Terms and Conditions
These Terms and Conditions govern your access to and use of the Ask Michael platform, including user accounts, partner accounts, AI-assisted engineering tools, generated content, subscriptions, and related services.
Effective Date: 24 August 2026
1. Acceptance of These Terms
By accessing, registering for, purchasing, or using Ask Michael, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree with these Terms and Conditions, you must not access or use the platform. Where you create or use an account on behalf of a company, employer, organisation, or other legal entity, you confirm that you have the authority to bind that entity to these Terms and Conditions.
2. About Ask Michael
Ask Michael is an AI-assisted software platform designed to provide information, analysis, document assistance, technical guidance, workflow support, and other tools relating primarily to heavy engineering, aluminium smelting, welding, repair, documentation, and related technical activities. Ask Michael uses artificial intelligence and other automated technologies to generate responses and other outputs based on information provided by users and information available to the platform. The platform is an information and decision-support tool. It is not a substitute for appropriately qualified professional judgment.
3. Eligibility and Authority
You must provide accurate and truthful information when creating or maintaining an account. You are responsible for ensuring that you are legally entitled to use the platform and that your use of the platform complies with all laws, regulations, contractual obligations, workplace requirements, and professional obligations applicable to you. If you use Ask Michael on behalf of a business or organisation, you represent that you are authorised to do so and that you have the necessary authority to submit information, documents, images, drawings, specifications, and other materials on its behalf.
4. Accounts and Account Security
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your account credentials, passwords, authentication information, API keys, access tokens, and other account credentials. You are responsible for activities carried out through your account, except where applicable law provides otherwise. You must immediately notify Ask Michael if you believe that your account, password, API key, or other credentials have been compromised or used without authorisation. You must not share credentials with unauthorised persons or permit third parties to access an account in a manner that breaches these Terms.
5. Partner Accounts
Partner accounts may provide access to additional platform functionality, usage allowances, API access, billing arrangements, or other services agreed between Ask Michael and the relevant partner. The partner is responsible for ensuring that its employees, contractors, representatives, customers, systems, and other authorised users comply with these Terms. A partner remains responsible for activity carried out through credentials, API keys, or other access mechanisms issued to that partner, subject to applicable law. Partners must take reasonable steps to protect API keys and must not publish, distribute, sell, or otherwise disclose private credentials to unauthorised persons.
6. Acceptable Use
You agree to use Ask Michael only for lawful and legitimate purposes. You must not misuse the platform, attempt to gain unauthorised access, interfere with platform functionality, circumvent usage limits, reverse engineer the service, introduce malicious code, abuse API access, or use the platform to violate the rights of another person or organisation. You must not use Ask Michael in a manner that could reasonably be expected to damage the platform, its infrastructure, its users, or its service providers. Ask Michael may suspend or restrict access where reasonably necessary to protect the platform, its users, its systems, or third parties.
7. AI-Generated Information and Outputs
Ask Michael uses artificial intelligence to generate responses, recommendations, explanations, analyses, summaries, documents, templates, and other outputs. AI-generated outputs may contain errors, omissions, inaccuracies, outdated information, inappropriate recommendations, or incorrect interpretations of information supplied to the platform. AI output must therefore be treated as assistance and information rather than as a guaranteed statement of fact or professional advice. Ask Michael does not guarantee that any AI-generated output is accurate, complete, current, suitable for a particular purpose, or free from errors. You are responsible for independently reviewing and verifying all material AI-generated output before relying upon, implementing, approving, signing, issuing, publishing, or distributing it.
8. Engineering, Safety and Professional Responsibility
Ask Michael is not a replacement for a qualified engineer, welding engineer, inspector, safety professional, legal adviser, regulatory specialist, or other appropriately qualified professional. Information produced by Ask Michael may relate to engineering, welding, fabrication, aluminium smelting, pot shell repair, maintenance, inspection, technical documentation, standards, codes, procedures, or safety-related matters. Such information must be independently reviewed by suitably qualified and authorised personnel before being used in an actual engineering, manufacturing, construction, repair, maintenance, safety, compliance, or operational environment. You remain solely responsible for determining whether a recommendation, calculation, procedure, drawing, specification, document, repair method, welding instruction, or other output is appropriate for the specific circumstances in which you intend to use it. You are also responsible for complying with applicable laws, regulations, engineering requirements, workplace requirements, safety procedures, standards, codes, specifications, manufacturer requirements, customer requirements, and professional obligations.
