Capacity Network Partner Policies

Purpose

This Capacity Network Partner Policy (“Policy”) outlines our operational policies and provides you with common FAQs to help you understand and prepare for becoming a Builder.ai Capacity Network Partner. This Policy is incorporated by reference in its entirety into the Capacity Network Partner Agreement (the “Agreement”).

The document is split into three main sections:

  • Glossary of terms
  • Policies - these are policies that are important to us in our operational relationship
  • FAQs - questions and answers to help you get started and understand how we work 

We’re proud of what we can offer you as a Partner  and want to explain exactly what you’ll be getting and how our partnership works. That means this document is quite long and there’s a fair bit of legal stuff – so from now on instead of  talking about ‘Partner’, we’ll just say ‘you’ and rather than saying ‘Builder’ over and over, we’ll just say ‘us’ or ‘we’. 

Changes to Policy

We may change this Policy by posting an updated version of it – this updated Policy will be effective as soon as we post it.

Glossary of terms

Following is a glossary of unique terms and services used by Builder to aid in the understanding of this Policy:

  • Builder Hive™ - is our partner management system that is used by our capacity partners for on-boarding, expert assessment, followed by expert management, invoicing and tracking partner performance. It is also used by Builder to engage with our Capacity Partners.
  • Builder Tracker™ - The platform that Builder.ai uses to track hours worked by the experts working within our ecosystem
  • Experts - The name we use for Developer Personnel and all resources provided by the Partner to Builder.ai
  • Ninja - The role name of the Technical Project Managers responsible for the delivery of customer projects.
  • Productologist™ - The role name of the Product Managers responsible for defining the requirements and experience for customer projects
  • Sensei - The role of the solution architect/designers of customer projects
  • IDE - Integrated Development Environment - Builder uses its own version of IDE that Experts use to work with Builder virtually
  • Builder Assessment Platform - this is the platform used by us to assess the skill level and of the experts. We assess each of the disciplines that exist within our tech stack via this platform. We grade the experts and depending on the grade, will assign a level. Depending on the grade at assessment, the experts have the ability to go up and down the scale
  • Builder University - this is where experts will complete learning material relevant to their engagements with us such as IDE and Builder Tracker training. Builder University course completion is a prerequisite for being eligible for allocation

Our Policies

Rules of Conduct for Builder Hive

Builder commits to conduct its global business in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, act upon the highest ethical standards and treat others with respect and integrity.

  • All information entered into Builder Hive must be accurate and up to date. Expert availability must be accurately reflected daily. Any urgent absences must be reported to Builder as soon as possible.
  • Ensure that all correspondence regarding invoicing and payments are managed through Builder Hive so we have clear online source of information
  • Keep your login credentials safe and secure and only available to your designated Single Point of Contact (SPOC) or authorised delegate of your organisation. Builder.ai accepts no responsibility if abuse of the credentials leads to a loss for the partner. If credentials abuse leads to losses for Builder, then we reserve the right to invoke penalties as defined with the Agreement
  • Ensure that your SPOC contact details are up to date including email and phone number

Expert Assessments and Eligibility 

You play a critical role in the Builder ecosystem and in support of our customers. Accordingly, we assess the value, risk and implications of our partnership under the Agreement, including your Developer Personnel.

  • As per the terms of our Agreement we require evidence from the partner that the Expert is an employee of the organisation and/or hold qualifications within the discipline of which they are to be assessed. Acceptable evidence is a copy of their offer of employment letter on a company letterhead, signed by the Partner as well  scanned copies of any certificates relating to the skill. Builder reserves the right to query any documents submitted to us.
  • All experts are to be assessed using the Builder Assessment Platform for their respective skillset. The pass rate for the assessment remains at the discretion of Builder.
  • Where possible, the Builder Assessment Platform will determine the skill level and experience of the Expert based on their performance within the assessment. In some cases the Capacity Partner will be asked to nominate the Expert level at the beginning of the assessment and Builder will mark against the level accordingly
  • Builder reserve the right to adjust an Expert level based on an Experts quality score which is derived from the Builder Assessment Platform

Conduct Rules of the Experts

In the following, we set forth our expectations and rules for Experts as well as unacceptable behaviours:

