CertaQ — Terms of Service

Effective Date: May 21, 2026 — Version: 2.0

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between CertaQ, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company with offices at 131 Continental Dr, Suite 305, Newark, DE 19713 ("CertaQ", "we", "us"), and the individual or entity that accesses the CertaQ mobile application and related services ("you" or "User").

BY TAPPING "I AGREE", CREATING AN ACCOUNT, OR USING THE SERVICE, YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS, OUR [PRIVACY POLICY], AND ANY APPLE OR GOOGLE PLATFORM TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT USE THE SERVICE. Section 13 contains a BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS-ACTION WAIVER. Section 6 contains important AI AND CRITICAL-INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITATIONS specific to wastewater operations.

1. Definitions

  • "Service" means the CertaQ mobile application, AI Expert features, logbook functionality, supporting websites, APIs, and any updates or related materials.
  • "Account" means your individual user account on the Service.
  • "Operator Content" means logbook entries, photos, readings, signatures, prompts, and other data you submit through the Service.
  • "AI Output" means responses, suggestions, summaries, or analyses generated by the Service's AI Expert features.
  • "Subscription" means a paid plan purchased through Apple App Store or Google Play in-app purchase.
  • "Utility User" means a User who accesses or uses the Service on behalf of a public or private water or wastewater utility, employer, or other organization.

2. Eligibility & Authority

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to form a contract. If you use the Service on behalf of a utility, employer, or other organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms, and "you" includes that organization.

The Service is offered only in the United States. You may not access the Service from sanctioned jurisdictions or in violation of U.S. export laws.

Utility-managed or enterprise plans. These Terms govern individual self-signup through the Apple App Store and Google Play. A separate written agreement (a "Utility Addendum" or master subscription agreement) may apply to utility-managed deployments, multi-seat utility billing, or other enterprise arrangements; where such an agreement exists, it controls over these Terms with respect to the covered Users.

3. Accounts & Security

  • You must provide accurate registration information and keep it current.
  • You are responsible for all activity under your Account and for safeguarding your credentials.
  • You must notify us promptly at certaq@outlook.com of any unauthorized access.
  • We may suspend or terminate Accounts that violate these Terms (Section 11).

4. Subscriptions, Billing & Refunds

  • The Service is offered as a paid Subscription billed through Apple App Store or Google Play. All billing, renewals, and refunds are subject to the platform's terms in addition to these Terms.
  • Auto-renewal: Subscriptions automatically renew at the then-current rate at the end of each billing period unless cancelled at least 24 hours before renewal through the App Store or Google Play settings.
  • Click to cancel. You may cancel online through the same channel by which you subscribed (Apple App Store or Google Play subscription settings) with steps no more burdensome than sign-up. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. We do not provide pro-rata refunds for partial periods.
  • Refunds: Refund requests for IAP charges must be submitted to Apple or Google. Outside of platform-mandated refunds, all fees are non-refundable except where required by law.
  • Price changes: We may change Subscription pricing on at least 30 days' notice. Continued use after the change is acceptance of the new price.
  • Free trials: If offered, a free trial converts to a paid Subscription unless cancelled before the trial ends. For free trials longer than 31 days, we will deliver a pre-conversion reminder describing the renewal terms and how to cancel.
  • Annual reminder: For Subscriptions with terms of one year or longer, we will send an annual reminder describing the renewal terms and how to cancel.
  • California residents. You are entering into a continuous-service arrangement that will automatically renew until cancelled. The renewal terms, renewal frequency, and pricing are disclosed in clear and conspicuous form at the point of purchase in the App Store or Google Play. You may cancel at any time using your platform store's subscription controls. For questions, you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs at 1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite N-112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or (800) 952-5210 (Cal. Civ. Code § 1789.3).

5. Operator Content & License

You retain ownership of your Operator Content. You grant CertaQ a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, process, transmit, display, and create derivative works of your Operator Content solely to operate, secure, support, and improve the Service for you. We will not use identifiable Operator Content for marketing, sell it to third parties, or use it to train our own or third-party generative AI models.

Aggregated and de-identified data. We may generate and use de-identified or aggregated data derived from Operator Content (excluding any data that could reasonably identify you, your facility, or any individual) for product analytics, security, benchmarking, and to evaluate and improve our AI features. We will not disclose identifiable Operator Content for these purposes.

You represent that your Operator Content does not infringe any third-party rights and that you have authority to submit it. You are solely responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and regulatory sufficiency of records you create using the Service.

6. AI Expert Features — Important Disclaimers and Critical-Infrastructure Limitations

The Service includes AI features that generate responses and suggestions ("AI Output"). AI Output is provided for informational purposes only. It is not professional engineering, legal, regulatory, environmental, or safety advice.

