Version 1.0Effective 4 September 2026

Highlighted items in square brackets are details still to be confirmed by the platform operator.

Terms and Conditions

Version: 1.0 Effective: 4 September 2026

1. Introduction and agreement to these terms

Welcome to NZ Backyard (nzbackyard.com) (the "Platform"), a New Zealand property-technology service that helps buyers, sellers and approved property professionals organise parts of a property journey in one place.

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") are a legally binding agreement between you and [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] ("we", "us", "our"). They incorporate the Privacy Policy, the Payment and Refund Policy and, if you use AI document assessment, the AI Document Assessment Notice.

You agree to these Terms by ticking the box marked "I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions" when you create an account or when you first sign in after they are published or materially changed. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform; you can decline on that screen, which signs you out without changing anything. We keep a record of the version you accepted and when.

Nothing in these Terms limits any right you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Fair Trading Act 1986 or any other New Zealand law that cannot be excluded by agreement.

2. Who we are

The Platform is operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], New Zealand Business Number [NZBN], of [REGISTERED ADDRESS]. You can contact us at [SUPPORT EMAIL]. Our privacy officer is reachable at [PRIVACY OFFICER EMAIL].

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract to use the Platform. The Platform is designed for property in New Zealand and for people dealing with New Zealand property, wherever they are. If you use the Platform for a business, organisation or client, you confirm you have authority to bind that business or organisation, and "you" includes it.

4. Your account

You must give accurate information when you register and keep it up to date, including your contact details and, for professionals, your organisation and registration number.
Your account is personal. Keep your password confidential, do not let anyone else use your account, and tell us promptly at [SUPPORT EMAIL] if you believe it has been compromised. You are responsible for activity on your account until you tell us.
You may sign in with Google. Google's terms and privacy policy apply to that service; we receive only your email address, name and profile picture.
Professional accounts (agent, lawyer, mortgage broker, builder or inspector) start with limited functionality until a platform administrator has checked the registration number you supplied against the relevant public register. A check is a record that a number matched the register on a date; it is not an endorsement, and section 17 explains what it means.
We may ask you to confirm details or provide information reasonably needed to keep the Platform secure and lawful.

5. What the Platform is

The Platform is a technology service. It lets you:

keep a record of properties you are interested in, listing or selling, and open a "case" (a property journey) for each;
invite the people working with you on a case — your agent, lawyer, mortgage broker, builder or inspector — and share tasks, timelines, messages and documents with them;
book and register for open homes and private viewings, and check in at a viewing by scanning a QR code;
upload, store, version, share and download property documents, and receive them from others;
record, for your own case, the stages of a transaction including offers and settlement events that the parties have made or agreed elsewhere;
find and contact independent service providers in the services directory;
use general educational tools such as a mortgage repayment calculator and property-type explanations; and
where switched on and acknowledged, request an AI document assessment (section 9).

The Platform stores and organises information you and the people you work with put into it. It does not check, verify or approve property information, documents, listings or the people who use it, except where these Terms say so.

6. We are a technology provider, not a party to your transaction

We provide software. We are not a party to any property transaction, listing, agreement, offer, tenancy, engagement or contract that you make with anyone through or alongside the Platform, and we are not anyone's representative. We do not negotiate for you, hold money for you, sign anything for you, or take any step in a transaction on your behalf. Every transaction you enter is between you and the other party, and every professional you engage is engaged by you directly.

7. Real estate agency limitations

We are not a licensed real estate agent, branch manager or salesperson, and the Platform does not carry out "real estate agency work" under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. In particular, we do not:

market or introduce a property to a buyer, or a buyer to a vendor, for reward;
act for a vendor or a buyer in relation to a sale or purchase;
appraise a property, advise on price, or recommend that you buy or sell any property;
communicate, present or negotiate offers or terms between parties; or
receive any fee that depends on whether a transaction proceeds.