  • When onboarding to the Builder.ai platforms, Expert will follow the rules set out with the assessment instructions. For example, use of earphones, mobile phones or any other recording devices are strictly prohibited.
  • After successful completion of the assessment, the expert will be required to complete the relevant Builder University assigned learning. The expected completion time for this is less than 120 minutes for all learning. Experts should complete this on the same day as successfully learning they have passed their assessment.
  • At the beginning of every working day, ensure that all equipment and Builder.ai tools are working as expected and report any issues at least 30 minutes before the start of an allocation to the relevant Builder project team.
  • If an expert is leaving your organisation, a minimum of two weeks notice must be given to Builder in order to ensure appropriate handover of responsibilities.
  • Attend all planned team meetings and collaboration sessions where agreed with Builder.
  • Throughout the working day, always be available for communication using the tools provided to you.
  • Ensure Builder Tracker is used throughout the day and only records hours worked by the Expert.
  • If the Expert allows the IDE to idle for longer than 5 minutes without deactivating Tracker, then Builder will remotely disable the Tracker, meaning hours will not be recorded.
  • At the end of each month, hours in Builder Tracker will be cross checked with the Builder project team to validate the accuracy of hours tracked vs hours worked. Hours not tracked will not be paid.
  • If absences are unplanned and urgent, the Expert must inform the Partner and the Partner must inform Builder as soon as possible.
  • It is the responsibility of the Partner to ensure the Knowledge Transfer (KT) between Experts within their business when one is leaving for extended absences and needs to be deallocated from a project.

In addition,unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated. Unacceptable behavior includes intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning conduct by any Expert in communications or meetings with Builder and its customers.  If an Expert is deemed to be acting in an unacceptable manner, Builder may take any action we deem appropriate, including removing any person from the meetups or related events without warning, as warranted, including removal from Builder Hive. 

If you are subject to unacceptable behaviour, notice that someone else is being subject to unacceptable behaviour, or have any other concerns, please notify Builder staff as soon as possible. We value all of our Experts.

Experts who repeatedly fail to follow these code of conduct may be exited from Builder Hive and repeated offences by Experts from the same Partner, may result in the termination of the Agreement.

Security 

The following outlines the facial recognition technology (FRT) used within Builder Hive and what is the data used for.

  • As part of the security measures utilised by Builder.ai to ensure that Experts sitting their assessments are who they say they are, we use facial recognition technology to authenticate identities. We do this by comparing the facial biometrics of the Expert against a photo of them that you have uploaded as part of their registration
  • Experts are required to use facial recognition to login to their IDE whenever they are working with Builder. Any attempts to impersonate or substitute Experts will result in the suspension of IDE and potential consequences up to and including the cancellation and termination of the Agreement, with all other rights and remedies reserved.
  • The images captured by us for the purposes of verification are stored securely by Builder.ai and are used exclusively for the purposes of verification and investigation in case of dispute. 
  • In the event that an Expert leaves your organisation, unless you tell us explicitly, we will retain the image in case they return to your business. In the event of a return, the Expert will not be required to go through the assessment process again. We will use their stored photo to complete a new facial recognition and they can begin working with us immediately. This is the same process for extended leaves of absence.

Acceptance of Expert Work Product

You represent and warrant that any Work Product submitted to Builder resulting from services provided your Expert meets the specified requirements established in the project, including but not limited to the following: 

  • All aspects of the software or design creation by Partners and their Experts (“Work Product”) must be done within the environments and toolsets provided by Builder. If for any reason the environment and toolsets are not available to the Partner due to technical reasons owned by Builder, then all work will cease to continue until such time as the environments and toolsets are restored. 
  • Work Product created outside of the Builderi systems will not be accepted at any time.
  • Any time and cost spent by the Partner and their Experts outside of the Builder systems will be borne by them entirely.

Rate Cards, Invoicing and Payments

Builder uses a competency-based approach to compensate Experts based on their skills, knowledge and experience.  We encourage the Partner to support and train their Experts, and further encourage Experts to take charge of improving their skills and Work Product. 

  • As part of the Partner onboarding process and initial negotiations with Builder - all rate cards for each skill set and level will have been agreed and these are final.
  • Partner will enter information concerning the skillset and rates of its Experts on Builder Hive. Partner’s compensation for the Services performed by Partner (or its Expert) will be at the posted rates on the Site (every Expert has the same rate per skill and level).
  • Where agreed, it is possible to apply a custom rate card to individual experts. e.g. An increased rate for an expert with a very high level of experience. This is on a case by case basis and will be authorised with the approval of the Head of Capacity Network at Builder
  • Unless otherwise agreed with Builder, all Billing cycles will be 60 days and calculated between the 15th-14th of each calendar month e.g 15th January - 14th February
  • All payments are made directly to the Partner nominated bank information. Please note, depending on the geography of the business there might be additional tax obligations that apply to you that you are responsible for.

