Terms of Use

DIGITAL PRODUCTS · CONSULTING · TRAINING

Effective September 19, 2026

Clear expectations for practical safety and readiness support. These terms cover H.S.S. digital resources, personalized plans, consulting, reviews and training.

Refunds, privacy and contact links are available in the footer.

1. Our business and your agreement

James Hildebrandt is a sole proprietor doing business as Hildebrandt Safety & Security Consulting (H.S.S.). Contact: hsssafetyconsulting@gmail.com. Mailing address: PO Box 2, La Porte, IN 46352, United States. This is a mailing address, not a walk-in office.

These terms apply to purchases and engagements for which they are presented and accepted. You must be at least 18 and authorized to act for the organization you represent. A separately signed engagement agreement controls over conflicting website terms. The product description or accepted written proposal defines the scope, price and deliverables. Existing purchases retain the terms accepted when purchased; new terms do not apply retroactively.

2. What our services do—and their limits

H.S.S. provides educational workplace and organizational safety/readiness resources, customized training, de-escalation education, incident-documentation guidance, reviews and management follow-through tools. A digital download alone does not create an individualized consulting engagement. Consulting applies only to the service ordered and accepted by H.S.S.; an inquiry alone is not an engagement.

Our work is not legal, medical, mental-health or employment-law advice; emergency response; protective services; security staffing; law enforcement; private investigation; engineering certification; or regulatory certification. A readiness review addresses only its agreed scope and the information and conditions reviewed. It does not certify that every hazard or legal requirement has been identified. Obtain qualified licensed advice where needed.

For an immediate threat or emergency, contact emergency services and follow your emergency procedures. H.S.S. does not continuously monitor your workplace or messages.

3. Deliverables, timing and additional work

The purchased offer or accepted proposal specifies what is included. Additional meetings, revisions, site visits, travel, implementation, monitoring and ongoing support require agreement unless expressly included. Extra work and expenses require advance agreement on scope and price.

Turnaround estimates begin after complete intake, necessary materials, agreed payment and scheduling information are received. H.S.S. DIRECT normally delivers a written plan within 48 hours of complete intake. The virtual Safety Readiness Review normally takes up to five business days after complete intake and materials and includes its advertised findings discussion. Estimates are not firm deadlines unless agreed in writing. We will communicate material delays and a revised schedule; you may request cancellation of unperformed work under our refund policy.

4. Client responsibilities

Provide accurate, relevant information that you are authorized to share, disclose important limitations or changes, and designate an authorized contact. Missing or inaccurate information can delay work or limit recommendations. You remain responsible for operations, supervision, staffing, implementation, emergency decisions and compliance. Evaluate recommendations against actual conditions and seek appropriate professional advice.

For agreed on-site work, provide lawful access, disclose known hazards and coordinate safe conditions. H.S.S. may pause unsafe, unlawful or out-of-scope work and discuss alternatives. Nothing here excuses H.S.S. from its own legal duties or responsibility for its conduct.

5. Payment, cancellation and partial billing

Prices, applicable taxes and agreed expenses are disclosed before purchase. No recurring subscription is created unless expressly agreed. An intake PDF or instruction download is not completion of a consulting service.

Before consulting begins: cancellation qualifies for a refund, less only nonrecoverable third-party costs specifically disclosed and authorized in advance.

After consulting begins: H.S.S. may partially bill for work actually performed and preauthorized, nonrecoverable expenses, up to the agreed fee. Any prepaid unearned balance will be refunded. For fixed-price work without priced milestones, deductions must be reasonable, proportionate and explained. No charge is made for unperformed work merely because a customer cancels.

Completed services: generally nonrefundable for a change of mind, but material errors, missing promised deliverables, nonperformance and legally required remedies remain reviewable. Rescheduling depends on mutual availability. Any additional cancellation or no-show fee must be separately disclosed and agreed before booking. If H.S.S. cancels or cannot complete the service, unearned fees are refunded.