The offers feature is a shared record between the parties and their advisers. When a buyer chooses to share an offer summary (an amount and a list of conditions) through the Platform, the Platform makes that summary visible to the people on the seller's case and notifies them, in the same way an email or a message would; when a seller marks an offer accepted or declined, or an agent records that an offer was presented or countered, the Platform records that status. The Platform does not draft, hold, sign or transmit any agreement, does not decide or advise on any term, does not negotiate, and does not act for either party in doing so. Whether an offer is legally made, accepted or binding is a matter for the parties and their lawyers, in writing, outside the Platform; a status shown on the Platform is not itself an offer, an acceptance or a contract. Where a licensed agent uses the Platform to publish a listing, schedule viewings, invite buyers or share documents, the agent — not us — is performing agency work and carries the obligations of a licensee, including the Real Estate Agents Act (Professional Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2012. Nothing on the Platform removes or reduces those obligations, and we do not interfere with any disclosure an agent is required to make.

8. No legal, conveyancing, financial, mortgage, valuation, engineering, inspection or other professional advice

Nothing on the Platform is legal advice, conveyancing, financial advice, mortgage or insurance advice, a valuation, a building or engineering report, an inspection, a survey, a tax opinion or any other professional service, and nothing on the Platform creates a professional, fiduciary, agency or advisory relationship between you and us. This includes:

educational content such as property-type explanations, checklists and the first-home-buyer guidance, which is general information that may not fit your circumstances;
the mortgage calculator, which performs arithmetic on figures and assumptions you enter and does not consider your situation or recommend any product, lender or amount;
checklists, tasks, reminders and timelines, which are organisational tools you and your advisers control;
information about the Overseas Investment Act or any other eligibility rule, which is general and dated; only your lawyer can confirm your position; and
any AI document assessment (section 9).

The professionals you invite to a case act for you under their own engagement, professional rules and terms; they do not act for us and we do not supervise them.

9. AI document assessment

The Platform contains an AI document assessment feature. It is switched off at the date of these Terms and is available only to accounts we expressly enable. When available:

It runs only when you press the button requesting an assessment of one document you nominate. Nothing you upload is sent to the AI provider otherwise.
Before your first assessment you must read and acknowledge the AI Document Assessment Notice. We record that acknowledgement.
The assessment is automated assistance for reading a document: summaries, extracted details, "traffic-light" prompts (including "unclear"), missing-item alerts and questions to ask a professional. It is not professional advice and not approval to proceed. It may be inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading, and may miss clauses, deadlines, defects, inconsistencies, risks or context.
You must not rely on an assessment as the sole basis for making or accepting an offer, signing an agreement, waiving or satisfying a condition, treating due diligence as complete, arranging finance or insurance, or buying or selling a property. You must read the original document and take it, with the assessment, to a qualified New Zealand lawyer or conveyancer and any other appropriate professional.
The assessment describes the exact file you uploaded at the time it was read; if the document or the facts change, it may no longer apply.
The full document is sent to our AI provider and processed outside New Zealand; the Notice and the Privacy Policy explain who receives it, where, for how long, and how to delete it.
If the feature becomes a paid feature, the Payment and Refund Policy applies to failed, incomplete or duplicate assessments.

10. Your responsibility to obtain independent advice

You are responsible for your own decisions. Before you make an offer, sign an agreement, waive a condition, arrange finance or insurance, or take any other step with legal or financial consequences, obtain advice from a lawyer or conveyancer and, where relevant, a mortgage adviser, valuer, building inspector, engineer or other suitably qualified professional. The Platform requires a lawyer to be on a buyer's case before an offer can be recorded because we think that matters — but it is not a substitute for you actually taking their advice.

11. Listings, property information and third-party information

Property information on the Platform comes from the people who enter it — agents, sellers, buyers — or from a source you ask us to import from (for example, listing facts from Trade Me, which remain subject to Trade Me's terms and are not our data). We do not verify it.
A listing is created and controlled by the agent or seller who publishes it. Its accuracy, its photographs and any description are their responsibility. Report a listing you believe is misleading to [SUPPORT EMAIL].
Ratings shown for service providers are supplied live by Google and displayed with Google's attribution; they are not our assessment and we do not store them.
Preview and demonstration content on the Platform (labelled as preview, demo or prototype data) is synthetic and does not describe real properties or people.

