Terms of Service

1. Who We Are

Brand Protocol Engineer is a web design and digital consultancy operated by Jesse A. Jobe. The business is registered in South Africa and operates from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

• Trading name: Brand Protocol Engineer
• Principal: Jesse A. Jobe
• Email: jesse@brandprotocol.engineer
• WhatsApp (UAE): +971 55 753 2969
• WhatsApp (SA): +27 62 109 7361
• Website: https://brandprotocol.engineer

This disclosure is made in compliance with Section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECT Act).

2. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using this website, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, you must stop using the website immediately. These terms apply to all visitors, users, clients, and anyone who engages with Brand Protocol Engineer's services. Entering into a service engagement constitutes additional acceptance of these terms alongside any separate engagement agreement.

3. Services Described

Brand Protocol Engineer provides the following services:

• Website design and development — custom WordPress websites built under the Master Execution Protocol (MEP) methodology
• Website remediation — auditing, diagnosing, and fixing existing websites against the MEP standard
• Ongoing retainer — hosting, maintenance, security monitoring, and performance management
• The Observatory — an interactive tool on this website that demonstrates commercial force analysis for educational and marketing purposes
• MEP Scan — an automated preliminary website evaluation tool available on this website

4. The Observatory and MEP Scan — Disclaimer

Brand Protocol Engineer makes no warranty — express or implied — that the Observatory or MEP Scan results are complete, accurate, current, or applicable to your specific situation. A comprehensive evaluation requires a formal engagement.

By submitting a URL to the MEP Scan, you represent that you have the authority to request an analysis of that website. You agree not to submit URLs for the purpose of competitive intelligence gathering, reverse engineering, or any unlawful purpose. Brand Protocol Engineer reserves the right to use anonymised and aggregated scan data for research, marketing, and product improvement purposes.

5. Engagement Terms

All formal service engagements (website builds, remediations, and retainers) are governed by a separate written agreement between Brand Protocol Engineer and the client. These Terms of Service apply to the use of this website and supplement any engagement agreement. In the event of a conflict, the engagement agreement prevails for matters within its scope; these terms prevail for all other matters.

Pricing and Payment

All pricing is quoted individually per engagement. No pricing is published on this website. Payment terms, milestones, and deliverables are defined in each engagement agreement. Brand Protocol Engineer reserves the right to decline any engagement at its sole discretion and without stating a reason.

Late payment: Any invoice not paid within the agreed period shall accrue interest at a rate of 2% per month (or the maximum rate permitted by law, whichever is lower) from the due date until paid in full. Brand Protocol Engineer reserves the right to suspend all work, restrict access to hosted services, and withhold deliverables until all outstanding invoices are settled.

Scope and Change Requests

Each engagement is scoped in writing before work begins. Any request that falls outside the documented scope — including but not limited to additional pages, features, revisions beyond the agreed number, or changes to approved designs — constitutes a change request and will be quoted separately. No out-of-scope work is performed without written agreement on the additional fee.

Revision Rounds

Each engagement includes a defined number of revision rounds as specified in the engagement agreement. A "revision" means a set of changes submitted together. Revisions beyond the included number are billed at Brand Protocol Engineer's prevailing hourly rate. Revisions requested more than 30 days after delivery of the relevant milestone are treated as new scope.

Client Obligations and Delays

The client is responsible for providing all content, assets, brand guidelines, login credentials, and feedback within the timeframes agreed in the engagement agreement. If the client fails to provide required materials or feedback within 14 calendar days of a request, Brand Protocol Engineer may:

• Proceed using placeholder content (the client bears the cost of subsequent replacement)
• Pause the project and charge a reactivation fee of up to 15% of the total engagement value to resume
• Adjust the delivery timeline accordingly without penalty

Brand Protocol Engineer is not liable for any delays caused by the client's failure to provide materials, feedback, or approvals on time.

Cancellation and Kill Fee

If the client cancels an engagement after work has commenced:

• All work completed to date is billed in full
• A cancellation fee of 25% of the remaining unbilled engagement value applies to compensate for reserved capacity and declined opportunities
• All deposits and milestone payments made prior to cancellation are non-refundable
• Any deliverables produced remain the property of Brand Protocol Engineer until the cancellation fee is paid in full

No Guaranteed Outcomes

Brand Protocol Engineer does not guarantee specific results, rankings, traffic increases, conversion rates, or revenue outcomes. The protocol methodology is a structured engineering approach — outcomes depend on factors beyond the scope of any website, including the client's market, operations, pricing, competition, and execution. No statement made during consultations, on this website, or in marketing materials constitutes a guarantee of performance.