9. Standards, Codes and Compliance
References to ISO standards, welding standards, engineering codes, regulations, specifications, procedures, material grades, industry practices, or other technical requirements are provided for informational and decision-support purposes. Ask Michael does not guarantee that any generated content satisfies the requirements of a particular standard, certification body, regulator, customer, employer, insurer, auditor, engineer, inspector, or other authority. Users must obtain and consult the applicable official, current, and authorised versions of standards, codes, regulations, specifications, and other controlling documents. Where a qualified person, competent authority, customer, employer, regulator, inspector, or certification body is required to approve work or documentation, that approval remains the responsibility of the relevant qualified or authorised person or organisation.
10. User-Submitted Information and Documents
You are responsible for ensuring that you have the necessary rights, permissions, licences, consents, and authority to submit any information, documents, drawings, photographs, images, specifications, data, text, or other materials to Ask Michael. You must not upload or submit material that you are not authorised to disclose or process. You remain responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and legality of information that you provide to the platform. Ask Michael does not assume responsibility for determining whether you have the legal right to submit information or whether information supplied by you is accurate or complete.
11. User Content and Generated Content
You retain responsibility for content and information that you submit to the platform. Subject to applicable law and any separate written agreement, Ask Michael does not claim ownership of your confidential business information merely because you submit it to the platform. You grant Ask Michael the permissions reasonably necessary to process submitted information for the purpose of providing, maintaining, securing, improving, and supporting the services, subject to applicable privacy and data-protection obligations. You remain responsible for reviewing AI-generated material before using or distributing it and for ensuring that its use does not infringe the rights of another person or organisation.
12. Intellectual Property
Ask Michael and its licensors retain all rights, title, and interest in the platform, software, interface, branding, logos, designs, technology, source code, documentation, features, and other proprietary materials forming part of the service. Except where expressly permitted by Ask Michael or applicable law, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, sell, lease, sublicense, reverse engineer, decompile, or create derivative works from the platform or its proprietary components. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of Ask Michael's underlying software or technology to a user or partner.
13. Payments and Subscriptions
Certain features or services may require payment. Payments may be processed through third-party payment providers, including Paystack or other providers made available by Ask Michael. You agree to provide accurate billing information and to pay applicable charges when due. Pricing, subscription plans, usage limits, billing cycles, and included features will be presented at the relevant point of purchase or subscription. Unless otherwise required by applicable law or expressly agreed in writing, fees already properly incurred are not refundable merely because the service was not used during the applicable billing period. Third-party payment providers may have their own terms, conditions, privacy policies, and processing requirements.
14. Service Availability and Third-Party Services
Ask Michael aims to provide reliable access to the platform but does not guarantee that the service will always be available, uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or free from delays. The service may occasionally be unavailable because of maintenance, upgrades, technical problems, security events, network failures, infrastructure problems, or circumstances outside Ask Michael's reasonable control. The platform may depend upon third-party infrastructure and services, including hosting, authentication, payment processing, databases, artificial intelligence services, telecommunications, and other service providers. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Ask Michael is not responsible for failures caused solely by third-party services or circumstances outside its reasonable control.
15. Privacy and Personal Information
Personal information submitted through Ask Michael may be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection laws. You are responsible for ensuring that you have the necessary authority or lawful basis to provide personal information relating to other individuals through your account. Where you use Ask Michael on behalf of an organisation, you remain responsible for complying with applicable privacy, confidentiality, employment, contractual, and data-protection requirements relating to information that you submit. Our Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, stored, protected, and otherwise processed.
16. Confidentiality and Sensitive Information
Users and partners should carefully consider whether highly confidential, commercially sensitive, proprietary, regulated, or legally privileged information should be submitted to an online AI service. You are responsible for ensuring that your use of the platform is permitted by your own confidentiality agreements, employer policies, customer contracts, regulatory requirements, and other applicable obligations. Unless expressly agreed in writing, Ask Michael does not provide a guarantee that information submitted to the platform is subject to a specific industry-specific confidentiality regime beyond the protections and obligations expressly described in our Privacy Policy and applicable agreements.
17. Security and Unauthorised Access
Ask Michael takes reasonable measures intended to protect the platform and information processed through it. However, no internet-based system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You acknowledge that risks may arise from compromised credentials, malware, phishing, insecure devices, network failures, third-party infrastructure, user error, or other circumstances outside Ask Michael's reasonable control. You must take reasonable steps to protect your own devices, passwords, API keys, authentication information, and account access.
