Pile Section Terms of Use & End-User License Agreement

These Terms of Use and End-User License Agreement (the "Terms") are a binding agreement between hetGE LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company ("hetGE", "we", "us"), and you. By accessing or using the Pile Section application at section.hetge.com (the "Software"), you accept these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Software.

Your hetGE account, and any purchase of licenses through the hetGE Account marketplace, are governed separately by the hetGE Account Terms of Service at account.hetge.com/terms.

Pile Section is a web application for drawing, quantifying and checking circular reinforced-concrete pile sections for drilled shafts, cast-in-situ bored piles and CFA piles. It reports steel quantities, evaluates the clear spacing between longitudinal bars against published tremie concrete guidance, and computes axial-flexural and shear capacity to ACI 318-25, in metric or US customary units.

The calculations run on your device. The section you draw, the loads you enter and the results produced from them are computed in your browser, and the PDF reports are rendered there too. Our servers provide sign-in and license verification; they do not receive or store the sections you design.

Subject to a valid license held through your hetGE account and to your compliance with these Terms, hetGE grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to access and use the Software for your internal professional or educational purposes.

You must not:

• copy, modify, or create derivative works of the Software;
• reverse engineer, decompile, or extract source code except where such restriction is prohibited by law;
• resell, sublicense, rent, or provide the Software to third parties as a service bureau;
• circumvent license verification or access controls;
• use the Software to develop a competing product.

The Software operates in a predictive manner relative to input. hetGE has no control over the collection, use, or interpretation of the input you provide, including pile diameter, concrete cover, bar sizes and arrangements, transverse reinforcement, material strengths, and the load cases you apply. You assume sole responsibility with respect to the use of the Software and the results of that use, in terms of correctness, accuracy, reliability, and performance, and for the conclusions drawn from such use.

The Software is a design aid. It is not a substitute for professional engineering judgment, education, or experience, and its output does not by itself establish compliance with any building code, design standard, or regulation in any jurisdiction. It is intended for preliminary design, capacity verification and engineering cross-checks; it does not perform a complete code-compliant design, and the limits of what it checks are set out on the verification page at section.hetge.com/verification.

The clear-spacing check is a design-desk screen against published guidance. It does not replace project specifications, the concrete mix design, the constructor's method statement, or the judgement of the responsible engineer.

You must ensure that all output of the Software is independently reviewed, checked, and verified by a qualified person using independent means before it is used in any design, assessment, or decision.

By using the Software you confirm that you, or the persons you authorize and supervise, are suitably qualified and have the experience required to evaluate the results of a reinforced-concrete section analysis.

hetGE does not warrant and cannot warrant the results obtained by using the Software. The verification page and the white paper published with the Software document the methods the calculation engine implements, the benchmark against an independent commercial program, and the limits of both. Publishing a comparison is not a warranty that any particular analysis you perform will be correct, complete, or fit for your purpose.

Material properties, reinforcement schedules, and other data you obtain from third parties are used at your own risk. hetGE takes no responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of third-party data and has no liability for damage caused by errors or omissions in it. Input data has a decisive effect on the solution: the capacity reported is a property of the section as entered and the parameters as chosen, not of the constructed element.

References to ACI, EFFC/DFI, EN, AASHTO and other standards identify the provisions the Software implements or screens against. Those documents remain the authority, are the property of their respective publishers, and may be revised. You are responsible for confirming that the editions relied upon are the ones applicable to your project.

The Software is not fault-tolerant and is not designed or intended for real-time monitoring of foundations, construction control, structural health monitoring, early warning of foundation distress, or any other use in which failure of the Software could lead directly to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage. hetGE expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for such activities.

You own the sections you draw, the load cases you enter, and everything you export. Because the analysis runs on your device, those inputs and results are not transmitted to or stored by hetGE. Saving a design writes a file to your computer, and opening one reads a file you choose; hetGE keeps no copy. See the Pile Section Privacy Notice at section.hetge.com/privacy for details.

Because we hold nothing for you, keeping your own backups of any design you wish to retain is your responsibility.

The Software, including its calculation engine, interface, published verification material, and branding, is owned by hetGE LLC and protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws. No rights are granted except as expressly set out in these Terms. If you send us feedback or suggestions, you grant hetGE a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use them without obligation.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HETGE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. THE SOFTWARE HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED TO MEET YOUR INDIVIDUAL REQUIREMENTS, AND HETGE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT IT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, OR THAT IT WILL ACHIEVE ANY INTENDED RESULT.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW: (A) HETGE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR PURE ECONOMIC LOSS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY; AND (B) HETGE'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SOFTWARE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR ACCESS TO THE SOFTWARE IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY.

The provisions of these Terms allocate the risks between hetGE and you, and hetGE's pricing reflects this allocation of risk and the limitation of liability specified herein. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions or limitations; to that extent, they may not apply to you.

You shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless hetGE LLC and its members, officers, and agents from and against any claims, damages, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees), including claims by third parties or by your employees or clients, arising directly or indirectly out of your use of the Software, the results of that use, or any design, assessment, or decision based on them.

These Terms apply for as long as you use the Software. Your right to use the Software ends automatically when your license expires or is revoked, or if you breach these Terms. Sections 4 to 12 survive termination.

We may modify these Terms by posting an updated version on this page with a new "Last updated" date and version. Your continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The state and federal courts located in Wyoming shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of these Terms or the Software, and you consent to their jurisdiction.

Questions about these Terms: [email protected].