directly exposes You to contractual liability as if You had personally executed or otherwise entered into each Services Contract in place of Us.
6.5 Subject to any express instructions or conditions agreed in writing between the parties, We will have sole and absolute discretion in respect of all matters and arrangements relating to the engagement of the Third Party Provider, but we will take reasonable steps to assess the suitability of the Third Party Provider in providing the Services to You or Third Party Provider in providing the Ancillary Services to You.
6.6 You acknowledge and agree that:
(a) if We charge You for any services that are to be provided under a Services Contract then that shall not, of itself, mean that or constitute evidence that, We are acting as a principal or as an agent of the Third Party Provider with respect to the provision of the relevant services;
(b) we may have a pecuniary interest in the Services Contract; and
(c) we are entitled to be paid, retain or disburse all brokerages, commissions, allowances and other remunerations customarily retained by or paid to shipping, clearing and forwarding agents, insurance brokers and customs brokers and agents.
7 Delivery
We shall not be bound to deliver the Goods except to You or a person authorised in writing by You to receive the Goods. If We cannot deliver the Goods either because there is no authorised person there to receive them on Our arrival, or because We cannot gain access to the premises, or for any other reason beyond Our control, We will be entitled to unload the Goods into a warehouse, and will be entitled to charge an additional amount for storage and for the subsequent re-delivery of the Goods. If this happens, We will endeavour to contact You to ascertain whether You have any alternate instructions.
8 Storage Conditions
8.1 Inventory. We will prepare an inventory of Goods received for storage and will ask You to sign that inventory. You will be provided with a copy of the inventory. If You sign the Inventory, or do not do so and fail to object to its accuracy within 7 days of receiving it from Us, the inventory will be conclusive evidence of the Goods received by Us. The inventory will disclose only visible items and not any contents unless You ask for the contents to be listed, in which case We will be entitled to make a reasonable additional charge.
8.2 Contact Address. You agree to advise Us of an address to which We can forward any notice or correspondence, and to promptly notify Us of any change of address.
8.3 Price Changes. Our storage charges will be as quoted to You for the longer of the first 26 weeks of storage or any agreed fixed or minimum period of storage. After that period, We may change the storage charges from time to time on giving 28 days’ written notice to You.
8.4 Warehouse Fumigation. We will fumigate our Warehouse on a quarterly basis to protect your Goods from insects and pests. A fumigation fee will be charged in addition to our regular storage charges. The fumigation fee is [$33] per quarter or [$11] per month (all values incl. GST).
8.5 Warehouse Change. We are authorised to remove the Goods from one warehouse to another without cost to You. We will notify You of the removal and advise the address of the warehouse to which the Goods are being removed, not less than 5 days before removal (except in emergency, when such notice will be given as soon as possible).
8.6 Inspection of Goods in Store. You are entitled, upon giving Us reasonable notice, to inspect the Goods in store, but a reasonable charge may be made by Us for this service.
8.7 Removal From Storage. Subject to payment for the balance of any fixed or minimum period of storage agreed, You may require the Goods to be removed from store at any time on giving Us not less than 5 working days’ notice. If You give Us less notice, We will still use Our best endeavours to meet your requirement, but shall be entitled to make a reasonable additional charge for the short notice.
8.8 Refund of Advance Payments. Upon your request for removal from storage, We shall refund to You within a reasonable period of time, the amount of any Storage Fees paid by You in advance for future whole weeks (defined as Sunday to Saturday) or part thereof not yet commenced, less any other amounts We are entitled to claim from You.
8.9 Compulsory Removal and Disposal/Sale. You agree to remove the Goods from storage within 28 days of a written notice of requirement from Us to do so. In default, We may, after 14 days’ notice to You, SELL ALL OR ANY OF THE GOODS by public auction or on Ebay or a similar online auction sale facility or and apply the net proceeds in satisfaction of any amount owing by You to Us.
8.10 Sale of Goods. For the purposes of preparing for the sale of the Goods under clauses 9.9 or 10.5 or otherwise as permitted by law, We are authorised by You to open any boxes in storage to inspect and identify the contents and We may at Our discretion decide which contents will be offered for sale to the general public. At Our discretion, any items we do not offer for sale may be stored by Us for such period as We consider appropriate and We may invite You to collect those items from Us once We have been paid all moneys due by You to Us for Services provided under this or any other agreement. If We fail to sell the Goods at public auction or Ebay after a reasonable attempt to do so, We may at Our option pay $1 for the Goods and at Our discretion dispose of the Goods.
