Authorized User Acknowledgment and Acceptable Use Agreement

This Acknowledgment is between Appalachian Integrity LLC, a Virginia limited liability company (Company), and the individually authorized user of its internal tools (you). Access is for authorized Company business and contains confidential records. Acceptance requires the affirmative action presented with the adopted document.

Article 1. Definitions

Internal Tools means the Company's team applications for inspection records, drafting, reports, documents, receipts, mileage, administration and connected automation. Company Data means information held for Company business, including client materials; the label does not transfer a client's ownership. Output means a record, drawing, calculation, report, suggestion or other software result. Applicable Standards means the codes, editions, contractual requirements and law governing the actual work. A Company Report is a professional deliverable the Company issues under a separate services agreement.

Article 2. Authorization and scope

Use only individually assigned credentials, permitted workspaces and authorized Company information. Do not lend credentials or access records outside your role. Regional or office administration is not an inspection credential, engineering licence or authority to approve or sign work. Account permissions do not determine underlying ownership or employment rights. Access may be limited or revoked for business, security or legal reasons, subject to applicable law and existing agreements.

The Company may log, audit and review work-tool activity for legitimate operational, security and compliance purposes, subject to applicable law and required notice. This does not waive privacy or other nonwaivable rights, authorize access to unrelated personal accounts or promise continuous monitoring.

Article 3. Nature and limits

3.1 The tools assist recording, organizing, drafting, calculations and formatting. They do not perform inspections or supply the qualified judgment required for issuing work. Software disclaimers neither enlarge nor reduce the Company's responsibility for a Company Report under its separate services agreement.

3.2 Drawings and roll-outs are inspection reference sketches, not to scale or instructions for engineering, fabrication, erection, repair or construction. Do not derive cut lengths, fit-up, reinforcement adequacy or safe operating conditions from a picture. Default nozzle CMLs are blank recording locations, not sufficient inspection coverage. Access or insulation notes are not readings or acceptance findings. Retained prior readings remain historical. Measured or legacy repad outlines do not establish reinforcement design compliance. The tools do not supply a licensed engineer's review; escalate work requiring one. The Company does not offer professional engineering services through these tools.

3.3 Text assistance, extraction, speech or image recognition, acronym expansion, autofill, imported history and generated summaries may omit facts or misinterpret units, sources or meaning. Deterministic calculations may also contain formula, assumption or input errors. Review original evidence, identities, dates, conflicts and expanded wording. Imports may be partial; old findings do not establish present condition, and absent current findings do not prove repairs. Numerical differences are not by themselves corrosion rates or acceptance decisions. Missing information is unknown; absence of a warning does not establish safety or compliance.

3.4 Before relying on output or releasing work, a qualified and authorized person must verify measurements, dimensions, materials, units, dates, weld and procedure references, calculations, governing code editions, findings and completeness within the assigned scope. For allowable stress S, verify the exact material, applicable temperature and code-table value; do not treat a default as verified. Checklist prompts are not exhaustive. Check every rendered report page, current values, expanded acronym, attachment and signature; remove or identify old answers, photos and marks carried from a template. A saved default is presentation, not approval of later work or a guarantee that every old entry was removed. Keep review evidence required by the applicable program, contract or law. These duties do not release the Company's legally actionable conduct or transfer its professional-services obligations to an employee.

Article 4. Integrity of records

Record observations, measurements, dates, personnel and qualifications truthfully within your authority. Do not fabricate, backdate or conceal records, impersonate a reviewer, invent approvals or claim work was performed when it was not. Identify examples and training records clearly. Correct errors with a traceable correction and report pressure to falsify information. Distinguish historical evidence and unverified assumptions from present observations. Suspected falsification may result in investigation and lawful disciplinary action; this agreement does not itself determine civil or criminal liability.

Article 5. Confidentiality

Protect Company and client confidential information and use it only for authorized business. Obtain permission before uploading third-party material or using external AI and other services; do not submit restricted facility information to an unapproved feature. Disclosure is limited to permitted business recipients and service providers, legal requirements and other lawful exceptions. Confidentiality continues while the information remains confidential, excluding information lawfully public or independently obtained without a duty of confidence.

Nothing prohibits reporting suspected violations to government, cooperating with an investigation, obtaining legal advice, discussing wages or working conditions where protected, or making other legally protected disclosures. Under 18 U.S.C. 1833(b), an individual is not liable under federal or state trade-secret law for confidential disclosure to a government official or attorney solely to report or investigate a suspected legal violation, or in a sealed court filing. An individual suing for employer retaliation may disclose the trade secret to the individual's attorney and use it in the proceeding if filings containing it are sealed and disclosure otherwise occurs only by court order. Do not take or disclose unrelated records beyond what law protects.

