CaveTools Onboarding — Terms & Conditions and Rules of Engagement

Version 1.0 — Effective 20 September 2026

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern the onboarding, build, and subscription service provided by CaveTools (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2026/489310/07) ("CaveTools", "we", "us") to the person or business who submits the onboarding form ("Customer", "you"). By ticking the acceptance checkbox during onboarding, you agree to be bound by these Terms. This constitutes a valid electronic agreement under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

Rules of Engagement — the plain-language version

Nothing is ever charged during the build. Whichever plan applies, we build first — you never pay anything until you've reviewed a private preview and told us you're happy.
Two simple monthly plans. An informational-website-only build is billed at the Base Plan rate. Add any feature (booking, payments, accounts, a store, etc.) and your whole site moves to the flat Upgraded Plan rate. That's the only price fixed at onboarding.
One combined invoice, not a price list. The actual cost of building what you've selected — each feature, a Starter Package if you need a domain/assets, any custom request — isn't fixed at onboarding. We agree each of those individually with you as the project progresses, then combine everything into one invoice, charged only once you sign off on the finished site — immediately followed by your first month's subscription.
One intake, not a drip. The onboarding form is designed to collect everything we need in one go (content, images, logo, domain, socials, add-ons). Please answer it fully — it's the single biggest thing that keeps your build on schedule.
Staging first, always. Your site is built and reviewed on a private preview link. Nothing goes onto your real domain until you've explicitly said you're happy and you've accepted these Terms.
Batch your revisions. If you'd like changes after seeing the preview, please send them to us as one consolidated list rather than as separate messages over several days — it lets us turn them around much faster.
Know what's included. The features you selected during onboarding are what's covered. Anything else — for example business email setup, or integrating a CRM or a social platform we don't already support — is a separate, individually quoted add-on requested after go-live.
We may ask who you are. Before going live we may ask for basic proof of your identity or business (see clause 8) — this protects both of us, and is standard practice, not a sign of distrust.
Your subscription can grow with you. We may increase your Subscription Fee over time based on the size of your business and how actively your site is used — always with advance written notice (clause 4.6).

1. Definitions

1.1 "Service" means the design, development, hosting, and maintenance of a professional website or web application for your business, together with any booking, e-commerce, or other functionality you selected during onboarding, and the support services described in clause 7.
1.2 "Website" means the website or web application built and hosted by CaveTools for you under this agreement, excluding your Content.
1.3 "Content" means the material you supply or approve for display on the Website, including business information, text, logos, photographs, product or service details, and staff details.
1.4 "Source Code" means all software code, templates, designs, layouts, configurations, and technical infrastructure used to build and operate the Website.
1.5 "Subscription Fee" means the monthly fee for your Website: either the Base Plan (informational-website-only) or, if you selected any feature during onboarding, the Upgraded Plan — the amount of each is shown to you during onboarding and confirmed with you before work begins.
1.6 "Build Costs" means the once-off amount(s) CaveTools and you individually agree, as the project progresses, for implementing your selected features, a Starter Package (clause 4.2), and/or a Major Feature or custom request you noted during onboarding. Build Costs are not fixed or priced at onboarding — CaveTools compiles everything agreed into one invoice and charges it at sign-off (clause 2.3), together with your first Subscription Fee.
1.7 "Preview Link" means the private, non-public staging URL where your Website is built and reviewed before go-live.
1.8 "Minor Change" means any support request, bug fix, content update, or modification that CaveTools reasonably estimates will take two (2) hours or less of development time.
1.9 "Major Feature" means any new feature, redesign, integration, or modification requested after go-live that CaveTools reasonably estimates will take more than two (2) hours. CaveTools' estimate, made in good faith, is final. A "custom feature request" you note during onboarding, before go-live, is priced instead as part of your Build Costs (clause 1.6).
1.10 "KYC Information" means the identification and business-verification information described in clause 8.