Digital downloads: generally final once access is provided. Contact us about duplicate or erroneous charges, inaccessible or corrupt files, or a material difference from the description. We will assess correction, replacement or refund. Non-use or a change of mind alone generally does not qualify after access.

Send requests with the purchase email, order identifier and brief explanation to hsssafetyconsulting@gmail.com. Approved refunds return to the original payment method; bank and processor timing varies. Mandatory withdrawal/cancellation rights and lawful payment disputes are preserved. Where separate consent is legally required for immediate digital delivery or early service performance, these general terms do not replace it. See our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

ACTUAL THIRD-PARTY FEES AND COMMITTED COSTS

For a customer-requested cancellation or discretionary refund not caused by H.S.S. error, breach or failure to deliver, H.S.S. may deduct or bill reasonable, documented third-party costs directly attributable to that order and actually incurred and not recoverable. Examples may include retained payment-processing or platform fees, currency-conversion or refund charges, and preapproved nonrefundable travel, venue, materials or subcontractor commitments. A cost qualifies only if its type and amount, or an understandable calculation method, were clearly disclosed and agreed before purchase or before the expense was authorized, and recovery is permitted by applicable law and payment-provider/card-network rules. Merely listing possible costs here does not authorize an unspecified charge.

We itemize deductions, make reasonable efforts to recover avoidable costs, and credit any amount later recovered. No markup, duplicate recovery, general overhead or undisclosed administrative penalty is added. Completed work and recoverable costs together will not exceed the agreed order or engagement price, including separately approved expenses. Any remaining unearned prepayment is refunded.

We do not deduct these fees when a full refund is legally required, when applicable cancellation or withdrawal rights prohibit deductions, or when the refund results from our error, nonperformance or cancellation. This clause does not authorize a payment-card surcharge, automatic new card charge, or a penalty for a lawful payment dispute. Processing, dispute or collection costs are not automatically payable by a customer merely because a provider charges H.S.S. Mandatory rights and any more protective written promise prevail.

6. Ownership and permitted use

H.S.S. retains ownership of its original resources, methods, templates, training materials and pre-existing intellectual property. You retain ownership of materials you provide. Unless your offer or signed agreement says otherwise, full payment provides a nonexclusive, nontransferable license for personal, professional or internal organizational use consistent with the purchased scope, including internal staff use. You may share consulting deliverables with your professional advisers for the engagement, subject to confidentiality.

Do not resell, publicly redistribute, sublicense, rebrand or remove ownership notices without written permission. Sharing a report does not create a consulting relationship with or authorize reliance by a third party. No exclusive ownership or work-for-hire transfer is included unless agreed in writing. Recording training or meetings requires prior agreement by all necessary parties.

7. Confidentiality and information handling

Use roles and anonymized examples whenever possible. Do not send passwords, full card details, Social Security numbers, patient records, confidential personnel files or unnecessary identifying information about minors through ordinary forms or email. If sensitive material is essential, agree on scope and a suitable transfer process first. Receiving a message does not create legal privilege or a regulated-data service.

Each party will use the other's nonpublic engagement information for the engagement or to exercise lawful rights, limit access to people and providers with a legitimate need, and take reasonable protective measures. This excludes information lawfully known already, independently developed, publicly available without breach, or lawfully obtained elsewhere. Legally required disclosure may occur, with notice when lawful and practicable. H.S.S. will not publicly identify a client in a case study or testimonial without permission.

H.S.S. uses software and AI-assisted tools for business administration, communications and drafting. Our Privacy Policy explains information handling. AI assists with the work; material consulting judgments and business decisions remain with H.S.S. and its owner. AI output is not a substitute for professional judgment, and H.S.S. remains responsible for its agreed services.

