Legal
Last updated: 17 July 2026
1. Professional liability disclaimer
1.1 Nature of the tool
SMART masonry (also “the Software”) is a software tool supporting the calculation and analysis of masonry structures, developed and provided by Sphera Engineering S.r.l. (“Sphera” or “the Provider”). The Software produces numerical analysis results (including vertical-load verification, pushover analysis, and local collapse-mechanism checks) based on the data, models, and parameters entered by the user.
1.2 Responsibilities of the professional user
The user acknowledges and accepts that:
- The Software is an aid to the professional's work and in no way replaces the technical judgment, competence, and responsibility of the engineer or professional in charge.
- The correctness of the input data (geometry, material properties, loads, restraints, modelling) is the sole responsibility of the user.
- The interpretation of the results, their critical validation, and any resulting design decisions remain the sole responsibility of the professional who signs the calculation report and the design documents.
- The professional must verify the reliability and consistency of the results produced by the Software against their own technical judgment and the applicable technical standards (NTC and the related explanatory Circolare).
- Signing a calculation report or a design entails the assumption of professional, criminal, and civil liability solely by the signing professional, and not by Sphera.
1.3 Exclusion and limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Sphera shall not be liable for any direct or indirect damages arising from the use of, or inability to use, the Software — including, by way of example, modelling errors attributable to the user, design decisions, damage to property or persons resulting from structural works, and economic or data losses. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits Sphera's liability for wilful misconduct (dolo), gross negligence (colpa grave), or any other liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.
1.4 Software validation
Sphera declares that the Software undergoes documented technical validation procedures (comparison against numerical and experimental benchmarks, scientific review). Such validation attests to the reliability of the algorithms under the tested conditions but does not relieve the professional of the verification obligations set out in section 1.2.
2. Terms and conditions of service
2.1 Purpose
These Terms govern access to and use of the SMART masonry service, a web application (SaaS) provided by Sphera Engineering S.r.l., with registered office in Florence, via Accursio 15, VAT no. 07350070483, hereinafter “the Provider”. The Service is offered exclusively to professionals, businesses and technical firms holding a VAT number who act within their business, commercial, craft or professional activity, and is not intended for consumers within the meaning of Art. 3 of the Italian Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005). By subscribing, the user represents and warrants that they act in such capacity and provide a valid VAT number.
2.2 Account and access
- The user is responsible for the truthfulness of the data provided at registration and for safeguarding their access credentials.
- The account is personal; sharing credentials beyond the seats provided by the subscribed plan is not permitted.
2.3 Plans, prices and payments
- The service is offered according to the subscription plans published on smartmasonry.it.
- Paid subscriptions are billed in advance, monthly or annually depending on the plan, and processed through Polar, which acts as merchant of record and authorized reseller: the relevant invoice is issued by Polar.
- A valid VAT number is required at purchase; sales are made on a B2B basis, with VAT reverse charge where applicable.
- Prices are exclusive of VAT unless otherwise stated.
2.4 Renewal, price changes and cancellation
- Paid subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period (monthly or annually, depending on the plan) unless cancelled beforehand.
- You can cancel at any time from your account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period, and you keep access until then.
- The price you pay is fixed for each billing period. We generally keep existing subscribers on the price at which they subscribed, and changes to our published prices do not affect current subscriptions. If we change the price applying to your future renewals, we will notify you by email at least 30 days in advance; you may cancel before the new price takes effect, and if you do not cancel it will apply from your next renewal.
- For annual subscriptions, we send a reminder email before each automatic renewal.
2.5 Refunds
As this is a service intended exclusively for professionals (see section 2.1), no consumer right of withdrawal applies. Payments already made are non-refundable; cancelling a subscription stops future renewals but does not give rise to a refund for the current or previous billing periods. Any discretionary refunds are handled through our payment provider Polar.
2.6 No right of withdrawal (B2B sale)
As the Service is intended exclusively for professionals holding a VAT number who act within their business activity (see section 2.1), the protections reserved for consumers under the Italian Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005) and EU Directive 2011/83/EU — including the 14-day right of withdrawal — do not apply.
2.7 Term and data retention
- If the subscription is not renewed or is terminated, the user may view their models and data for up to 24 months after expiry, after which Sphera may proceed with deletion in accordance with its retention policy.
2.8 Intellectual property
- The Software, code, algorithms, interface and trademarks (including “SMART masonry”) are the exclusive property of Sphera Engineering.
- The data, models and projects uploaded or processed by the user remain the property of the user.
2.9 Usage obligations and prohibitions
- Reverse engineering, decompilation, resale or licensing of the Software to third parties outside the terms of the subscribed plan is prohibited.
- Use of the Software for unlawful purposes or in violation of third-party rights is prohibited.
2.10 Suspension and termination
- Sphera may suspend or terminate access to the service, in whole or in part, in the event of a material breach of these Terms (including the prohibitions in section 2.9) or of non-payment, giving prior notice and an opportunity to remedy where reasonably possible.
- On termination for breach, no refund is due for amounts already paid.
2.11 Service availability
Sphera undertakes to guarantee a service availability level (SLA) of 99%, excluding scheduled maintenance communicated in advance. Sphera does not guarantee the complete absence of interruptions or errors.
2.12 Limitation of liability
Refer in full to the Professional liability disclaimer (Section 1).
2.13 Governing law and jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by Italian law. The Court of Florence shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute.
2.14 Amendments
Sphera reserves the right to amend these Terms, giving users reasonable notice. Continued use of the service after the amendment constitutes acceptance.
3. Privacy policy (GDPR)
3.1 Data controller
The data controller is Sphera Engineering S.r.l., with registered office in Florence, via Accursio 15, VAT no. 07350070483.
3.2 Types of data collected
- Contact data: first name, last name and email, collected via forms (waitlist, registration).
- Account and billing data: company name, VAT number, address, payment data (handled by third-party providers).
- Usage data: technical logs, browsing data, data relating to use of the application.
- User content: the models and projects uploaded, processed to provide the service.
3.3 Purposes and legal basis
- Provision of the service and performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).
- Responding to contact requests and managing the waitlist (consent or legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(a)/(f)).
- Sending informational communications and a technical newsletter, subject to consent (Art. 6(1)(a)).
- Tax and legal compliance (Art. 6(1)(c)).
3.4 Place of processing and retention
Our cloud and database infrastructure is located in the European Union (Frankfurt, Germany). Where you use third-party sign-in (Google) or our payment provider (Polar), limited personal data may be processed by those providers outside the EU under appropriate safeguards (such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses). Data is retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes described — for account data and user content, up to 24 months after the subscription expires, as set out in the Terms — and in accordance with legal requirements.
3.5 Disclosure to third parties
Data may be processed by suppliers acting as data processors (cloud provider, our payment provider Polar, and email delivery), appointed pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR. Where authentication is performed via Google, Google processes the related sign-in data as an independent controller under its own privacy policy. Data is not transferred to third parties for their own commercial purposes.
3.6 Rights of the data subject
The user may exercise at any time the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection (Arts. 15-22 GDPR), as well as withdraw consent and lodge a complaint with the data protection authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali). Requests should be sent to service@smartmasonry.it.