Payment Dispute

We recognize that payment disputes may occur from time to time and encourage timely notification. We will work with you to even out the bumps.

  • Through Builder Hive and Builder Tracker the number of hours that have been tracked and are due for payment will be shown. If there are any discrepancies with the hours tracked and the amount the Partner believes are owed, claims can be raised directly in Builder Hive.
  • Claims will only be accepted for review within 30 days of the invoice cycle. 

Insurance

Insurance coverage protects all parties and provides confidence to all parties that a business is properly managing its risks.

  • Partners must secure general liability insurance during their engagements with Builder which must be $1M per occurrence coverage, at the minimum, and is required for Partners with more than 10 registered Experts
  • Where the Capacity Partner has less than 10 registered Experts or you are unable to obtain insurance in your country of operation, we may at our sole discretion increase your payment terms to 90 days and/or withhold at least 20% of invoices where there is a dispute.

Acceptance of Deliverables

Our goal is to provide our customers with the best work product or app.  In doing so, before or in  accepting Deliverables, we validate them for completeness and correctness, and most importantly for quality control.  

  • Builder expects that Deliverables from the Expert is fully unit tested and is bug free, or in the case of design, meets the minimum requirements for the UIW platform.
  • Builder reserves the right to ask the Expert to fix any defects within their Deliverables at the expense of the Partner if it is deemed that the code quality does not meet Builder or industry standards.
  • Repeated cases of the Deliverables not meeting the minimum requirements of Builder, may result in the Expert being deallocated from their project which may result in offset, deduction or losses in revenue or payment for the Partner
  • Builder reserves the right to reject Work Product completed or delivered by the Expert that was below the minimum standard. Experts shall not be credited for rejected Work Product.

Fraud and Impersonation

You, including your Developer Personnel, shall not provide information to Builder that is false, intentionally misleading, or otherwise likely to deceive Builder or perform any action to gain an unfair advantage on the Site and Site Services, including without limitation, impersonating any person, performing Services for another, circumventing or working around security and control features of the Site or Site Services, misrepresenting your identify, skills, services, hours, or affiliation with any person or organization (collectively, “Fraud”). In the event of Fraud, Builder may seek to withhold, reduce, or cancel payment and payment obligations to you and move to immediately close your Account, at its sole discretion and with or without notice.

We encourage everyone to report suspicious or inappropriate activity. We count on your help and diligence to make the Capacity Network experience as safe as possible. If you see a violation of our agreement, we encourage you to report it. We take all reporting seriously.

FAQ’s

Is Builder AI Capacity Network Partnership free to join?

There are no financial commitments required by your organisation to join the Capacity Network Partnership. The only cost is your time, as there are some processes such as onboarding your business which will require you to register your company information on our Builder Hive platform and submit certain documents in order for us to verify you and begin the partnership process. Builder Hive is our partner management system that is used by our capacity partners for on-boarding, expert assessment, followed by expert management.

How do you know how many hours each Expert has worked?

When an Expert accepts an allocation and begins work with us, they will use another one of tools - Builder Tracker to capture the hours they have worked. The hours are tracked against the story they have been allocated to work on by the Builder team, managing the project.

How does payment work?

At the end of each month, the Expert tracked hours are totalled and an invoice is generated by us and sent to you using Builder Hive. You will then be asked to agree to the invoice. Builder Hive also includes a capability to raise a query against any invoice should you have any. The normal payment is 60 days, however there are cases where the payment cycle is 30 days. 

How can I scale my business to increase supply to Builder.ai?

All Capacity Network Partners of Builder.ai are encouraged to discuss their growth ambitions with us. The ambition of Builder.ai is to support our partners with their own goals, as we at Builder.ai continue to grow. Whilst we cannot guarantee that infinite growth is possible, we continue to enjoy growth in demand for Builder.ai projects, month on month and this in turn translates to greater demand on our Capacity Network

How can I increase my payment terms from 60 days to 30 days?

Please speak to a member of the Capacity Operations team to discuss this as the terms of 30 days can be different depending on the circumstances of Builder and the size of the Capacity Partner

What are some of the terms used within Builder.ai?

  • “Hourly Contract” means a Service Contract for which Builder is charged based on the hourly rate charged by Partner.
  • “Hourly Invoice” means the report of hours invoiced for a stated period by a Partner for Partner Services performed for Builder.
  • "Milestone" means an event or task described in the Requirements or Project that must be completed by the corresponding Milestone Date set forth therein.
  • "Milestone Date" means the date by which a particular Milestone must be completed as set forth in the Requirements or Project.