9 Charges and Payments
9.1 You agree to pay Us charges in consideration of Us providing You with the Services.
9.2 We will provide You with a tax invoice for the payment of the charges.
9.3 All charges are exclusive of GST (as defined in A New Tax System (Products and Products Tax) Act 1999 (Cth) unless it is expressed to be GST inclusive.
9.4 Payment by Third Party. If You arrange with Us or instruct Us that Our charges are to be paid by a third party, and if that party does not pay the charges within 14 days of the date set for payment or, if no date is set for payment, within 14 days of the date of invoice, You agree to thereupon pay the charges.
9.5 Default Charges. If amounts are outstanding from You to Us for more than 30 days, We will be entitled to charge interest at the Commonwealth Bank maximum personal overdraft interest rate for amounts not exceeding $100,000 from time to time, calculated on monthly rests.
9.6 Contractual Liens. All Goods received by Us will be subject to a general lien for any moneys due by You to Us relating to any Services provided under this or any other agreement. Without prejudice to any other rights which We may have under this agreement or otherwise at law, if any amounts have been outstanding for a period of 26 weeks, We may give 28 days’ written notice to You of intention to sell, and if the outstanding amount is not paid within that period, We may SELL ALL OR ANY OF THE GOODS and exercise any other rights We have under clause 9.9 and 9.10 relating to the sale of the Goods and apply the net proceeds in satisfaction of the amount due.
10 Variations, cancellation, delay and rescheduling
10.1 We may delay delivery of the Services if You have not provided to Us all of the information required by Us to provide the Services, complied with any reasonable direction by Us to enable our Suppliers to provide the Services or You are unable to provide the Supplier with access to the delivery location.
10.2 We reserve the right to cancel or delay the delivery of the Services at any time, by notice to You, to deal with unforeseen circumstances (which includes the Supplier not being available to provide the Services on the Services Date).
10.3 If the work You ultimately require Us to do varies from the work for which a quotation or estimate has been given, or if We are prevented from or delayed in undertaking the Services or any part thereof (except where that prevention or delay results from a factor within Our control), we will also be entitled to make a reasonable additional charge. We will also be entitled to reimbursement from You of any amount which We have been required to pay to a third party (other than a Subcontractor) to obtain or effect delivery of the Goods.
10.4 Rescheduling. If a date for the performance by Us of any Services is agreed upon in the quotation and acceptance or subsequently, and You require that date to be altered or the Goods are not available on that date, We will be entitled to make a reasonable additional charge for any loss or additional expense occasioned by such alteration or unavailability.
10.5 If We cancel or delay the Services and you no longer wish to receive the Services, Our liability to You will be limited to:
(a) refunding in full the Fees already paid by You for the Services; or
(b) by mutual agreement, rescheduling the Services to another Services Date.
10.6 Except as set out above at subclause 10.3, We will not be liable to You for any losses, expenses or costs however arising out of or in connection with any cancellation or delay of the Services by Us in the circumstances set out in this clause.
11 Loss or Damage – Private Removals and Storage
11.1 Australian Consumer Law. Except where the Services are required by You for the purposes of a business, trade, profession or occupation in which You are engaged, this agreement will be subject to the guarantees set out in sections 60, 61 and 62 of the Australian Consumer Law (as enacted as Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) being, in particular, a guarantee that the Services will be rendered with due care and skill, and the following conditions of this clause 11 will apply.
11.2 Negligence. We will only be liable for the proportion to which the loss or damage to the Goods is caused by or contributed to by Our negligence (including the negligence of any Subcontractor). We will not be liable for loss or damage to the Goods caused or contributed to by You or someone else that We are not responsible for at law.
11.3 Exclusions. We will not be liable for any loss or damage nor any delay which results from any cause beyond Our control, including any loss or damage occurring in the course of the provision of Ancillary Services by Third Party Providers.
11.4 Damage to Goods – Packaging. If the Goods sustain damage by reason of defective or inadequate packing or unpacking, and the packing or unpacking (as the case may be) was not undertaken by Us or a Subcontractor, We will not be liable.
11.5 Damage to Goods – Inherent Risk. Certain goods (including electrical and mechanical appliances, computer equipment, scientific instruments and certain musical instruments) are inherently susceptible to suffer damage or disorder upon removal. Unless that damage or disorder results from a failure to exercise due care and skill on Our part, We will not be liable.
11.6 Damage to Goods – Furniture Items. If You have elected not to take out any insurance over furniture items whilst in transit or storage and We (or Our Subcontractor) did not package any furniture items for You prior to transit or storage, We will only be liable for damage to the furniture items up to an amount of $300 per item. This cap on Our liability to You does not apply if there is evidence that We (or Our Subcontractor) failed to exercise due care and skill and this failure is what caused the damage.
