This Contractor Agreement governs your participation as an Engineer on oscabe.com operated by OSCABE LTD (Company No. 15913493). It is in addition to the general Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy.
1. Your status as an independent contractor
You are an independent contractor of any Client that engages you through OSCABE. You are not an employee, worker, agent, partner or joint venturer of either the Client or OSCABE. You are responsible for your own tax, social-security and benefits arrangements in your country of residence.
OSCABE does not direct your day-to-day work. The Client agrees the scope, deliverables and timing with you directly through the Platform.
2. CE verification and platform tests
To go public on the Platform you must:
- Complete the platform-specific lab tests we assign for your declared skills (these are real engineering tasks, not multiple-choice).
- Provide proof of identity, address and right to work in your country of residence.
- Pass a Chartered Engineer review of your work history.
We may withdraw CE verification if your work later proves to fall materially below the standard you demonstrated at verification. You will receive written reasons and a right to appeal within 14 days.
3. Engagements
When a Client wants to hire you, OSCABE will issue a Placement. The Placement records:
- The Engagement type (monthly retainer or hourly).
- The agreed Client rate.
- Your engineer rate - currently seventy-five per cent (75%) of the Client rate.
- The minimum Engagement term (default three months) and minimum end date.
- Any project scope notes.
By accepting a Placement you accept the recorded rates and terms.
4. Your obligations
You will:
- Deliver work to the standard a Chartered Engineer would expect for your declared specialism.
- Submit accurate timesheets weekly using the Engineer Portal.
- Respond to Client queries within one business day during the Client's working hours, mindful of timezone overlap.
- Keep Client information confidential during and after the Engagement (see clause 9).
- Notify OSCABE within 24 hours if you become aware of a personal data breach, security incident or material delay.
- Maintain appropriate professional indemnity insurance where required by local law for the work you carry out.
You will not:
- Solicit the Client to engage you directly during the Engagement or within twelve (12) months after it ends.
- Subcontract any part of the work without the Client's and OSCABE's prior written consent.
- Use deliverables you produced for one Client in another Engagement without the originating Client's consent.
5. Intellectual property
Subject to the Client paying the relevant invoice in full, you assign to the Client all intellectual property rights in deliverables you create for that Engagement, with effect from creation. You retain the right to retain general know-how and skills you develop.
You grant OSCABE a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display your CE-verified profile, anonymised work records and platform-test scores on the Platform for matching purposes.
6. Timesheets, invoicing and payouts
You must submit a weekly timesheet by 23:59 UTC on Sunday of each week worked. The Client has 7 days to approve or query. On approval, OSCABE will create a payout to you and remit it within 5 business days of the Client's cleared payment.
Payouts are made in GBP (or EUR at your election) via Wise or local bank transfer.
7. Ratings and feedback
After each Engagement (and optionally during) the Client may rate you across technical, communication, punctuality and value dimensions. Your aggregate rating is visible on your public profile. You can flag a rating you believe is inaccurate; OSCABE may, at its discretion, remove or annotate the rating after review.
8. Suspension and termination
OSCABE may suspend or close your account immediately if you breach this Agreement, fall materially below the CE standard, or take an action that puts OSCABE or a Client at legal or reputational risk.
You may close your account at any time on thirty (30) days' written notice provided you have no active Engagements. Notice given during an Engagement takes effect at the end of the Engagement minimum term.
9. Confidentiality
You agree to keep confidential all non-public information shared with you in connection with an Engagement for five (5) years after the Engagement ends. This obligation does not apply to information that is or becomes public other than through your breach.
10. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by law, OSCABE's aggregate liability to you in any twelve-month period is limited to the Platform Fees you generated for OSCABE in that period.
Neither party is liable for indirect, special or consequential loss. Nothing in this Agreement limits liability for fraud, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability that cannot be excluded by law.
11. Data protection
You consent to OSCABE processing your personal data in accordance with the Privacy Policy. You retain all data subject rights set out there. You may withdraw consent for any optional processing at any time by emailing info@oscabe.com; withdrawal of consent for processing required to run the Engagement will end your participation on the Platform.
You expressly consent to OSCABE's AI-matching engine () evaluating your profile against Client briefs (Article 22 UK GDPR). You can withdraw this consent at any time; doing so will remove you from automated shortlisting but you can still be matched manually.
12. Equal treatment
OSCABE does not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic. Engineers from any country, gender, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or other protected characteristic are welcome on the Platform.
13. Governing law
This Agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction except that OSCABE may seek injunctive relief in any competent jurisdiction.
14. Acknowledgement
By ticking "I accept the Contractor Agreement" at sign-up you confirm you have read and accept this Agreement. OSCABE will store the version number, your IP address (hashed) and the timestamp of acceptance.