Effective October 2026
Please read section 30 carefully. It says that most disputes between you and ProjectMender will be decided by an arbitrator, one person at a time, instead of by a judge or jury or in a class action. You can opt out of it within 30 days of first using ProjectMender; section 30 explains how.
This summary is here to help you read the rest. It isn't a replacement for it.
These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are a legal agreement between you and ProjectMender LLC, a Kentucky limited liability company ("ProjectMender", "we", "us" or "our"). They cover your use of the ProjectMender website, any app, and every service we offer through them (together, the "Platform").
You accept these Terms when you create an account, sign in, post, send a message, send or accept a final quote, or otherwise use the Platform. If you don't agree, don't use the Platform. If you use the Platform for a business, you confirm you're allowed to accept these Terms on its behalf, and "you" includes that business.
These pages are part of these Terms too:
In these Terms, a hirer is someone who wants work done, a worker is someone who does it, and a job is work agreed between a hirer and a worker through a final quote. One person can be both a hirer and a worker.
ProjectMender is an online marketplace. Hirers post jobs, workers post the services they offer, the two sides talk, and they agree on a price through a final quote. We handle payment so a hirer's money is held until the work is done.
We are not a party to any job. The agreement to do the work is made directly between the hirer and the worker. ProjectMender does not:
Search order, "Best match", the Top worker label, job counts, reply times, ratings and the Verified badge come from activity on the Platform. They help you choose, but they are not recommendations or endorsements, and you shouldn't rely on them alone. You decide who to hire and which jobs to take.
We may ask you to confirm who you are, or ask for more information, at any time. If you don't provide it, we may limit your account.
Posting a job or a service is free. When you post, you confirm that the post is accurate, that you really intend to hire or to work, and that the price you show is honest. The budget on a job post is a starting point; the price that counts is the one in the final quote.
Hirers must describe the job truthfully, including anything that makes it harder or riskier than it looks, such as heights, heavy loads, animals, mold, pests, or damage that's already there. Workers must describe their skills and experience truthfully and only offer work they can do safely and lawfully.
We may remove or limit any post, at any time, if we believe it breaks these Terms or puts anyone at risk. We don't have to review posts before they appear, and we're not responsible for what they say.
This list isn't complete. If a job is unsafe or seems to need a professional license, don't post it and don't take it.
If you break these rules, we may remove content, cancel or hold a job, suspend or close your account, and report illegal activity to the police. You can report anyone with the Report button on their profile or in a conversation.
Workers are solely responsible for holding any license, registration, permit or insurance that the law requires for the work they take, for knowing the laws and building codes that apply, for their own tools, equipment and safety gear, and for doing the work safely. ProjectMender does not provide workers' compensation, health, disability or liability insurance. We strongly recommend that workers carry their own general liability insurance.
Hirers are solely responsible for:
Meeting someone you found online carries risk. Read our safety page, trust your judgment, and leave or call 911 if you feel unsafe.
Use ProjectMender chat to agree on the details of a job, and keep those details in the chat so there's a record if anything goes wrong. We store conversations, and we may review them to resolve a reported problem or a dispute, look into a report, prevent fraud or abuse, keep people safe, enforce these Terms, or meet a legal obligation. Don't share passwords, card numbers or bank details in chat. You can block anyone you don't want to hear from.
Once a hirer and a worker have talked, either of them can send a final quote: the price and a description of the work it covers. The other person can accept or decline it, and the sender can withdraw it until it's accepted.
Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. We accept cards only. When a hirer pays, the hirer's card is charged the full quoted price, and the money is held until the job is finished:
The held payment is released to the worker, minus the fees in section 13, when:
Once released, a payment can't be undone through ProjectMender, except through a card dispute (section 12). Hirers: release only when you're satisfied, and report a problem before the automatic release if you're not.
After release, Stripe pays the worker's bank. A card payment usually takes a few business days to settle, and a payout won't go out until that job's own payment has settled. Banks and Stripe control the timing, not us. We may delay or hold a release while we look into suspected fraud, a reported problem, a card dispute, a safety concern, a legal requirement, or a breach of these Terms.
| When | Who can cancel | What happens to the money |
|---|---|---|
| Quote sent, not accepted | The sender withdraws; the other side declines | Nothing was charged. |
| Quote accepted, not paid | Either side | Nothing was charged. |
| Paid, worker hasn't marked it done | The worker. The hirer can ask to cancel; the worker accepts or declines. The hirer can cancel alone if the worker is late (see the right-hand column). | If the worker cancels or accepts, the hirer is refunded the full price and no fees are kept. If the worker declines, we decide under section 11. If the worker doesn't answer within 5 days, the hirer is refunded in full. If the final quote had a date and the worker is more than 24 hours past it without marking the job done, the hirer can cancel and is refunded in full. |
| Worker has marked it done | The worker. The hirer releases payment or reports a problem instead. | If the worker cancels, the hirer is refunded in full. A reported problem is decided under section 11. |
| Payment released | No one | The job is complete. |
If a worker marks a job done and the hirer believes it wasn't done as agreed, the hirer should report a problem before the automatic release. That pauses the release. The two sides should try to sort it out in the chat first. If they can't, either side can ask us to decide, and we'll follow the process in If something goes wrong.