  • AI Output may be inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or out of date.
  • You must independently verify any AI Output before relying on it for compliance, safety, or operational decisions.
  • CertaQ does not warrant that AI Output meets EPA, state, or local regulatory standards. You remain solely responsible for regulatory compliance, recordkeeping accuracy, and operational safety at your facility.
  • Do not submit personal data of third parties, protected health information, confidential utility data, or sensitive regulated data into AI prompts beyond what is reasonably necessary for the operator workflow.

Critical infrastructure and public-health limitations. Water and wastewater systems are designated critical infrastructure under U.S. federal policy (PPD-21 / NSM-22). The Service is not a control system and is not designed to make or recommend safety-critical operational decisions in real time. AI Output must not be used as the sole basis for any decision that materially affects public health, environmental safety, water quality, treatment process control, chemical dosing, discharge, public notification, worker safety, or regulatory reporting. Any such decision must be reviewed and adopted by a licensed or certified operator exercising independent professional judgment, consistent with EPA, state, and local requirements.

Electronic signature consent. Where you sign or certify entries in the Service (including operator signatures, chain-of-custody attestations, or regulatory certifications), you consent under the federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001) and applicable state UETA to receive and execute such records in electronic form. You may withdraw that consent at any time by emailing certaq@outlook.com; withdrawal will not affect the legal effect of records signed before withdrawal. For records that may be included in any NPDES or other regulatory submission, you remain responsible for certifying them in the form required by 40 CFR § 122.22(d) or other applicable rule.

7. Recordkeeping, Tamper-Evidence & Regulatory Compliance

The Service supports utility recordkeeping but does not make you compliant with any law on its own. You are responsible for:

  • Determining what records your jurisdiction requires;
  • Verifying that records you create through the Service meet those requirements;
  • Independently retaining backups as your regulator may require.

Tamper-evident, not tamper-proof. The Service includes controls intended to detect alteration of records (sometimes referred to in our materials as "tamper-evident"). These controls are designed to make unauthorized changes detectable; they are not a guarantee that records cannot be altered, lost, repudiated, or excluded from evidence. References to "tamper-evident," "tamper-proof," or similar terms in marketing or in-app copy describe security and integrity features of the Service. They are not a representation that any record will be deemed admissible in any administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding, or that any record satisfies 40 CFR, 21 CFR Part 11, CROMERR, or any state regulatory requirement. While we use security and integrity controls, we make no warranty that records cannot be altered, lost, or that they will be admissible as evidence in any proceeding.

Records-custodian declarations. On reasonable written request, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide a records-custodian declaration intended to support authentication of your Operator Content under Federal Rules of Evidence 902(11), 902(13), and/or 902(14), at the cost stated in our then-current schedule. We do not guarantee that any record will be admitted into evidence in any particular proceeding; admissibility is determined by the tribunal.

Default retention. Unless you direct otherwise, we will retain your Operator Content for the term of your Subscription and, by default, for at least five (5) years after creation, to provide a margin above the three-year minimum for NPDES monitoring records under 40 CFR § 122.41(j)(2) and the five-year sewage-sludge floor. You remain responsible for determining whether your specific permit or jurisdiction requires longer retention and for maintaining your own backups.

Public-records and freedom-of-information laws. If you are a Utility User or otherwise subject to public-records laws (including state freedom-of-information statutes), you acknowledge that your Operator Content may be subject to disclosure under those laws. You are solely responsible for responding to such requests. We will not assert confidentiality over Operator Content as against your lawful disclosure obligations.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

  • Use the Service for any unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful purpose, or in violation of EPA, OSHA, state environmental, public-utility, or local rules;
  • Falsify, backdate, or alter logbook entries; impersonate another operator; or use the Service to defeat regulatory audit controls;
  • Attempt to access another User's Account or data;
  • Reverse engineer, decompile, or extract source code, except as allowed by law;
  • Scrape, harvest, or use automated means to access the Service beyond normal app use;
  • Introduce malware, exploit vulnerabilities, or interfere with Service availability;
  • Bypass rate limits, paywalls, authentication, or security features;
  • Use the Service to harass, threaten, or harm others;
  • Use AI Output in any way that violates applicable AI use restrictions or third-party model provider terms;
  • Use AI Output to automate, without human review by a qualified operator, decisions affecting treatment process control, regulatory reporting, chemical dosing, public notification, or worker safety;
  • Use the Service in a manner that could facilitate the destruction, disruption, or unsafe operation of water or wastewater treatment, distribution, or collection systems, or any other critical infrastructure.

We may investigate suspected violations and cooperate with law enforcement.

9. Intellectual Property

The Service, including all software, designs, text, graphics, AI models, prompts, trademarks, and the "CertaQ" name and logo, is owned by CertaQ or its licensors and protected by U.S. and international law. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service in accordance with these Terms. No other rights are granted by implication.

