Effective September 1, 2022
This document aims to provide an explanation of the operational principles of our platform.
These operational principles are referred to as our Terms of Use. They apply to buildfirst.app as well as all other websites and apps that we own and manage. (By “we,” we mean BuildFirst, also referred to as “us” in this document.)
These terms and conditions outline the expected behavior and conduct when using BuildFirst, whether you are a registered user or an unregistered site visitor.
1. About licenses and third-party content
You are not allowed to use BuildFirst’s intellectual property, but you can share your own content on BuildFirst. You are responsible for the content you post, and we are not responsible for the content posted by users on our platform. If you believe someone is infringing your copyright, please contact us via support@buildfirst.app.
1.1 We grant you access to our site and services
We are delighted to provide you with access to our platform. As long as you comply with these terms and conditions, you are free to use our site and enjoy all our services.
We strive to maintain the security of our site and ensure that you can use our services as intended. However, we cannot guarantee uninterrupted access at all times. We may also remove certain features and services without prior notice.
1.2 We reserve the right to revoke your access to our services
We have the authority to block your access to our platform at any time.
If you violate our terms and conditions, we will immediately block your access to all our services. This means your license to use our services will be terminated. Once you are blocked, you must cease using our platform immediately.
1.3 We retain the rights to our intellectual property
Having access to our platform and services does not grant you permission to use our intellectual property. We maintain full rights to our intellectual properties. Please ensure that you do not infringe on our copyrights and patents.
Our logos and names are trademarks registered in specific jurisdictions. Any other product or company names, logos, or similar marks and symbols you encounter on BuildFirst may be trademarked by our partners or other users like you.
1.4 BuildFirst can be used to share your content with others
By posting content on our site or platform, you acknowledge that you are fully responsible for the content and that we are not. You will be held accountable for any violations related to the content you share. The following criteria must be met by the content:
- You have the right to share and post the content.
- The content is legal.
- The content does not violate anyone’s rights, including intellectual property rights.
You understand and agree that the individual who posts content is solely responsible for any harm caused by that content, and not BuildFirst. In the event that your content results in any costs, legal actions, or government actions against us, our partners, employees, or representatives, you agree to indemnify and defend us.
1.5 Reporting Copyright Infringement
We respect copyright laws and expect our users to do the same. If you believe your copyrighted work has been infringed upon on our platform, you can easily submit a report for us to address the issue.
2. Permitted Activities on BuildFirst
BuildFirst is designed for business purposes, facilitating connections between users, enabling work relationships, and facilitating payments for services rendered. Additionally, our blog serves as a source of information on updates and new features.
3. Prohibited Activities on BuildFirst
The following activities are strictly prohibited on BuildFirst:
- Posting unacceptable content
- Engaging in misleading or fraudulent behavior
- Treating others unfairly
- Abusing our feedback system
- Engaging in other unauthorized uses
In essence, our services cannot be used to engage in or promote any illegal, fraudulent, or harmful activities. If you are unsure about the permissibility of an action, please reach out to us for clarification instead of assuming it is allowed.
3.1 Prohibition on Posting Unacceptable Content
You are prohibited from offering, sharing, supporting, or seeking anything that falls into the following categories:
- Illegal or defamatory content
- Violent, discriminatory, or harassing content, whether directed generally or towards a specific individual or group (or encouraging such behavior), including individuals belonging to protected groups
- Sexually explicit content or content related to sex work or escort services
- Content associated with child exploitation in any way
- Content that would infringe upon intellectual property rights, including copyrights
- Content that would violate our Terms of Service, the terms of service of another website, or any similar contractual agreement
- Content that contravenes professional or academic standards or policies, such as submitting someone else’s work as your own or ghostwriting essays, tests, or certifications
- Engaging in the purchase or solicitation of fake reviews or participating in activities connected to the creation or dissemination of misleading content (such as ‘deep fakes’ or ‘fake news’) with the intention to deceive others
3.2 Prohibition on Misleading or Fraudulent Behavior
On BuildFirst, engaging in dishonest or deceptive actions is strictly prohibited.
You are not allowed to misrepresent yourself, your experience, skills, or professional qualifications, or those of others. This includes:
- Providing false information about your experience, skills, or professional qualifications
- Claiming someone else’s profile or identity as your own
- Using a profile picture that does not accurately represent you, misrepresents your identity, or belongs to someone else
- Impersonating or falsely attributing statements to any person or entity, including a BuildFirst representative or forum leader
- False claims or implications of connection to a person or organization (including BuildFirst) – for example, falsely stating that you work for a particular company or using a freelancer’s profile after the working relationship has ended
Furthermore, you must always be transparent about the actual person performing the work. This means you cannot:
- Allow someone else to use your account in a way that misleads other users
- Falsely claim that one freelancer will complete a job when another person will actually do it – this includes submitting a proposal on behalf of a freelancer who is unable or unwilling to perform the work
We are particularly dedicated to preventing fraud and misrepresentation in relation to payments. Therefore:
Freelancers are prohibited from engaging in fraudulent billing practices, including:
- Falsifying recorded hours, keystrokes, or clicks in the BuildFirst app
- Reporting or invoicing for time that was not actually worked
- Claiming credit for work performed by someone else
- Demanding bribes or payments without the intention or provision of corresponding services
Clients are not permitted to participate in payment-related fraud, including:
- Posting jobs with payment terms that are objectively unreasonable or disproportionate to the requested services
- Demanding services without the intention or provision of payment in exchange for the services
3.3 Prohibition on Unfair Treatment
At BuildFirst, it is important to treat everyone fairly and in accordance with the law.