12. Viewings, QR check-in and communications

Open homes and private viewings are arranged, changed and cancelled by the listing agent or seller. A booking is a request to attend; attendance and access to the property remain at the agent's or seller's discretion and subject to their conditions.
When you book or register, the listing agent and the other members of their agency see your name, the phone number on your profile and whether you attended, and can keep that in their list of people interested in that property. Give accurate details; agents rely on them. Do not book viewings you do not intend to attend. When you register interest in a property, or accept an agent's invitation, the agency also sees your name, any message you send, the stage your case is at and how you found the listing.
A QR code at a viewing contains only an opaque, expiring token. Scanning it while signed in records your arrival time against your booking. Do not share or reproduce QR codes.
Messages you send on the Platform — case chat, invitations and services enquiries — are delivered to the people you address them to and may be retained by them. Be accurate, courteous and lawful. Section 15 sets out the rules; section 16 explains how to report harmful content.
Notifications about your account and cases are service messages. Marketing messages are sent only with your separate consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

13. Uploaded documents and your authority to upload them

You may upload only documents that you own or have the right to upload and share, and only for the people and purposes you select. Many property documents are prepared for one person under terms that limit copying: councils issue LIMs to the applicant; inspectors prepare reports for the client who commissioned them; records of title are Crown copyright licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand; the standard agreement for sale and purchase form is copyright of The Law Association and REINZ and licensed per transaction. You warrant that each upload and each share you make does not breach the terms under which you obtained the document or the rights of anyone else, and you are responsible if it does.
Documents you receive from another user were prepared for them. You have no contractual rights against the council, inspector or other author who prepared a document for someone else, and a document is valid only as at its issue date. Obtain your own LIM, inspection and other reports where your decision depends on them.
A sale and purchase agreement uploaded to a case may be shared only with the parties to that transaction and their advisers on that case. You must not use any document on the Platform as a template, or extract, republish or resell it.
We do not verify the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of any uploaded document.
Files are limited to the types and sizes the Platform accepts (currently PDF, JPEG and PNG up to 10 MB). We do not scan uploads for malware; take care with documents you receive.
Keep your own copies. The Platform is not an archive. Backups of uploaded files are limited (Privacy Policy, section 8) and documents may be deleted by the uploader, on account closure, or under a retention rule.

14. Privacy, confidential information and other people's personal information

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, where it is stored and processed (outside New Zealand), how long we keep it, and your rights, including how to ask for your information or to close your account. It is incorporated into these Terms.

Information you receive through the Platform about other people — contact details, documents, messages, offers, attendance — is given to you for the purposes of the property journey you share with them. Use it only for those purposes, keep it confidential, and comply with the Privacy Act 2020 in relation to it. Documents you upload may contain other people's personal or confidential information; you must have the right to share it.

15. Acceptable use

You must not:

use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, or in breach of the Real Estate Agents Act 2008, the Fair Trading Act 1986, the Privacy Act 2020, the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 or any other law;
impersonate anyone, misstate your role, registration or authority, or claim a professional qualification or licence you do not hold;
upload, share or send anything that is false, misleading, defamatory, threatening, harassing, obscene or otherwise harmful, or that infringes anyone's intellectual property or privacy;
use information about other users for marketing, prospecting, sale or any purpose outside the property journey it was shared for;
circumvent access controls, share links or QR codes with people not entitled to them, probe or test the security of the Platform, or access data you are not authorised to see;
upload malware, scrape or bulk-download the Platform or its content, use automated tools to access it (other than as we permit), or interfere with its operation;
use the Platform to provide a competing service, or to reverse-engineer it; or
use a listing, viewing or case to obtain someone's details for any purpose other than the transaction concerned.

We may remove content and suspend or close accounts that breach this section (section 21).

16. Reporting harmful or infringing content

Harmful digital communications. We host content that users post. If you believe a message, listing or other content on the Platform is a harmful digital communication about you, email [SUPPORT EMAIL] with your name, contact details, the specific content, where it appears and why you consider it harmful or unlawful, and whether you consent to your identity being given to the author. Within 48 hours we will pass the complaint to the author (anonymised if you ask), invite a counter-notice within 48 hours, and remove the content within 48 hours if the author cannot be reached or does not object; if the author objects, we will tell you and the content may stay while the matter is resolved through the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015. We do not disclose a complainant's or author's identity except with consent or by court order.
Copyright. If you believe content on the Platform infringes your copyright, send a notice to [SUPPORT EMAIL] identifying the work, the material and its location, your authority to act, and your signature. We will remove or disable the material as soon as possible on a credible notice and tell the uploader.
Other reports. You can report or block an enquiry thread in the services directory, and report any content to [SUPPORT EMAIL].

