Privacy Policy

Fundamental Designs (Pty) Ltd

Last updated: [date of publication]

1. Who we are

Fundamental Designs (Pty) Ltd is a furniture, cabinetry and shopfitting manufacturer in Wynberg, Sandton. We are the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy, as that term is used in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”).

Fundamental Designs (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2019/255158/07
53 4th Street, Wynberg, Sandton, 2090
+27 11 887 1683 · info@fundamental.co.za

Information Officer: The Managing Director — info@fundamental.co.za

This policy covers fundamental.co.za. Our Providence Outdoor Furniture division has its own website and its own privacy policy at providenceoutdoor.co.za.

2. What this policy covers

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have. It applies to this website, to project enquiries and trade account applications you send us, and to the projects we carry out for you or your clients.

This website is intended for people over the age of 18 and for businesses. We do not knowingly collect information about children. If you are under 18, please do not submit your details.

3. What we collect and where we get it

When you send a project enquiry:

• your name and surname
• your email address and telephone number
• whether you are an architect, interior designer, agent, retailer or homeowner, and the name of your practice or company
• a description of the project, and any drawings, specifications or photographs you send us

When you apply for a trade account:

• your name, surname, email address and telephone number
• your company or practice name, the type of business, and your website or Instagram account if you give it
• your VAT number, if you are VAT registered
• a description of your business and the work you do

When we work on a project together:

• invoicing, delivery and site addresses
• payment references and proof of payment
• the names and contact details of the people we deal with on site

Information we collect automatically when you visit our website: your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit and how long you spend on them. See clause 9 on cookies.

Information from other sources. Most of our work comes through architects, interior designers, shopfitters and agents. That means we often receive the details of a homeowner or end client from the professional acting for them, or of a professional from a client who has worked with them. Where that happens, we will tell you we have your details when we first contact you, and we use them only for the project concerned.

Providing your information is voluntary, but we cannot quote for, manufacture or install a project without a name, contact details and a delivery or site address, and we cannot open a trade account without confirming that your business exists. If you prefer not to give us those, we will not be able to do business with you.

4. Why we process your information

We use your personal information only to:

• answer your enquiry and prepare a quotation and shop drawings
• assess and administer your trade account application
• manufacture, deliver, install and invoice your project
• handle guarantee claims, snags and complaints
• keep the accounting and tax records the law requires us to keep
• send you occasional information about our work (see clause 5, and how to opt out)
• protect our legal position if a dispute arises

In legal terms, we process your information because it is necessary to conclude and perform our contract with you or with the client you act for, to comply with laws that apply to us — including the Companies Act, the Tax Administration Act and, where you are a consumer, the Consumer Protection Act — and, for marketing, on the basis described in clause 5.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with anyone for their own marketing purposes.

5. Marketing and how to stop it

If you hold a trade account with us, have commissioned work from us, or have asked us for a quotation, we may send you occasional information about our work and services. Every message we send includes a way to unsubscribe, and you can tell us to stop at any time by replying to any message or emailing info@fundamental.co.za. We will stop, and we will not ask again.

If you have not worked with us or enquired, we will only market to you if you have specifically asked us to. We will not add you to a mailing list just because you sent an enquiry or applied for a trade account.

We will not contact you for marketing purposes on a Sunday or public holiday, on a Saturday outside 09:00–13:00, or on a weekday outside 08:00–20:00.

6. Who we share your information with

We share your information only where we need to, and only with:

• The designer, architect, agent or shopfitter on your project, where they brought us in or are managing the work — they receive what is needed to coordinate the job and nothing more
• Transport and installation contractors, to deliver and install your project — they receive your name, site address and telephone number
• Our website, email and IT providers, who host the systems your information sits in. Our website is built and hosted on the Duda platform.
• Our accountants and auditors, for record-keeping and tax purposes
• Our attorneys, if a dispute arises
• Banks, to process and reconcile payments
• Anyone we are legally required to give it to — a court order, a regulator, or a lawful request from a law enforcement authority

Everyone who processes your information on our behalf is bound by a written agreement requiring them to keep it confidential, use it only for the purpose we gave it to them for, and secure it properly.

7. Information sent outside South Africa

Some of the services we use — website hosting, email and cloud storage — are provided by companies based outside South Africa, which means your information may be stored or processed in another country. Where that happens, we only use providers that are subject to laws or binding agreements giving your information a level of protection comparable to POPIA.

Where we manufacture for a project outside South Africa, we share what is needed with the client, designer and contractors in that country to deliver and install the work.

8. How long we keep it

We keep your personal information for as long as you are a customer or trade account holder, and for five years after your last payment to us. Five years is the period the Companies Act and the Tax Administration Act require us to keep financial records.

We keep enquiries and trade account applications that do not lead to an account or an order for 24 months and then delete them.

Drawings and shop drawings for completed projects are kept with the project record, because we are often asked to match or extend earlier work years later.

After these periods we delete or de-identify your information.

9. Cookies and website analytics

Our website uses cookies — small files stored on your device — to make the site work and to help us understand how it is used.

• Necessary cookies make the site function. The site will not work properly without them.
• Analytics cookies tell us which pages are visited and how people move through the site, so we can improve it. We use our website platform’s built-in analytics and Google Analytics for this.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block necessary cookies, parts of the site may not work.

10. How we protect your information

We take reasonable steps to keep your information secure, including access controls on our systems, encrypted connections on our website, and written agreements with the service providers who handle it for us.

If your personal information is ever accessed by someone who should not have it, we will tell you and the Information Regulator, as POPIA requires.

11. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Ask what we hold about you. We will tell you, free of charge, what personal information we have and who we have given it to. A fee may apply for copies of records.
• Correct or delete it. If anything we hold is wrong, out of date, incomplete, misleading, or we no longer have a reason to keep it, tell us and we will fix or remove it.
• Object to how we use it. You can object to our processing your information on the basis of our legitimate interests.
• Withdraw your consent, where we relied on it. This will not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
• Stop receiving marketing, at any time, as described in clause 5.
• Complain. Please raise it with us first — we would like the chance to put it right. You can also complain directly to the Information Regulator.

To exercise any of these rights, email info@fundamental.co.za.

Information Regulator (South Africa)
Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191
Telephone: 010 023 5200 · Toll free: 0800 017 160
Complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top. If we make a significant change to how we use your information, we will tell you.

13. Contact us

Fundamental Designs (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2019/255158/07
53 4th Street, Wynberg, Sandton, 2090
Visits by appointment only
+27 11 887 1683 · info@fundamental.co.za
www.fundamental.co.za

See also our Website Terms of Use and our Terms and Conditions of Sale.