11.7 Lost, Stolen or Misplaced Items. If You have elected not to take out any insurance over the Goods whilst in transit or storage, and We (or Our Subcontractor) have not packed the Goods for You, We will only be liable for lost, stolen or misplaced boxes or items up to an amount of $150 per box. This cap on Our liability to You does not apply if You provided Us with a completed inventory including valuation of the contents of the box containing the Goods prior to commencement of transit or storage and there is evidence that We (or Our Subcontractor) failed to reasonably secure the Goods whilst in Our custody or care.
11.8 Notification of Loss or Damage. You will be asked to sign an inventory or other documents at the conclusion of the transit and You are responsible at that time to confirm that all of the Goods have been delivered, there are no missing items or boxes and the Goods are in acceptable condition. Any claim for loss or damage under this clause 11 is to be notified by You to Us in writing, or by telephone and later confirmed in writing, as soon as possible and within a reasonable time after the date of delivery. We will have the best chance of locating any misplaced items, or ascertaining the cause of damage, if that notification is given to Us within 2 working days.
11.9 Maximum Value of Goods. In any claim for loss or damage under this clause 11 , any estimate of the inventory and value of the Goods which You have provided to Us, whether for the purposes of insurance or otherwise, will be prima facie evidence that the total value of the Goods did not exceed that estimate at the time of loss or damage.
12 Loss or Damage – Commercial Removals and Storage
12.1 Application. If the Services are required by You for the purposes of a business, trade, profession or occupation in which You are engaged, the following conditions of this clause 12 will apply.
12.2 Exclusions. We will not be liable for any loss or damage nor any delay which results from any cause beyond Our control, including any loss or damage occurring in the course of the provision of Ancillary Services by Third Party Providers.
12.3 Negligence. We will only be liable for the proportion to which the loss or damage to the Goods is caused by or contributed to by Our negligence (including the negligence of any Subcontractor, but excluding the negligence of any Third Party Provider), and in any event that liability will be limited to $100 per item or package, or $1,000 in respect of all Goods moved or stored under this agreement (whichever is the lesser).
12.4 Claims. You will be asked to sign an inventory at or other document the conclusion of the transit and You are responsible at that time to confirm that all of the Goods have been delivered, there are no missing items or boxes and the Goods are in acceptable condition. In circumstances where We are liable under this clause 12, notice of the claim must be given by You to Us as soon as possible, and written notice must be given within 14 days of the date of delivery or, in the case of loss, the date upon which the Goods would ordinarily have been delivered, failing which We will have no further liability.
13 Insurance
13.1 Our Insurance. We offer to arrange for the Goods to be insured during transit and storage, and details of the type of insurance and the rates are set out in Our quotation and/or will be provided on request. This insurance will only be arranged if You request Us in writing to do so (including by so indicating in Your written acceptance of Our quotation).
13.2 Other Insurance. You may, of course, arrange insurance with an insurer of Your choice.
14 Privacy
14.1 We will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our privacy policy.
14.2 For more detail on the type of personal information We Collect and how We collect, use and disclose personal information, please refer to our privacy policy which is located on our website.
15 Disputes
15.1 Notification of Dispute. If You or We consider that a dispute has arisen in relation to this agreement (either during the Services, or after they have been completed), written notice of the dispute will be given to the other party. Even if that notice is given, You and We must continue to perform any obligations outstanding by Us under the agreement.
15.2 Dispute Resolution. If You and We cannot resolve the dispute between Us, You are entitled to refer the dispute to the Australian Furniture Removers Association (telephone 1800 671 806) which has procedures for dispute resolution, and We, but not You, will be bound by the outcome of that referral.
16 General
16.1 Waiver. A party waives a right under these Terms only if it does so in writing.
16.2 Variation. The terms of these conditions cannot be varied other than by Your and Our mutual consent. Our consent can only be given by a proprietor, director, secretary or manager, and must be evidenced in writing.
16.3 Notice. Any notice to be given by Us to You may be given personally or by prepaid post addressed to Your address last known to Us, or by electronic mail.
16.4 Severance. If any provision of these Terms is unenforceable, illegal or void, that provision is severed and the other provisions of these Terms remain in force.
16.5 Governing law. These Terms are governed by and must be interpreted in accordance with the laws of Victoria and the parties irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria.
Our Removals Insurance Services… for peace of mind
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Our comprehensive policy covers the whole removals process; from the minute we pack your treasures, right up until you sign for the delivery of your boxes.
Our range of insurance options include:
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