17. Third-party professionals, service providers, links and integrations

The agents, lawyers, mortgage brokers, builders, inspectors and other providers you find or invite on the Platform are independent. Any engagement is between you and them, on their terms, and they alone are responsible for their services and advice. We are not responsible for their acts or omissions, but this does not exclude any liability we have under a law that cannot be excluded.
A professional-verification mark on the Platform means only that a platform administrator matched the registration number the person supplied against the named public register on the date shown. It is not an endorsement, a licence, an accreditation, an identity check, a guarantee of quality or a confirmation that the person is currently licensed; registrations lapse and can be suspended. Building inspectors are not licensed under the Licensed Building Practitioners scheme and are not described as such. Check the register yourself before engaging anyone.
We do not currently receive any fee, commission or payment from any professional or service provider for introducing you, and no payment that depends on whether a transaction proceeds. If we ever introduce a referral arrangement it will be a fixed fee, disclosed on the relevant profile before you make contact, and these Terms will be updated first.
The Platform uses third-party services described in the Privacy Policy (hosting, database and storage, authentication email, AI provider, DNS, Google sign-in and ratings, Trade Me listing facts). Their availability and terms are outside our control; we may change providers on notice by updating the Privacy Policy.
Links to other websites are provided for convenience; we do not control or endorse them.

18. Fees, currency, GST, credits, subscriptions and renewals

Using the Platform is free at the date of these Terms, including listing a business in the services directory. We will not charge you for anything you have not expressly agreed to buy.
If we introduce a paid feature, plan or fee, you will see the price in New Zealand dollars (including GST where we are registered — our current status: [GST STATUS]), what it covers, any usage limit or expiry, when you will be charged, whether it renews, and how to cancel, before you buy. We will give at least 30 days' notice before a fee applies to a feature you already use, and you may stop using that feature or close your account without charge.
Subscriptions, if offered, renew only with your separate confirmation at sign-up and can be cancelled at any time for the next period. Credits, if offered, expire on the date shown at purchase.
The Payment and Refund Policy governs charging, receipts, refunds, cancellations and failed or duplicate charges, and forms part of these Terms.

19. Refunds, cancellations and failed assessments

Our refund position is set out in the Payment and Refund Policy. In summary: a failed or incomplete paid service is not charged or is refunded in full; a duplicate charge is refunded in full; a paid service that has been delivered has been performed, subject always to your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, which we do not exclude. We do not have a "no refunds" policy.

20. Availability, maintenance, changes and service interruptions

We aim to keep the Platform available but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may suspend the Platform for maintenance, security or updates, and will give notice where practical.
We may change, add or remove features. Where a change materially reduces something you have paid for, section 19 applies. Where a change affects these Terms materially, section 27 applies.
The Platform depends on third-party providers and the internet; interruptions outside our reasonable control may occur. Keep your own copies of important documents (section 13).
The Platform is provided to consumers with the guarantees of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (reasonable care and skill, fitness for a purpose you tell us about, reasonable time). Nothing here reduces them.

21. Suspension and termination

By you. You may stop using the Platform at any time and ask us to close your account (section 22).
By us. We may suspend or restrict your account, or remove content, where we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms, the law, or another person's rights; where required by law or a court; or to protect the security of the Platform or other users. Where practical we will tell you why and give you an opportunity to respond, and we will restore access if the concern is resolved. We may close an account that has been suspended for a serious or repeated breach, or that has been inactive for [INACTIVITY PERIOD] after giving notice.
We will not suspend or close your account merely because you have made a complaint or exercised a legal right.
On termination, sections that by their nature should survive continue: 13 (uploads), 14 (privacy and confidentiality), 16, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 28.

22. Account closure, document deletion and retention

To close your account, email [SUPPORT EMAIL] from your account address. The Privacy Policy (section 12) explains what is deleted and what is kept: your profile, preferences and sign-in identity are deleted; documents you uploaded and have not shared are deleted; documents you shared into a case and messages you sent may remain visible to the other participants because they are part of their record of the transaction; and records we must keep by law (consent evidence, audit records, transaction records) are retained for the period stated there and then deleted.
You can archive a document you uploaded at any time (it leaves the register but stays readable to the people you shared it with). There is no self-service deletion of documents yet: to have a document you uploaded removed, email [SUPPORT EMAIL] and we will remove it and its AI assessment, except where a buyer's settlement entitlement lets them keep reading it after settlement, in which case we will tell you.
Retention rules: [DOCUMENT RETENTION PERIOD]. We will tell you before a retention rule deletes anything of yours.