8. Standard of service and no guaranteed outcome

H.S.S. will perform agreed services with reasonable care and skill. Guidance reflects the agreed scope and information available at the time; conditions and requirements can change. We do not guarantee prevention of incidents, injury, violence, loss, litigation or regulatory action, or any particular business outcome. These limits do not cancel an express deliverable, the reasonable-care commitment or a mandatory legal warranty.

9. Limits on liability

To the extent permitted by applicable law, H.S.S. and its owner, personnel and contractors are not liable for indirect, special or consequential losses, including lost profits or business interruption, arising from a product or engagement. To the extent permitted by law, aggregate liability for claims arising from a particular product or engagement is limited to the fees paid or payable for it.

These limits do not apply to fraud, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or liability or remedies that cannot legally be limited, including death or personal injury caused by negligence where restriction is prohibited. They do not reduce an expressly owed refund. Mandatory consumer rights prevail. This section allocates contractual risk; it does not change the business's legal structure or create personal immunity.

9A. LIMITED RELEASE FOR ONLINE CONSULTING — READ BEFORE AGREEING

This section applies only to an online consulting service, personalized plan or remote readiness review when the purchaser is shown a clear reference to this release before purchase and affirmatively accepts it, or signs an engagement agreement expressly incorporating it. It does not apply merely because someone visits this website or buys a stand-alone digital download. It applies only to the accepting purchaser and its own claims; an organization representative must have authority to bind that organization. It does not waive claims belonging to employees, participants or other third parties.

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE ACCEPTING CLIENT RELEASES JAMES HILDEBRANDT, DOING BUSINESS AS HILDEBRANDT SAFETY & SECURITY CONSULTING, AND PERSONNEL PERFORMING THE AGREED ONLINE SERVICE, FROM CLAIMS FOR PURELY ECONOMIC LOSS CAUSED BY THEIR ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE IN PREPARING OR COMMUNICATING THE ADVISORY RECOMMENDATIONS WITHIN THAT AGREED SERVICE. Ordinary negligence means a failure to exercise reasonable care; this provision expressly includes H.S.S.'s own ordinary negligence within that limited scope. This is a limited release of legal rights, not a guarantee of safety or a certification of compliance.

EXCLUSIONS: This release does not cover bodily injury, death, physical property damage, fraud, intentional or willful misconduct, gross negligence, breaches of confidentiality or data-protection duties, or any liability or remedy that cannot lawfully be waived. It does not excuse failure to deliver the purchased service, remove an express contractual promise or the reasonable-care commitment, or eliminate an owed refund or applicable consumer rights. Claims for breach of those express promises remain subject to applicable law and the separate, lawful limitations in section 9. Nothing authorizes unsafe or unlawful advice or requires indemnifying H.S.S. for third-party claims.

The client retains responsibility for operational decisions, implementation and obtaining any required licensed professional advice. H.S.S. remains responsible for the agreed work and its own non-waivable duties. A signed engagement agreement controls over conflicting website terms. If this release is not valid or was not affirmatively accepted, it is not treated as an automatic waiver; other lawful provisions continue. The release applies prospectively, not to earlier purchases or known existing claims.

10. Resolving concerns and governing law

Contact hsssafetyconsulting@gmail.com so we can try to resolve a concern. Doing so does not shorten legal deadlines or prevent emergency relief, complaints to authorities, lawful payment disputes or claims in an available court. Indiana law governs to the extent permitted, without overriding mandatory protections under other applicable law. These terms impose no mandatory arbitration or class-action waiver.

11. General provisions and updates

Events reasonably beyond a party's control may delay performance; affected parties should communicate and mitigate. Such events do not permit retaining unearned fees for services that will not be provided. If a provision is unenforceable, remaining provisions continue to the extent lawful. A failure to enforce once is not a waiver. Applicable signed agreements, accepted scope documents and these terms form the engagement agreement. Material changes to an existing engagement require agreement.

Questions? Contact H.S.S. · hsssafetyconsulting@gmail.com

PO Box 2, La Porte, IN 46352