Website Terms of Use

These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of www.topographical.co.uk and surveys.topographical.co.uk, including all interactive tools, client portals, and downloadable content made available through them.

1. About These Terms

1.1. These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of www.topographical.co.uk and surveys.topographical.co.uk (together, the "Website"), including all interactive tools, client portals, and downloadable content made available through them.

1.2. By accessing any part of the Website you confirm that you accept these Terms and agree to comply with them. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Website immediately.

1.3. These Terms govern your use of the Website itself. If you instruct us to carry out surveying or related services, separate Terms and Conditions of Contract will apply to that engagement. Our collection and use of personal data is described in our Privacy Policy. Where those documents address a topic, they take precedence over these Terms on that topic.

1.4. We may update these Terms at any time by posting a revised version on the Website. The date at the top of this page will change accordingly. Continued use after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

1.5. These Terms replace any previous website terms of use published by Topographical Ltd.

2. Who We Are

2.1. The Website is operated by Topographical Ltd, a chartered land surveying company registered in England and Wales, regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

2.2. Registered office: Belmont Suite, Paragon Business Park, Chorley New Road, Horwich, Bolton, England, BL6 6HG.

2.3. Contact: privacy@topographical.co.uk.

3. Access and Accounts

3.1. We do not guarantee that the Website, or any part of it, will always be available or uninterrupted. We may suspend, withdraw, or restrict all or any part of the Website without notice for business or operational reasons.

3.2. Certain areas of the Website require authentication. Access is granted via a time-limited link sent to your nominated email address. You are solely responsible for maintaining the security of your email account and any device used to access the Website. Any activity carried out through a session authenticated via your email address will be treated as authorised by you.

3.3. You must notify us immediately at privacy@topographical.co.uk if you believe your email account has been compromised or that an unauthorised person has accessed the Website using your credentials.

3.4. We reserve the right to suspend, restrict, degrade, or terminate your access to any part of the Website at any time, without prior notice or explanation, where we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms or where continued access poses a risk to the security or integrity of the Website.

4. Acceptable Use

4.1. You may use the Website only for lawful purposes connected with land surveying, property assessment, or related professional activities. You must not:

1. use any robot, spider, scraper, automated tool, or large-language-model crawler to access, monitor, copy, or extract data from the Website;
2. attempt to gain unauthorised access to, interfere with, or disrupt any part of the Website, its underlying systems, or any network connected to it;
3. reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code, algorithms, or data models of any feature or tool available through the Website;
4. reproduce, redistribute, or commercially exploit any content, analysis, or output obtained from the Website except as expressly permitted by these Terms or a separate agreement with us;
5. upload or transmit any material that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, or that infringes any third party's intellectual property or privacy rights;
6. impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.

4.2. We actively monitor the Website for unauthorised and abusive activity and may take any of the measures described in clause 3.4 in response.

5. Mapping Data and Third-Party Content

5.1. The Website displays spatial data from third-party sources. By using the Website you agree to the following restrictions, which we are contractually required to pass through to all users.

Google Maps

5.2. The Website uses the Google Maps Platform to provide baseline map imagery. In accordance with the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service:

1. you may not use the mapping interface for non-visualisation purposes, including image analysis, machine interpretation, object detection, or bulk geodata extraction;
2. you may not pre-fetch, index, store, or cache any map tiles or content for offline use;
3. you may not embed or reproduce the map outputs in any vehicle navigation or infotainment system;
4. you must not obscure or remove Google's attribution or logo as displayed on the map interface.

HM Land Registry and Ordnance Survey

5.3. The Website incorporates property boundary data provided by HM Land Registry and the Ordnance Survey. The following attribution is reproduced as required by the Open Government Licence v3.0:

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey 100026316.

5.4. Indicative boundaries only. Property boundaries displayed on the Website represent "physical" and "general boundaries" only. They illustrate the approximate position and extent of a registered title, or physical boundary; they do not constitute legally determined, exact demarcations. You must not rely on these representations for legal demarcation, conveyancing, or dispute resolution without obtaining independent verification from a qualified chartered surveyor.

6. Your Content

6.1. Where the Website allows you to upload files, draw boundaries, place annotations, or submit other material ("Your Content"), you retain ownership of Your Content but grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, store, process, and display it within the Website for the purpose of delivering our services.

6.2. You warrant that you own, or hold the necessary rights or licences to upload, all of Your Content and that it does not infringe any third party's intellectual property or other rights.

6.3. By inviting a third party, such as a colleague, architect, or consultant, to access or collaborate on a project through the Website, you confirm that you have that person's authorisation to share their contact details with us for the purpose of facilitating the project. You are responsible for ensuring this authorisation has been obtained.

6.4. You indemnify us against any claims, losses, or costs arising from Your Content or from your breach of the warranties in this clause.

7. Automated Processing and Boundary Disclaimers

7.1. Parts of the Website use automated tools to aggregate and process publicly available geospatial data and to generate preliminary site assessments. In compliance with RICS professional standards on the responsible use of artificial intelligence in surveying practice:

1. automated outputs are preliminary in nature and do not constitute final professional advice;
2. all finalised, deliverable survey outputs are reviewed and verified by a named chartered surveyor who assumes professional accountability;
3. if you believe an automated output contains an error, you may request a manual review by contacting us.

7.2. Nothing available through the Website, whether automated, manually produced, or annotated by users, constitutes expert witness evidence, expert determination, or testimony for the purposes of Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules or any tribunal. Formal expert witness or dispute resolution services require a separate letter of engagement.

8. Intellectual Property

8.1. All content on the Website (excluding Your Content and third-party data attributed under clause 5), including text, graphics, logos, design, layout, software, and analytical outputs, is owned by or licensed to Topographical Ltd and is protected by copyright, database rights, and other intellectual property laws.

8.2. You may not copy, reproduce, republish, or redistribute any part of the Website or its content without our prior written consent, except to the extent reasonably necessary for your own use of the services described on the Website.

8.3. Ownership of and rights in survey deliverables are governed by our Terms and Conditions of Contract.

9. Limitation of Liability

9.1. The Website is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all implied conditions, warranties, and representations.

9.2. We shall not be liable for any indirect, consequential, or special loss, including loss of profit, loss of anticipated savings, business interruption, or loss of data arising from your use of or inability to use the Website.

9.3. Our total aggregate liability to you in connection with your use of the Website, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, shall not exceed the total fees (if any) paid by you to us in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

9.4. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other matter that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

10. General

10.1. Governing law. These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them (including non-contractual disputes), are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

10.2. Jurisdiction. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising under these Terms.

10.3. Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

10.4. No waiver. A failure or delay by us in exercising any right under these Terms does not operate as a waiver of that right.

10.5. Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Terms and Conditions of Contract and Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to your use of the Website.

10.6. Age restriction. The Website is not directed at persons under 18. By using the Website you confirm you are at least 18 years of age.

Topographical Ltd - Regulated by RICS