18. Suspension and Termination
You may stop using Ask Michael at any time, subject to any outstanding contractual or payment obligations. Ask Michael may suspend, restrict, or terminate access where reasonably necessary because of a breach of these Terms, suspected misuse, security concerns, non-payment, unlawful activity, abuse of the service, or circumstances affecting the operation or security of the platform. Where reasonably practicable and appropriate, Ask Michael may provide notice before taking such action. Termination does not automatically remove obligations that by their nature are intended to survive termination, including provisions relating to intellectual property, liability, indemnification, confidentiality, payment obligations, and dispute resolution.
19. Disclaimer of Warranties
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Ask Michael provides the platform and its AI-assisted features on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis. Ask Michael does not warrant that the platform will always be available, uninterrupted, error-free, secure, accurate, complete, suitable for a particular purpose, or capable of meeting every user's requirements. Ask Michael does not warrant that AI-generated information will be accurate, complete, current, suitable for a particular engineering application, compliant with a particular standard, or free from errors or omissions. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any warranty, guarantee, right, or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law.
20. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Ask Michael, its owners, operators, employees, contractors, service providers, licensors, and affiliates will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive losses or damages arising from or relating to your use of, or inability to use, the platform. This may include, to the extent permitted by law, loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of business opportunities, loss of anticipated savings, loss of data, business interruption, or other indirect commercial losses. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Ask Michael will not be responsible for losses arising from a user's reliance upon unverified AI-generated information, technical recommendations, calculations, procedures, documents, specifications, engineering suggestions, safety-related information, or other generated output. Users remain responsible for reviewing and independently verifying AI-generated output before using it in any real-world application. Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude or limit liability where such exclusion or limitation is prohibited by applicable law, including liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
21. Indemnification
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Ask Michael, its owners, operators, employees, contractors, affiliates, and service providers from claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and reasonable expenses arising from your unlawful use of the platform, your breach of these Terms, your violation of another person's rights, your unauthorised submission or use of information, or your misuse of the service. This provision does not apply to the extent that the relevant loss or claim was caused by conduct for which Ask Michael cannot lawfully exclude responsibility.
22. Force Majeure
Ask Michael will not be responsible for delay, interruption, or failure to perform caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control. Such circumstances may include natural disasters, severe weather, power failures, internet or telecommunications failures, cyber incidents, government action, labour disputes, infrastructure failures, failures of third-party service providers, war, civil unrest, or other events beyond reasonable control.
23. Changes to These Terms
Ask Michael may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to the platform, business operations, legal requirements, security practices, or services. Where appropriate, material changes may be communicated through the platform or other reasonable means. The updated Terms will apply from the effective date stated in the revised Terms, subject to applicable law. Where continued use constitutes acceptance under applicable law, continued use of the platform after the effective date may constitute acceptance of the updated Terms.
24. Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms are intended to be governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, subject to any mandatory legal rights or protections that apply to a user. Any dispute relating to the platform or these Terms should first be raised with Ask Michael so that the parties have a reasonable opportunity to attempt to resolve the matter. Nothing in this section prevents a person from exercising a mandatory right, remedy, complaint procedure, or dispute resolution mechanism available under applicable law.
25. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable, that provision will be interpreted or limited to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, where legally permitted. If it cannot be made enforceable, the affected provision will be severed to the extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.
26. Entire Agreement
These Terms, together with any applicable subscription information, order terms, partner agreements, Privacy Policy, and other terms expressly incorporated by reference, form the agreement governing your use of Ask Michael, subject to any separate written agreement between Ask Michael and a partner or customer. If a separate written agreement expressly conflicts with these Terms, the applicable written agreement will govern to the extent of the conflict.
27. No Waiver
If Ask Michael does not immediately enforce a provision of these Terms, that does not mean Ask Michael has waived its right to enforce that provision later. Any waiver must be considered in the context in which it is given and does not automatically constitute a continuing waiver of future breaches.
Important AI and Engineering Notice
Ask Michael is an AI-assisted platform and should not be treated as an autonomous engineering authority. AI-generated content may be incorrect, incomplete, outdated, or unsuitable for a particular application. Users and partners must independently verify important information before relying upon it, particularly where output could affect safety, equipment integrity, personnel, production, compliance, financial decisions, engineering work, welding, fabrication, repairs, maintenance, or other real-world activities. No AI-generated response should be treated as approval, certification, inspection, engineering sign-off, legal advice, safety approval, regulatory approval, or professional certification. The final decision to use, modify, approve, reject, implement, or rely upon any information or generated content remains with the user and/or the appropriately qualified person or organisation responsible for the relevant work.
28. Contact
If you have questions regarding these Terms and Conditions, account access, subscriptions, or the Ask Michael platform, please contact Ask Michael through the contact details provided on the platform or official website. Please retain a copy of these Terms for your records.