Feedback: If you send us suggestions or feedback, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use it without obligation.

10. Third-Party Services & Platforms

The Service runs on Apple iOS and Google Android, uses Apple/Google IAP for billing, and may integrate AI model providers and other third parties. Your use of those platforms is also subject to their terms.

Apple/Google third-party beneficiaries. You acknowledge that Apple Inc. and Google LLC (and their respective subsidiaries) are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms with respect to the version of the Service licensed to you for use on iOS or Android devices, and that, upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple and Google will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary thereof.

11. Termination

  • By you: You may initiate deletion of your Account from within the app or by emailing certaq@outlook.com. Deletion removes your personal data subject to records we are required to retain by law or to enforce these Terms. Auto-renewing Subscriptions purchased through Apple or Google continue to be billed by the platform until cancelled in App Store or Google Play subscription settings; you should cancel your platform Subscription before deleting your Account. Subscription cancellation is otherwise handled per Section 4.
  • By us: We may suspend or terminate your Account for breach of these Terms, suspected fraud, non-payment, or risk to the Service or other users. We may also discontinue the Service on reasonable notice.
  • Post-termination data export. Upon termination, for a period of ninety (90) days, we will, on your request, make your Operator Content available for export in an industry-standard format (such as CSV or JSON). After ninety (90) days, we may permanently delete Operator Content, except as required by law or as described in Section 7 (default retention). Backup copies may persist for a limited additional period until overwritten.
  • Effect: On termination, your license ends. Sections 5 (including the license to retained content), 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 15 survive.

12. Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability

THE SERVICE AND AI OUTPUT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR THAT RECORDS WILL BE PRESERVED WITHOUT LOSS OR ALTERATION.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CERTAQ AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, REGULATORY FINES OR PENALTIES, OR REMEDIATION COSTS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE.

OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) FIVE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($500).

The limits above do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law (e.g., death or personal injury caused by gross negligence, fraud, or willful misconduct).

13. Dispute Resolution — Arbitration & Class Waiver

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. THIS SECTION AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

  • Informal resolution first: Before filing a claim, you agree to email us at certaq@outlook.com with a description of the dispute and try in good faith to resolve it for 30 days.
  • Binding arbitration: Any dispute not resolved informally will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, in Wilmington, Delaware, or by video at the consumer's option.
  • Class-action waiver: You and CertaQ agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity and not as part of any class, collective, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims.
  • Small-claims carve-out: Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies.
  • IP carve-out: Either party may seek injunctive or equitable relief in court to protect intellectual property rights.
  • Opt-out: You may opt out of arbitration by sending a written notice to certaq@outlook.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms.
  • Governing law: These Terms are governed by the laws of Delaware and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles.
  • Forum for non-arbitrable claims: Exclusive jurisdiction lies in the state and federal courts in Wilmington, Delaware, and the parties waive any objection to venue.

14. Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless CertaQ and its affiliates from any third-party claim arising from (a) your Operator Content, (b) your misuse of the Service or AI Output, (c) your violation of these Terms or law, or (d) your reliance on AI Output for regulatory, operational, environmental, or safety decisions, including any resulting regulatory penalties, remediation costs, or claims by third parties (including members of the public or plant personnel) for injuries or losses arising from the operational use of the Service at your facility.

15. Changes to the Service or Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated in-app or by email at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use after the effective date is acceptance. The current version is always available in the app and at certaq@outlook.com on request.

16. Miscellaneous

  • Entire agreement: These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and CertaQ regarding the Service.
  • Order of precedence; conflicting terms. If you submit a purchase order, vendor-registration form, or similar document containing terms inconsistent with these Terms, those additional or inconsistent terms are void and have no effect, even if we accept payment under the document. Any modification to these Terms must be in a writing signed by an authorized officer of CertaQ.
  • Severability: If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
  • No waiver: Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.
  • Assignment: You may not assign these Terms; we may assign to an affiliate or in connection with a merger or sale.
  • Notices to us: certaq@outlook.com with copy to 131 Continental Dr, Suite 305, Newark, DE 19713.
  • DMCA agent. Copyright takedown notices under 17 U.S.C. § 512 should be sent to our designated agent: Nicholas Lenzi, c/o CertaQ, LLC, 131 Continental Dr, Suite 305, Newark, DE 19713, certaq@outlook.com, (224) 484-0535. We respond to valid DMCA notices and may remove infringing content. This designation is also filed with the U.S. Copyright Office DMCA Designated Agent Directory.

Contact: CertaQ, LLC, 131 Continental Dr, Suite 305, Newark, DE 19713, certaq@outlook.com

Questions? certaq@outlook.com