2. Onboarding, Plans & Payment Timing

2.1 Submitting the onboarding form is not a purchase. It is an instruction for CaveTools to begin scoping and, once agreed, building your Website. Which Subscription Fee applies depends on what you selected during onboarding:
2.2 Base Plan (informational website only). If you selected no features during onboarding, your Subscription Fee is the Base Plan rate.
2.3 Upgraded Plan (any feature selected). If you selected one or more features during onboarding — a booking system, payments, user accounts, a store, or similar — your Subscription Fee is the Upgraded Plan rate.
2.4 Sign-off and payment. Regardless of which Plan applies, CaveTools builds your Website with nothing charged during the build. Once you have (a) reviewed your Website on the Preview Link, (b) confirmed in writing that you are happy with it, and (c) accepted the version of these Terms current at that time, CaveTools will charge, in one transaction: any Build Costs that apply (clause 1.6), immediately followed by your first month's Subscription Fee. If nothing you selected carries a Build Cost, only the Subscription Fee is charged. CaveTools will confirm every amount with you in writing before charging it.

3. Building, Staging & Go-Live

3.1 CaveTools will build your Website and make it available on a Preview Link for your review. This is the only place changes happen before go-live.
3.2 Revision requests should be sent as one consolidated list per round, not as a series of separate messages. CaveTools will confirm each round is complete and ask you to review the full site again, not just the changed item, before requesting sign-off.
3.3 CaveTools will not publish the Website to your real domain, and will not charge any fee, until you have given clear, affirmative sign-off on the Preview Link — on either plan (clause 2.4). Nothing is ever charged before or during the build.
3.4 If a domain needs to be registered ahead of go-live for lead-time reasons, CaveTools may do so, but will continue serving the Website from the Preview Link until sign-off.

4. Fees and Payment

4.1 The Subscription Fee is payable monthly in advance by automatic recurring billing through PayFast (or another payment method CaveTools approves in writing), starting at sign-off (clause 2.4) — never before or during the build. Any Build Costs are charged in the same transaction as your first month's Subscription Fee.
4.2 If you indicated during onboarding that you do not yet have a domain or existing brand assets (logo, content, images), CaveTools may include a Starter Package (domain registration and/or basic placeholder content) in your build. Like every feature, this has no fixed price shown at onboarding — CaveTools will agree its cost with you directly as the project gets underway, and it forms part of the Build Costs charged at sign-off (clause 2.4).
4.3 A "custom feature request" you note during onboarding is scoped and priced the same way — individually agreed with you as the project progresses, and included in the Build Costs charged at sign-off. A Major Feature you request after go-live follows a separate process instead: CaveTools provides a written quote first, and it is only chargeable once you accept that quote (clause 5.2).
4.4 All fees are stated exclusive of VAT. If CaveTools is or becomes VAT-registered, VAT will be added at the prevailing rate.
4.5 Once your subscription is active, Subscription Fees are non-refundable, including for partial months, save where a refund is required by law. Non-payment, suspension, and cancellation are governed by the standard CaveTools Website & Web App Subscription Terms referenced in clause 11.1.
4.6 Fee changes based on business size and activity. CaveTools may increase your Subscription Fee to reflect the size of your business or the level of activity on your Website — for example, growth in traffic, transaction volume, booking volume, number of products, or number of user accounts. CaveTools will give you at least 30 days' written notice of any such increase and the reason for it. If you do not accept the new fee, you may cancel before it takes effect under the standard CaveTools Website & Web App Subscription Terms referenced in clause 11.1.

5. Support, Minor Changes, and Major Features

5.1 Once live, technical support, bug fixes, hosting maintenance, security updates, and Minor Changes are included at no additional charge, subject to fair use.
5.2 Major Features — including anything outside your originally selected features — are chargeable. CaveTools will provide a written quote before starting any Major Feature; work begins only once you accept it.

