Terms of Service

These terms govern your use of ToolpathCloud, a managed CNC programming service operated by Rapid Manufacturing (ABN 81 994 894 143) of PO Box 209, Toronto NSW 2283, Australia (“ToolpathCloud”, “we”, “us”). They apply to machine shops that send us jobs (“shops”) and to the programmers who program them (“programmers”). By creating an account you agree to them.

1. What we do

A shop uploads a part, its machine’s post processor and machine definition, and its tool library. We quote a fixed price, and once it’s paid, a vetted programmer writes the CNC program in ToolpathCloud’s Autodesk Fusion workspace. We check it, then deliver the NC program, setup sheet and Fusion archive to the shop.

You deal only with us. We engage the programmer; the shop’s contract is with ToolpathCloud, not with the programmer. Programmers see a job code, not the shop’s name, and shops don’t see who programmed their job.

2. Accounts

Accounts are for business use. You must give accurate details, keep your sign-in secure, and be authorised to act for the business you register. You’re responsible for what is done under your account. We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, is used unlawfully, or puts us, other users or our providers at risk.

3. For shops: what you send us

A program is only as good as the data it’s written to. You’re responsible for the accuracy of what you supply: the model and drawing, the stock size, the material, tolerances and finish, your post processor, your machine definition, and a tool library whose tools, holders and stick-outs match what’s in your machine. Where there’s no drawing, the general tolerance class and surface finish you choose on the job are what the program is written to.

You confirm you have the right to send us the files you upload, including any your own customer gave you, and that sending them to us and to a programmer under these terms doesn’t breach any obligation you owe your customer. Remove your customer’s name and logo from the drawing and model before uploading. We automatically strip the hidden names inside STEP and PDF files (author, company, part name, document properties) before a programmer sees them, but we can’t remove what’s drawn on the page, and native Fusion, Parasolid and IGES files aren’t cleaned.

4. Quotes, prices and payment

We quote a fixed price for each job, in your account’s currency. A quote is valid for 14 days and isn’t an order until you pay it. We may correct or withdraw a quote before it’s paid. Prices include GST where GST applies; if ToolpathCloud is registered for GST, the GST component is shown on the quote.

Payment is taken by Stripe when you accept the quote. ToolpathCloud is the seller: the charge is made to us, and refunds come from us (see the Refund Policy). Turnaround is quoted in working days and starts when a programmer takes the job. We aim to meet it but delays can happen; we’ll tell you if a job is running late.

You can’t send a new job while the rating for a delivered program is overdue (section 7).

5. Delivery, proving out and acceptance

When a job is delivered you get the NC program, setup sheet and Fusion archive. You then have 7 days to prove it out and either accept it, ask for a revision, or raise a dispute. If you do none of these within 7 days, the job is treated as accepted.

You must verify every program before running it in production: check it against your setup, simulate it, and prove it out with the care any new program needs (for example single block, reduced rapids and feed override, and a first-article check). We check each program before delivery, but we don’t control your machine, setup, workholding, tooling or offsets, and a program can’t account for differences between the data you sent and what’s in your machine.

A revision corrects the program to match what you supplied and asked for. It isn’t a new job: a changed model, a different machine or new requirements are quoted as a new job.

6. Ownership and confidentiality

You keep all rights in the files you upload. When you’ve paid for a job, the program, setup sheet and Fusion archive delivered for it are yours to use, change and run without limit. We secure the rights to do this from the programmer.

We use your files only to quote, program, check and deliver your job, and to deal with any revision or dispute. We don’t sell them, share them beyond the programmer and the providers that run the service (see the Privacy Policy), or use them to train models. A programmer gets access to your job’s folder only while they’re working on it, and that access is removed when the job closes.

Don’t try to identify or contact the programmer of your job, or deal with them directly for work that came through ToolpathCloud.

7. Ratings

After a job is accepted, you rate how usable the program was. The programmer sees the rating but never who gave it, and ratings decide who gets offered work. A rating is due 14 days after acceptance; you can put it off twice if you haven’t run the program yet. Please rate honestly and on the program, not on things outside the programmer’s control.

8. For programmers

• Independent contractor. You work for ToolpathCloud as an independent contractor, not an employee, and you’re responsible for your own tax, insurance and business registrations.
• Vetting. Before taking paid work you complete a vetting job, and you’re offered jobs only on the machine types you’re vetted for. We may change your machine types, capacity or status, including suspending you, based on quality, timeliness and ratings.
• Payout. The payout shown on an offer is fixed. It’s paid once the shop accepts the program, currently in Australian dollars. A job cancelled or taken back before delivery isn’t paid.
• Confidentiality. Everything about a job (the model, drawing, shop data, machine and tooling, and your program) is confidential. Work on it only in the job’s folder in the ToolpathCloud hub. Don’t keep, copy or export it anywhere else, don’t share it, and don’t use it for anything but that job. When your access ends, delete anything you hold from it. This continues after your account closes.
• No contact or identification. Don’t try to find out who the shop or its customer is, or contact them, except through ToolpathCloud’s anonymous questions. Don’t take work from a shop directly that you met through a ToolpathCloud job.
• Ownership. You assign to ToolpathCloud all rights in the programs, setup sheets, Fusion files and other work you produce for a job, as you create them, so we can pass them to the shop. Where moral rights apply, you consent to the shop and us using and changing that work without attribution.
• Standard of work. Program to the shop’s machine, post and tool library, use only the tools in that library unless the job allows otherwise, and deliver by the due time.

9. Acceptable use

• Don’t try to breach, probe or overload the service.
• Don’t upload malware, or files you have no right to send.
• Don’t scrape, resell or white-label the service without our written agreement.
• Don’t use the service for anything unlawful, or to program parts whose manufacture is unlawful.

10. Australian Consumer Law

Our services come with guarantees that can’t be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or changes those guarantees, or any other right you have that can’t lawfully be excluded. Where the law allows us to limit our liability for failing to meet a guarantee, our liability is limited to supplying the services again or paying the cost of having them supplied again.

11. Liability

Subject to section 10, and to the extent the law allows:

• we’re not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profits, lost production or lost business;
• we’re not liable for loss or damage (including to a machine, tooling, workholding, material or parts) from running a program that wasn’t verified and proved out as section 5 requires, or that follows from inaccurate data you supplied;
• our total liability for any job is limited to the price paid for that job, and in total to the amounts you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.

12. Availability

We aim to keep ToolpathCloud working, but we don’t promise uninterrupted service. Maintenance and outages at our providers, Autodesk Fusion included, will happen. Except as section 10 provides, the service is provided as is.

13. Closing your account

You can close your account at any time by contacting us. Jobs in progress are finished or cancelled under the Refund Policy first. Confidentiality (sections 6 and 8) and anything else meant to last continue after closure.

14. Changes

We may update these terms. We’ll tell account holders by email before a material change takes effect. It doesn’t change jobs already paid for. If you keep using the service after that, you accept the updated terms.

15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, and you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that state and of the Commonwealth of Australia.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: support@toolpathcloud.com.