23. Warranties and disclaimers

We warrant that we will provide the Platform with reasonable care and skill.
Except as expressly stated in these Terms and to the extent permitted by law, the Platform, its content, and any assessment, calculation or information it produces are provided "as is" and we make no other warranty about their accuracy, completeness, fitness or availability.
Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 1986 that cannot lawfully be excluded. If you acquire the Platform for the purposes of a business, you agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply, as that Act permits, and that this is fair and reasonable given that business users can assess the Platform themselves before relying on it.

24. Limitation of liability

What we are always liable for. Nothing in this section limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, for breach of a guarantee under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 where you are a consumer, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.
What we are not liable for. Subject to that, we are not liable for loss that arises from: your reliance on any content, calculation, assessment or information on the Platform contrary to sections 8–10; the acts, omissions, advice or services of any agent, professional, service provider or other user; a decision to buy, sell, offer, sign, waive a condition, or arrange finance or insurance; information or documents entered by others; your breach of these Terms; or events outside our reasonable control.
Cap. Subject to the first paragraph, our total liability to you for all claims arising out of the Platform in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of the fees you paid us in that period and NZ$[LIABILITY CAP AMOUNT].
Consequential loss. Subject to the first paragraph, neither of us is liable to the other for loss of profit, loss of business, loss of a transaction or opportunity, or indirect or consequential loss, except that this does not apply to a consumer's rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 to recover reasonably foreseeable loss.

25. Your indemnity

If you breach section 13 (authority to upload) or section 15 (acceptable use), or if a claim is made against us by a third party because of content you uploaded or sent, you agree to compensate us for the reasonable costs and losses we suffer as a direct result — to the extent caused by your breach, and not for anything caused by our own breach or negligence. This indemnity does not apply to a consumer in respect of ordinary use of the Platform in accordance with these Terms.

26. Complaints and dispute resolution

Talk to us first. Email [SUPPORT EMAIL] with what happened and what outcome you want. We will acknowledge within 2 business days and try to resolve the matter within 10 business days. Privacy complaints go to [PRIVACY OFFICER EMAIL] and can also be made to the Privacy Commissioner.
If we cannot agree, either of us may take the matter to the Disputes Tribunal (for claims within its limit) or the New Zealand courts. Nothing prevents you from contacting the Commerce Commission, the Real Estate Authority (about a licensee), the Law Society (about a lawyer), the Financial Markets Authority or a dispute resolution scheme (about a financial adviser), or the Privacy Commissioner.
Notices to us must be sent to [SUPPORT EMAIL] or [REGISTERED ADDRESS]. Notices to you will be sent to your account email address or shown in the Platform.

27. Changes to these terms

We may change these Terms. Each version is numbered and dated at the top of this page, and we keep earlier versions. A change that is minor (wording, clarification, a corrected reference) takes effect when published. A change that is material — one that affects your rights, our obligations, fees, or what we do with your information — takes effect only after we have shown you the new version and you have accepted it on the acceptance screen at your next sign-in; until then the version you accepted continues to apply to you. If you do not accept a material change you may decline, which signs you out, and you may close your account without charge.

28. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. You and we submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts, which means you can bring a claim in New Zealand, and nothing prevents you from relying on consumer protections in the place where you live if the law gives you that right.

29. General

Severability. If any part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest continues, and the unenforceable part is replaced by a valid term that most closely achieves its intent.
Waiver. A failure to enforce a term is not a waiver of it.
Assignment. You may not transfer your account or these Terms to anyone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations to a successor operator of the Platform, and will tell you; your rights are not reduced by a transfer.
Entire agreement. These Terms, with the documents they incorporate, are the whole agreement between you and us about the Platform. They do not exclude any statement we were required by law to make or any right you have under law, and they do not affect any liability we have for a misrepresentation that the law does not allow us to exclude.
Relationship. Nothing creates a partnership, agency, employment, fiduciary or joint venture between you and us.
Electronic communications. You agree that we may communicate with you, and that you may accept these Terms and other agreements with us, electronically, as permitted by the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.

30. Version and effective date

This is version 1.0 of the Terms and Conditions, effective 4 September 2026. The version you accepted, and when, is recorded against your account.