Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using PICMS (the "Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you disagree with any part of these terms, you do not have permission to access the Service.

2. Description of Service

PICMS provides a cloud-based compliance management platform that helps organisations manage:

• ISO standard compliance (9001, 14001, 45001, 27001)
• Document management and control
• Incident reporting and management
• Audit scheduling and tracking
• Risk assessment and registers
• Training records management
• Legal compliance registers
• CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Actions)

3. User Accounts

3.1 Account Registration

To use PICMS, you must:

• Provide accurate and complete registration information
• Maintain the security of your account credentials
• Be at least 18 years old
• Have authority to bind your organisation to these Terms

3.2 Account Responsibilities

You are responsible for:

• All activity that occurs under your account
• Maintaining the confidentiality of login credentials
• Notifying us immediately of any unauthorised access
• Ensuring all users within your organisation comply with these Terms

4. Subscription and Payments

4.1 Subscription Plans

PICMS offers various subscription tiers (Starter, Professional, Enterprise) with different features and user limits. Details are available on our pricing page.

4.2 Billing

• Subscriptions are billed monthly or annually in advance
• Prices are quoted in GBP and exclude VAT where applicable
• Payment is processed securely through Stripe
• Failed payments may result in service suspension

4.3 Refunds

• Monthly subscriptions: No refunds for partial months
• Annual subscriptions: Pro-rata refund within first 30 days
• Free trial: No payment required, no refund applicable

5. Acceptable Use

You agree NOT to:

• Use the Service for any illegal purpose
• Upload malicious code, viruses, or harmful content
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any systems
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service
• Resell or redistribute the Service without authorisation
• Use automated systems to access the Service excessively
• Violate any applicable laws or regulations

6. Intellectual Property

6.1 Our Intellectual Property

PICMS, including its software, design, logos, and documentation, is owned by PICMS Ltd and protected by intellectual property laws. You receive a limited, non-exclusive licence to use the Service for your internal business purposes.

6.2 Your Content

You retain ownership of all data and content you upload to PICMS. You grant us a limited licence to store, process, and display your content solely to provide the Service.

6.3 Your Responsibility for Uploaded Content

By uploading any document, image, dataset, or other content to PICMS (including evidence, certificates, drawings, procedures, photos, and reports) you confirm that:

• You either own the content or have obtained sufficient rights, licences, and permissions to upload it and to allow PICMS to store, process, display, and (where you have configured AI features) use it as input to AI processing solely to provide the Service to you;
• The content does not infringe any third party's copyright, trademark, trade-secret, contractual, or other intellectual-property rights;
• You will not upload third-party copyrighted material (including but not limited to ISO standards, IMCA publications, HSE ACoPs, BSI standards, or other licensed publications) unless you hold a licence that permits the upload and processing described above; and
• You are responsible for redacting or excluding personal data, sensitive commercial information, or third-party material that you do not have the right to upload.

You are solely responsible for any content you upload, and you indemnify PICMS Ltd against any third-party claim arising from content uploaded by you or by users acting on your behalf.

7. Third-Party Standards and Copyright

PICMS provides tools to help organisations manage their compliance with management-system standards and industry-guidance publications. The content and guidance generated by PICMS:

• Is PICMS-original interpretive content and does not reproduce official ISO standard text, IMCA publication content, or any other licensed third-party publication;
• Does not replace the need to purchase or licence the official standards and publications themselves;
• Should be used alongside the official standards and publications for certification, compliance, or audit purposes.

ISO standards are copyrighted by the International Organization for Standardization. IMCA publications (D018, D023, D040, D039, D011 and others) are copyrighted by the International Marine Contractors Association. PICMS is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by ISO, IMCA, BSI, the HSE, the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI-IRCA), NSI, SSAIB, ACS, NCSC, IASME, CHAS, Constructionline, SafeContractor, the Care Quality Commission, NHS Digital (NHS DSPT), or any other standards body, scheme operator, or regulator. Purchase official ISO standards from iso.org or your national standards body such as BSI; obtain IMCA publications from imca-int.com.

Trade marks acknowledged. ISO® is a registered trade mark of the International Organization for Standardization. IMCA® is a registered trade mark of the International Marine Contractors Association. IRCA® is a registered trade mark of the Chartered Quality Institute. NSI™, SSAIB™, ACS™, BSI™, NCSC™, IASME™, NEBOSH™, IOSH™, CITB™, CHAS™, Constructionline™, SafeContractor™, Achilles™, CQC™, NHS DSPT™, Cyber Essentials™, HSE™, ICO™, FCA™, UKHSA™, Companies House™, Auth0®, Anthropic™, OpenAI™, Stripe®, Resend™ are trade marks of their respective owners. References to these marks within the Service are factual identification of standards, schemes, and providers — they do not imply endorsement, certification, or affiliation.

8. Data Protection

We process your data in accordance with:

• Our Privacy Policy
• UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018
• Our Data Processing Agreement

9. Service Level Agreement

9.1 Availability

We aim to provide 99.9% uptime for our Service. This excludes:

• Scheduled maintenance (with 48 hours notice)
• Emergency security updates
• Circumstances beyond our reasonable control

9.2 Support

• Starter: Email support, 48-hour response
• Professional: Priority email support, 24-hour response
• Enterprise: Dedicated support, 4-hour response for critical issues

10. Limitation of Liability

10.1 Service Warranty

The Service is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, except as expressly stated in these Terms. We do not warrant that the Service will be error-free or uninterrupted.

10.2 Liability Cap

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• Our total liability is limited to the fees paid by you in the 12 months preceding the claim
• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages
• We are not liable for loss of data, profits, or business opportunities

10.3 Exceptions

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for fraud, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

11. Termination

11.1 By You

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings. Access continues until the end of the current billing period.

11.2 By Us

We may suspend or terminate your account if you:

• Breach these Terms
• Fail to pay subscription fees
• Engage in fraudulent or illegal activity

11.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination:

• You can export your data for 30 days
• After 30 days, your data will be deleted
• Backup copies are purged within 90 days

12. AI-Generated Content

The Service uses third-party large-language-model APIs (currently Anthropic Claude and OpenAI embeddings — see the Privacy Policy §5.1) to generate drafts, suggestions, gap analyses, RAMS drafts, document templates, and other content within the Service.

AI-generated content:

• Is provided as a starting point for review by a competent person within your organisation;
• Does not constitute legal, regulatory, audit, or professional advice;
• May contain errors, omissions, or interpretations that do not reflect your operational reality, the controlled wording of any standard, or applicable regulator guidance;
• Must be reviewed, edited, and approved by you before relying on it for compliance, certification, or operational decisions.

You are responsible for reviewing and verifying any AI-generated content before use, and for the consequences of any reliance on AI output. PICMS does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or fitness-for-purpose of AI-generated content.

13. Tool, Not Substitute for Professional Advice

PICMS provides software tools to help your organisation prepare for, run, and demonstrate management-system compliance. PICMS does not provide:

• Legal advice;
• Regulatory advice;
• Independent audit or certification (only an accredited certification body can issue certificates);
• A substitute for the official text of any standard, regulation, or scheme criterion.

Decisions affecting health and safety, regulatory compliance, certification, or contractual obligations must be reviewed by qualified professionals and made against your licensed copies of the applicable standards, regulations, and scheme criteria. The Service is a tool to support those decisions, not to replace them.

14. Changes to Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. We will notify you of material changes at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

15. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

16. General Provisions

• Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and DPA, constitute the entire agreement
• Severability: If any provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect
• Waiver: Failure to enforce any right does not waive that right
• Assignment: You may not assign these Terms without our consent