Hirers agree to use the Platform's problem process before disputing a ProjectMender charge with their bank. While a card dispute is open, the job is frozen: nothing is released or refunded until the bank decides, and the bank's decision controls.
You're responsible for your own taxes. Workers are responsible for reporting their income, paying income and self-employment taxes, and collecting and paying any sales or use tax that applies to their services; any such tax is included in the quoted price. Stripe may ask workers for tax information and may issue tax forms, such as a Form 1099-K, as the law requires. We may share payment records with tax authorities when the law requires it. We don't give tax advice; ask a tax professional.
Held payments, problem reports, refunds and reviews only work for jobs paid through ProjectMender. That is why you agree that:
Breaking this rule may get your account suspended or closed. Jobs arranged or paid outside ProjectMender have none of its protections, and we can't help with them.
Workers are independent businesses, not employees, agents, partners or joint venturers of ProjectMender. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment relationship. In particular:
Workers may not present themselves as acting for ProjectMender, or use our name or logo on their own materials.
A worker can choose to pay for a background check run by our provider, Checkr, Inc. The worker authorizes the check, deals with Checkr directly, and gets the disclosures the law requires from Checkr. We receive only whether the check came back clear.
If it comes back clear, a Verified badge shows on the worker's profile. The badge means only that one background check came back clear on the date it was run. It is not a license, an identity check, a skills test, an endorsement, or a promise that the worker is safe, qualified or honest. Background checks miss things: records may be incomplete, out of date, or from places the check doesn't cover. We may remove a badge if we learn something that calls it into question. We don't share background check reports with hirers, and we are not a consumer reporting agency.
After a job is completed, or cancelled after it was paid, the hirer and worker can rate and review each other. Reviews must be your honest, first-hand opinion of that job.
You own what you post: text, photos, reviews and messages ("your content"). You give ProjectMender a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable license, which we can sublicense to our service providers, to host, store, copy, display, adapt (for example, resize a photo) and distribute your content to run, show and promote the Platform, including link previews and search results. This license lasts while your content is on the Platform, and afterwards for copies in backups, other people's conversations, records we keep under section 24, and anything already shared.
You confirm that you have the rights to everything you post, that it's accurate, and that it doesn't break the law or anyone else's rights. Photos of work should be of your own work or the job in question. If you send us suggestions or feedback, we can use them freely without paying you.
If you believe something on the Platform infringes your copyright, send a notice to support@projectmender.com that includes: your signature; the work you say is infringed; where the material is on the Platform; your contact details; a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorized; and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for them. We'll respond as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides, and we close the accounts of repeat infringers.
The Platform, its software, design, text and the ProjectMender name and logo belong to us or our licensors. We give you a personal, limited, revocable, non-transferable permission to use the Platform as these Terms allow. You may not:
We rely on other companies, including Stripe for payments, Checkr for background checks, Google for sign-in, and hosting, database and email providers. Their own terms apply to how you use their services, and we aren't responsible for their services, their outages or their mistakes. Links to other websites are for convenience; we don't control or endorse them.
You agree to receive notices, receipts, these Terms and other records electronically, by email or on the Platform, and that they count as "in writing". You agree that accepting a quote or clicking a button that agrees to something is your electronic signature. Keep your email address current. We'll send emails about your account, your jobs and your payments for as long as you have an account; optional emails, such as new-job alerts, can be turned off in Settings.
We may warn you, limit what you can do, remove your content, or suspend or close your account, at any time, with or without notice, if we believe you've broken these Terms or the law, put someone at risk, caused a loss, or exposed ProjectMender to legal risk, or if we're required to. We decide this in our reasonable judgment, and we aren't required to explain every decision.
You can stop using the Platform at any time, and close your account in Settings.
Suspending or closing an account doesn't strand anyone's money. A job that has already been paid is still released or refunded under these Terms. When an account is closed, we remove or anonymize your profile, but we keep records of payments, quotes, reviews and conversations that the law or our legitimate business needs require, as the Privacy Policy describes. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should continue after your account ends will continue, including sections 9 to 15 for any open or reversed payment, and sections 19 and 25 to 34.
Jobs often involve physical work, tools, heights, lifting, vehicles, animals, and strangers coming into homes. These carry real risk of injury, illness, damage, loss and theft. You choose who to work with and what work to do, and you accept those risks. ProjectMender is not present at any job and can't prevent them.