6. Your Content and Obligations

6.1 You warrant that all Content and information you supply — including in the onboarding form — is accurate, lawful, and does not infringe any third party's rights.
6.2 You are solely responsible for ensuring your Website's content complies with all laws and any industry-specific or professional-body rules applicable to your business. CaveTools builds and publishes what you approve; we do not provide legal or regulatory-compliance advice.
6.3 You must not use the Service for anything unlawful, misleading, or harmful, and must not attempt to access, copy, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the Source Code or hosting infrastructure.
6.4 You indemnify CaveTools against any claim, fine, or loss arising from your Content, your breach of applicable laws, or your breach of these Terms.

7. Intellectual Property

7.1 You own your Content. You grant CaveTools a licence to host, display, and reproduce your Content for the purpose of providing the Service.
7.2 CaveTools owns the Source Code. All Source Code, designs, templates, and the underlying platform remain the exclusive property of CaveTools at all times. Your Subscription Fee buys a licence to use the Website while your subscription is active — it does not transfer ownership of any Source Code or design to you. A once-off Source Code Buy-Out is available on request once your account is fully paid up, under the standard terms referenced in clause 11.1.
7.3 CaveTools may place a discreet "Website by CaveTools" credit in the Website footer, and may reference the Website in its portfolio and marketing. You may ask us in writing to remove the footer credit.

8. Verification (KYC)

8.1 Before going live, CaveTools may ask you for reasonable identification and business-verification information ("KYC Information") — such as proof of business registration, proof of address, or confirmation of the identity and authority of the person accepting these Terms on your business's behalf.
8.2 This exists to protect both parties, given how much of this relationship is built on trust before go-live — it is standard practice and not a judgement about your business.
8.3 CaveTools may decline to go live, or may suspend the Service, until satisfactory KYC Information is provided, and may use reputable third-party services to verify it.

9. Data Protection (POPIA)

9.1 For personal information you submit through the onboarding form or the Website, you are the Responsible Party and CaveTools is your Operator under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, except for CaveTools' own processing of your details to operate its business (e.g. contacting you about your submission).
9.2 As Operator, CaveTools will process personal information only to provide the Service, implement reasonable technical and organisational security safeguards, and notify you without undue delay of any actual or suspected data breach.
9.3 You authorise CaveTools to use reputable third-party sub-operators (such as cloud hosting, email, KYC-verification, and payment providers) to deliver the Service. Where reasonably possible, data is hosted in South African data-centre regions.

10. Warranties and Liability

10.1 The Service is provided "as is". To the extent permitted by law, CaveTools excludes all warranties not expressly stated in these Terms.
10.2 To the maximum extent permitted by law, CaveTools is not liable for loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunity; missed or double bookings or transactions; downtime; or any indirect or consequential loss.
10.3 CaveTools' total aggregate liability under this agreement, however arising, is limited to the Subscription Fees actually paid by you in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or, before any subscription has begun, to zero.
10.4 Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, or limits any rights you may have under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 where that Act applies.

11. General

11.1 Relationship to the standard Subscription Terms. Once your Website goes live and billing begins, the standard CaveTools Website & Web App Subscription Terms (as published at cavetools.co.za and updated from time to time) govern your ongoing subscription — including cancellation, non-payment, and the Source Code Buy-Out — and these onboarding Terms continue to apply to everything that happened before go-live.
11.2 Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control.
11.3 Changes to these Terms. CaveTools may amend these Terms; the version you accepted is recorded against your submission. Material changes affecting an active build will be raised with you directly before go-live.
11.4 Notices. Notices must be sent by email — to you at the address given at onboarding, and to CaveTools at team@cavetools.co.za.
11.5 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with your onboarding submission, are the whole agreement between the parties for the onboarding and build phase, and replace all prior discussions on that subject.
11.6 Severability. If any clause is unenforceable, the rest of these Terms remain in force.
11.7 Governing law and jurisdiction. These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. The parties consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Court, without limiting either party's right to approach the High Court.

Acceptance: By ticking "I have read and accept the Terms & Conditions and Rules of Engagement" during onboarding, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms, and that you are authorised to bind the business named at onboarding.

CaveTools (Pty) Ltd • South Africa • team@cavetools.co.za • cavetools.co.za