6. Intellectual Property

What the Client Owns

Upon full payment of all fees under an engagement agreement, the client receives full ownership of the delivered website — including all custom design, visual assets created specifically for the engagement, the compiled theme files as delivered, and the right to modify, host, and operate the website without restriction. The client may engage other developers to modify the website after delivery. No ongoing permission from Brand Protocol Engineer is required.

Ownership transfers only upon full and final payment. Until all invoices are settled, all deliverables remain the property of Brand Protocol Engineer, and any use by the client is under a revocable licence.

What Brand Protocol Engineer Retains

Brand Protocol Engineer retains the right to reuse general-purpose code patterns, methodologies, and architectural approaches across other engagements. This includes but is not limited to: the Master Execution Protocol (MEP) framework and scoring methodology, the BPE Settings panel architecture, the coded SEO framework, security header configurations, sitemap generators, and any reusable code that is not specific to the client's brand, content, or design. This retention does not include any client-specific content, design, branding, or visual identity.

Portfolio and Case Study Rights

By entering into an engagement, the client grants Brand Protocol Engineer an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free right to:

• Display the delivered website (or screenshots thereof) in Brand Protocol Engineer's portfolio, website, social media, and marketing materials
• Reference the client's business name, industry, and engagement type in case studies
• Publish anonymised or aggregated performance metrics (such as MEP scores, before/after comparisons, and audit results) for marketing and educational purposes
• Use the engagement as a reference in proposals and conversations with prospective clients

The client may request exclusion from public case studies by written notice. However, Brand Protocol Engineer retains the right to reference the engagement in private proposals and portfolio presentations.

This Website

All content on brandprotocol.engineer — including the Observatory, the MEP Scan, all case study content, all Journal essays, and all design and source code — is the exclusive intellectual property of Brand Protocol Engineer. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from any of these without prior written permission.

Client-Provided Content

Client-provided content (text, images, logos, brand assets, domain names) remains the property of the client at all times, regardless of whether it is hosted on Brand Protocol Engineer's infrastructure or incorporated into a delivered website. The client represents and warrants that all content provided to Brand Protocol Engineer is owned by the client or properly licenced, and does not infringe any third party's intellectual property rights. The client indemnifies Brand Protocol Engineer against any claims arising from client-provided content.

7. Retainer Terms

Monthly Retainer

Retainer engagements are billed monthly in advance. Payment is due on the first business day of each month. Failure to pay within 7 days of the due date entitles Brand Protocol Engineer to suspend hosting, security monitoring, and all maintenance services without notice.

Rate Adjustments

Retainer rates may be adjusted annually. Brand Protocol Engineer will provide 30 days' written notice of any rate change. If the client does not agree to the adjusted rate, either party may terminate the retainer with 30 days' notice.

Termination and Migration

Either party may terminate a retainer engagement with 30 days' written notice. Upon termination and settlement of all outstanding invoices:

• Brand Protocol Engineer will provide a full site export (database + files) within 7 business days
• The client's domain will be unlocked for transfer within 7 business days
• Brand Protocol Engineer will provide reasonable assistance with migration for up to 2 hours at no additional charge
• Hosting and security services cease at the end of the notice period

Brand Protocol Engineer is not responsible for the client's website after migration to a third-party host.

8. Warranty and Support

Bug Warranty

Brand Protocol Engineer provides a 30-day warranty from the date of final delivery. During this period, any bugs, rendering errors, or functional issues caused by Brand Protocol Engineer's code will be fixed at no additional charge. A "bug" means the delivered website does not function as specified in the engagement agreement. It does not include:

• Changes the client or a third party made to the code after delivery
• Issues caused by hosting environment changes, plugin updates, or WordPress core updates
• New feature requests or design changes
• Content updates or image replacements

After the 30-day warranty period, all support and maintenance is billable unless covered by a retainer engagement.