You are not permitted to use BuildFirst to:
- Express an unlawful preference in a job post or proposal
- Engage in unlawful discrimination against any individual
- Incite or encourage violence
- Share personal identifying information or other sensitive, private data about another person
- Engage in spamming by sending excessive proposals or invitations to other users. This includes posting the same job multiple times simultaneously and contacting BuildFirst users outside of BuildFirst without their permission
- Request or demand free work – it is not permissible to ask freelancers to submit work for minimal or no payment as part of a proposal bid or competition
- Require a fee to submit a proposal
- Request or provide services primarily focused on making purchases on behalf of others, including the acquisition of cryptocurrency or NFTs
3.4 Misuse of Feedback System
You are required to use our feedback system in a truthful and fair manner.
This means you are not allowed to:
- Withhold payment or work until you receive positive feedback
- Exchange payment or any form of value for feedback, including involving third parties
- Coerce or threaten another user with negative feedback
- Utilize the system to express unrelated views, such as political or religious opinions
- Offer or accept fake services to enhance your feedback or rating score, also known as feedback building
3.5 Prohibited Activities
BuildFirst relies on technology and trust. Here are the measures we take to maintain these aspects.
- You are not allowed to copy, share, or transfer your account. Having multiple accounts or selling, trading, or transferring your account to others without our permission is strictly prohibited.
- You cannot bypass BuildFirst. Specifically, you cannot communicate with another user or request or share means of direct contact outside of BuildFirst before agreeing to a service contract. This includes adding your contact information to job posts, profiles, communications, or other content. (Exceptions apply to Enterprise clients.)
- You cannot promote other organizations – this includes advertising other websites, products, or services. You are also prohibited from using our platform to recruit freelancers or clients for another agency, website, or company, unless you pay a fee to us. For further details, refer to Section 7 of our User Agreement.
- You cannot interfere with our technology or manipulate our site or services. This includes:
- Bypassing any security features implemented to restrict site usage, such as attempting to circumvent content copying restrictions
- Disrupting or compromising our systems, server security, or transmissions
- Using robots, spiders, scrapers, or similar mechanisms on our site without written permission
- Copying, distributing, or utilizing any information found on BuildFirst, whether directly or through third parties (such as search engines), without our consent (no scraping is allowed)
- Collecting or using identifiable information, including account names
- Overwhelming the site with an unreasonable or excessive amount of information
- Introducing malware or any other code or viruses that could harm us, our customers, or our services
- Linking to or framing our services without our written permission
- Using our services to develop a similar platform, identify or poach our users, or publish any performance or benchmark analysis related to the site
- Reverse engineering, deciphering, modifying, or extracting source code from our site (unless it is open source) without our written permission
4. Enforcement of Our Terms of Use
If you violate any of the rules, your user account will be immediately blocked until further notice.
4.1 Implementation of These Rules
We have the authority to investigate any potential breaches of these terms of use and may choose to pause, modify, or remove any content on our site accordingly.
While we cannot guarantee that we will take action against every violation, the absence of action in one instance does not waive our right to take action in the future, whether related to the initial breach or not.
If we suspect any rule violations, we reserve the right to restrict your usage of our site at any time. If your account is disabled or closed, you will lose access to our services; however, the following provisions will remain in effect:
- Our rights to utilize and share your feedback
- The rights of our users and visitors to share your content (1.4.2)
- Your agreement to all the rules outlined in section 3 on this page
4.2 Reporting Violations
What to do if you witness a violation of our Terms of Use.
If you believe someone is violating our terms of use, please inform our customer service team or report it using the designated flag icon wherever available.
If we take action against the breach, you agree to cooperate with our investigation and take reasonable measures to help us resolve the issue.
5. Definitions
Here, we provide explanations for some of the terms used in our Terms of Use. Any other terms in italics should be defined when mentioned in the User Agreement or Terms of Service.
An artisan refers to a worker who practices a trade or handicraft.
A client is an individual using our site to seek freelancer services from another user.
A freelancer is an individual or agency utilizing our site to offer their services to clients.
Services pertain to the work performed by freelancers on BuildFirst.
Content encompasses the material posted by users on BuildFirst, such as comments, profiles, feedback, images, or other information. It includes any responses provided to questions posed by other users or BuildFirst.