Article 6. Security and devices

Protect credentials, authentication devices and work records; use appropriate device locks. Promptly report loss, suspected compromise and incorrect access. Do not connect unapproved applications, bypass security or interfere with logging. Follow the Company's lawful security procedures. Report problems through john@appalachianintegrity.com while minimizing unnecessary confidential information.

Article 7. Property, preservation and return

Company and client rights in records remain governed by law and applicable employment, engagement and client agreements. Access alone grants no ownership. Do not treat Company tools as a personal archive. Preserve issued revisions and independent business copies in the authorized repository and verify that saved files open. Local-only records may be lost if the device or browser storage is cleared; the Company cannot restore a copy it never received. Connected drafts, uploads, previews, exports, account records and backups may have different retention requirements.

At the end of access or upon lawful request, return Company materials and remove unauthorized copies, subject to legal holds, mandatory retention, protected disclosures and records you are legally entitled to retain. Coordinate a secure transfer before deleting needed business records. This acknowledgment does not authorize destruction of evidence or override statutory privacy rights.

Article 8. Prohibited conduct

Do not use the tools for unauthorized personal business, unlawful activity, unapproved bulk extraction, malicious code, unauthorized access or false claims of Company performance or review. Do not conceal required attribution or bypass payment or workspace permissions. Restrictions do not prohibit lawful security reporting or protected activity identified in Article 5.

Article 9. Software disclaimer and responsibility

THE INTERNAL TOOLS AND AUTOMATED OUTPUT ARE PROVIDED AS AVAILABLE. TO THE EXTENT LAWFUL, THE COMPANY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. Errors, interruptions and data loss can occur; the tools do not guarantee accurate, complete or compliant results.

This article does not negate express obligations, statements on which law permits reliance, or nonwaivable warranties and remedies. It does not apply to the Company's separately contracted professional services or Reports, waive employment or contractor rights, or shift the Company's legal obligations to you. Nothing limits death or personal-injury claims, fraud, gross negligence, willful or wanton misconduct or other liability that law prohibits limiting. This acknowledgment creates no employee indemnity, personal guarantee or contractual liability cap.

Article 10. Breach and consequences

The Company may investigate suspected misuse, protect affected records and suspend access where reasonably necessary. Actual breaches may lead to lawful discipline or termination under the governing employment or engagement terms. Either party may seek remedies available under law. Any injunction, bond or other judicial remedy remains for the court to determine; irreparable harm is not conclusively presumed by this document.

Article 11. Changes and acceptance

These terms take effect upon authorized adoption and your required affirmative acceptance. Material amendments apply prospectively after appropriate notice and affirmative acceptance; continued access alone is not substituted for acceptance. Changes affecting liability, dispute rights or retention receive at least 30 days' notice unless law requires longer or an urgent legal or security requirement requires a shorter period. Urgent access controls do not retrospectively alter accrued claims. The Company retains accepted versions and records acceptance identity, version, exact document hash and time. Declining a version is handled under applicable employment or engagement law and agreements, not as an automatic waiver of accrued rights.

Article 12. General provisions

Virginia law governs without displacing mandatory protections applicable elsewhere. Unless mandatory law or an eligible local small-claims procedure permits otherwise, disputes may be brought in state courts serving Craig County, Virginia, or the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia where federal jurisdiction exists. Statutory filing periods apply; this document imposes no jury waiver, arbitration requirement, class waiver or shortened claim deadline.

This acknowledgment supplements lawful employment, engagement and confidentiality agreements; it does not override their express terms by selecting whichever provision favors the Company. It does not create a new employment term or alter employment status. Invalid provisions are severed only to the extent lawful and the remainder operates independently where permitted. Duties that lawfully require survival continue after access ends.

Notices may be sent to john@appalachianintegrity.com. Required notices use lawful delivery methods. Electronic contracting requires applicable separate disclosures, affirmative consent and the ability to save or print; this paragraph alone does not establish consent. The Privacy Policy describes data practices without limiting statutory rights.

Article 13. Acknowledgment

By the affirmative acceptance presented with the adopted document, you acknowledge the opportunity to read and retain it, your obligation to protect confidential records and record work truthfully, and the need for qualified review before relying on or issuing output. The Company's own professional-service obligations remain with the Company under the applicable agreement and law.

Appalachian Integrity LLC · Craig County, Virginia · john@appalachianintegrity.com · (540) 524-2290