Backup Responsibility

During a retainer engagement, Brand Protocol Engineer maintains daily automated backups. After handover (Model A) or retainer termination, the client is solely responsible for maintaining backups. Brand Protocol Engineer is not liable for any data loss after the handover date or retainer end date.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law:

• Brand Protocol Engineer's total aggregate liability for any and all claims arising from or related to these terms, the use of this website, or any engagement shall not exceed the fees actually paid by you to Brand Protocol Engineer in the six (6) months preceding the claim, or ZAR 10,000, whichever is greater.
• Brand Protocol Engineer shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, revenue, data, business opportunities, goodwill, or anticipated savings, regardless of the cause of action or the theory of liability, even if Brand Protocol Engineer has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
• Brand Protocol Engineer shall not be liable for any damages arising from your reliance on Observatory or MEP Scan results.
• Brand Protocol Engineer shall not be liable for any damages caused by third-party services, hosting providers, domain registrars, payment processors, or changes to third-party APIs or platforms.
• Brand Protocol Engineer shall not be liable for any loss or damage resulting from the client's failure to maintain backups after delivery or retainer termination.
• Brand Protocol Engineer shall not be liable for website downtime, data loss, or security breaches caused by the client's actions, including but not limited to: installing unauthorised plugins, sharing admin credentials, or modifying theme files.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Brand Protocol Engineer, its principal, contractors, subcontractors, and affiliates from any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees and disbursements) arising from:

• Your use of this website or its tools
• Your violation of these terms
• Your infringement of any third party's rights, including intellectual property rights
• Content, data, or materials you provide to Brand Protocol Engineer during an engagement
• Any claim by a third party related to the client's use of a delivered website
• The client's failure to comply with applicable laws, including data protection and privacy regulations

11. Non-Disparagement

Both parties agree not to make or publish any statements — written, verbal, or digital — that are intentionally disparaging, defamatory, or damaging to the reputation of the other party. This clause survives termination of any engagement. Nothing in this clause restricts either party's right to provide truthful testimony in legal proceedings or to leave honest reviews on public platforms.

12. Subcontracting and Assignment

Brand Protocol Engineer reserves the right to subcontract or delegate any part of an engagement to qualified third parties without prior client approval, provided that Brand Protocol Engineer remains responsible for the quality of the deliverables. The client may not assign or transfer any engagement or obligation under these terms without Brand Protocol Engineer's prior written consent.

13. Non-Solicitation

During an engagement and for 12 months following its conclusion, the client agrees not to directly solicit, recruit, or engage any contractor, developer, designer, or subcontractor introduced by Brand Protocol Engineer during the engagement, without Brand Protocol Engineer's prior written consent. This clause does not apply to individuals who respond to general public job advertisements.

14. Third-Party Services

This website and delivered websites may use third-party services including but not limited to Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Hostinger, LiteSpeed, Wordfence, WhatsApp, and EWWW Image Optimizer. Brand Protocol Engineer is not responsible for the availability, performance, security, or privacy practices of any third-party service. The client's use of these services is governed by their respective terms and privacy policies.

Brand Protocol Engineer is not liable for any changes, deprecations, or discontinuations by third-party providers that affect the functionality of a delivered website.

15. Force Majeure

Brand Protocol Engineer shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to: natural disasters, war, terrorism, pandemic, government action, power failure, internet disruption, hosting provider outage, cyberattack, fire, flood, or any other force majeure event. Delivery timelines shall be extended by the duration of the force majeure event.

16. Availability and Modifications

Brand Protocol Engineer does not guarantee uninterrupted access to this website. The website may be unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond our control. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the website — including the Observatory and MEP Scan — at any time without notice or liability.

We reserve the right to update these Terms of Service at any time. Changes take effect upon publication on this page. Continued use of the website after changes constitutes acceptance. Material changes will be indicated by updating the "Last updated" date.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, including but not limited to:

• The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECT Act)
• The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA)
• The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA)

Dispute Resolution

The parties agree to resolve disputes in the following sequence:

• Step 1 — Negotiation: the parties shall attempt to resolve the dispute through good-faith negotiation within 14 days of written notice
• Step 2 — Mediation: if negotiation fails, the dispute shall be submitted to mediation administered by a mutually agreed mediator. Mediation costs are shared equally.
• Step 3 — Litigation: if mediation fails, either party may submit the dispute to the courts of the Republic of South Africa, specifically the Magistrate's Court or High Court with jurisdiction in Gauteng

Legal costs: In the event of litigation, the substantially prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its reasonable legal costs and attorney fees from the other party.

18. Severability

If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

19. Entire Agreement

These Terms of Service, together with the Privacy Policy and any separate engagement agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and Brand Protocol Engineer regarding the use of this website. No prior or contemporaneous oral or written representations, agreements, or understandings shall have any force or effect.

20. Contact

For questions about these terms, contact:

• Email: jesse@brandprotocol.engineer
• WhatsApp: +971 55 753 2969
• Response time: Within 24 hours (business days, GST)