To the fullest extent the law allows, you release ProjectMender LLC and its members, managers, employees, contractors and agents from all claims, demands and losses of every kind, known and unknown, arising out of or connected with any job, any other user's acts or failures to act, or any dispute between you and another user, including injury, death, property damage, theft and financial loss. This includes claims that we were negligent in running the Platform.
This release doesn't cover our gross negligence, our intentional misconduct, or our obligation to release or refund held money as these Terms say. If you live in California, you waive California Civil Code section 1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party." You waive any similar law where you live.
The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, ProjectMender disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and any warranties arising from a course of dealing or usage of trade.
We don't promise that the Platform will be available, uninterrupted, secure or error-free; that information on it, including profiles, posts, ratings, reviews, badges, job counts and reply times, is accurate; or that any user is who they say they are, will do what they promise, or will pay. We make no promises about any work or any user. Some states don't allow some of these disclaimers, so some may not apply to you.
To the fullest extent the law allows, ProjectMender and its members, managers, employees, contractors and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, earnings, data, goodwill or business opportunities, or for any injury, death, property damage or loss arising from any job or from any user's conduct, on or off the Platform, even if we were told they were possible.
Our total liability for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform is limited to the greater of (a) the fees ProjectMender actually kept from your jobs in the 12 months before the event that gave rise to the claim, or (b) $100.
These limits apply to every kind of claim, including contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability and statute, and even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose. They don't limit our obligation to release or refund held money as these Terms say, or any liability that the law doesn't allow to be limited, such as liability for our fraud, gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless ProjectMender LLC and its members, managers, employees, contractors and agents from and against any claims, demands, losses, damages, fines, costs and expenses (including reasonable lawyers' fees) brought by anyone else and arising out of or connected with: your use of the Platform; any job you hire for or do, including any injury, death or property damage; your content; your breach of these Terms; your violation of any law or anyone's rights; or anyone you bring to a job. We may take over the defense of any such claim at your cost, and you'll cooperate with us. You may not settle a claim that affects us without our written consent.
Your insurers are bound by these Terms to the same extent you are. To the extent the law allows, an insurer that pays a claim for you arising from the Platform waives any right to recover that payment from ProjectMender.
This section requires you and ProjectMender to resolve disputes through binding individual arbitration and gives up the right to a jury trial and to bring or join a class action. It does not apply to disputes between a hirer and a worker.
Before starting arbitration or a small claims case, you or we must send the other a written notice of the dispute, with your name, the email on your account, what happened, and what you want. Send yours to support@projectmender.com. For 60 days after the notice arrives, we'll both try in good faith to settle it, including by talking on the phone or a video call if either of us asks. Time limits for bringing the claim are paused during those 60 days.
If the dispute isn't settled, any dispute, claim or controversy between you and ProjectMender arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Platform, any payment, or your relationship with us, including whether this section applies or is enforceable, will be resolved by binding arbitration before a single arbitrator. It will be run by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, available at adr.org, as modified by this section. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section.
You and ProjectMender may bring claims against each other only individually, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated or representative proceeding. The arbitrator can't combine more than one person's claims. You and we both give up the right to a jury trial. If this class waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will go to the courts in section 32, after any individual arbitration of the rest, and this arbitration section won't apply to it.
If 25 or more similar demands are filed against us by or with the help of the same or coordinated lawyers, they will be handled in batches of up to 50 demands, one batch at a time, each before a single arbitrator, with one set of fees for each batch. Time limits are paused for demands waiting for their batch. The AAA's mass arbitration rules apply where they don't conflict with this paragraph.
You can opt out of this arbitration section by sending us a notice within 30 days of when you first accept these Terms. Send it to support@projectmender.com with the subject "Arbitration opt-out", and include your name, the email on your account, and a clear statement that you're opting out. Opting out won't affect anything else in these Terms or how we treat you.
If we change this section later, you can reject the change by telling us within 30 days of the change, and the version you last accepted will continue to apply to you.
To the extent the law allows, any claim you have against ProjectMender arising out of these Terms or the Platform must be started (by arbitration notice or in small claims court) within one year after it arose, or it is permanently barred.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any claim that isn't arbitrated will be brought only in the state courts of Madison County, Kentucky, or the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and you and we agree to those courts' jurisdiction. Nothing here takes away any rights you have under consumer protection laws that can't be waived by contract.
We may update these Terms. If a change is significant, we'll tell you by email or on the Platform at least 30 days before it takes effect, unless it's needed sooner for legal or safety reasons. Using the Platform after a change takes effect means you accept it. A change never applies to a job whose final quote was accepted before the change. If you don't agree, stop using the Platform and close your account.
We may also change, add to, or stop parts of the Platform at any time, and limit how often you can use features such as posting or messaging.
ProjectMender LLC, Richmond, Kentucky. For questions, legal notices, copyright notices and arbitration opt-outs, email support@projectmender.com. See also the Privacy Policy, Safety and If something goes wrong.