Terms of use
Version: 2 November 2026
1. Provider
Places Builder Online is provided by ralpheckhard.com, a sole proprietorship operated by Ralph Eckhard, Westerwerf 3F, 1911 JA Uitgeest, the Netherlands. Chamber of Commerce number: 78690277. VAT number: NL003372112B37. Contact: ralph@ralpheckhard.com.
2. The pilot
Places Builder Online converts floor plans in PDF, PNG or JPG format into IMDF map files for use with Microsoft Places.
The hosted service is a free pilot. It is experimental and is provided without a service level. Availability, uninterrupted operation, continued availability of features and compatibility with Microsoft Places are not guaranteed. Planned and unplanned downtime may occur, and features, technical requirements and reasonable-use limits may change.
Support is provided through GitHub issues at github.com/ralpje/placesbuilder, on a best-effort basis and without a response time. Issues on GitHub are public (see section 5 for what must not be posted there). Privacy and security matters go to ralph@ralpheckhard.com.
Places Builder is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by Microsoft.
3. Who may use the service
The service may be used by people who sign in with a Microsoft work or school account on behalf of the organisation for which they work.
The first person from an organisation who signs in becomes the owner of that organisation’s workspace. The owner may invite and remove members and is responsible for managing workspace access. A workspace may have no more than 25 members, counting open invitations.
By creating a workspace or acting as its owner, the user confirms that they are authorised to accept these terms and the data processing agreement on behalf of the organisation.
4. Customer content
The organisation and its users retain their rights in content uploaded to the service. They give the provider the limited right to host, copy, process and technically transform that content only as necessary to provide, secure and maintain the service.
The organisation is responsible for ensuring that it is entitled to upload and process its content, including floor plans, office addresses, room information and personal data. It must not upload content that is unlawful or that infringes another person’s rights.
Downloaded IMDF packages belong to the organisation, subject to any rights that third parties may have in the source material.
5. Acceptable use
Users must not:
- attempt to access another organisation’s workspace or data;
- interfere with the security, availability or operation of the service;
- upload unlawful content or content they are not authorised to process;
- use the service for automated bulk processing without prior agreement;
- place credentials, personal data, confidential floor plans or security-incident details in public GitHub issues; or
- use capacity in an excessive or disruptive manner.
The provider may apply proportionate technical limits or suspend affected use where reasonably necessary to protect the service or other organisations. Notice will be given where practicable, unless immediate action is reasonably necessary for security, abuse prevention or legal compliance.
6. Price and voluntary sponsorship
Use of the pilot is free. A payment made through GitHub Sponsors is voluntary support for the project and is not required to access the ordinary pilot service. Sponsorship does not purchase guaranteed availability, support, additional capacity, priority development or any other service commitment unless separate written terms expressly state otherwise.
If the service later becomes paid, the provider will publish separate pricing and applicable terms before charges begin. An organisation will not be charged merely because it used the free pilot.
7. Data processing and privacy
The service privacy statement explains how account information and security logs are handled. When the provider processes customer content on behalf of an organisation, the data processing agreement forms part of these terms.
8. Deletion and export
Users may download the IMDF packages they create while their workspace is active.
On a valid deletion request, or when an organisation stops using the service, the provider will remove the active workspace and its content within 14 days. Storage safeguards may keep deleted files recoverable for up to a further 14 days. Complete deletion may therefore take up to 28 days after the request or end of service.
The provider may retain information for longer only where this is necessary to meet an applicable legal obligation or to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim. Where feasible, the provider will give reasonable notice before ending the entire pilot so that organisations can download available output files.
9. Security and user responsibilities
The provider uses Microsoft Entra sign-in, separates organisations within the application, uses managed identities and Key Vault for secrets, encrypts data in transit, and monitors the service with alerts.
No system can be promised to be completely secure. Users must protect their Microsoft accounts, manage workspace membership, remove access that is no longer required, and promptly report suspected misuse privately to ralph@ralpheckhard.com rather than through a public GitHub issue.
10. No warranty and liability
The pilot is supplied on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the provider gives no warranty concerning availability, continuity, accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose, error-free conversion, compatibility with Microsoft Places, retention of customer content or suitability of generated IMDF files for operational use.
The organisation must review and validate generated files before relying on them or importing them into another system.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the provider excludes all contractual and non-contractual liability arising from or connected with the free pilot, including liability for direct loss, indirect loss, consequential loss, loss of data, loss of profit, business interruption and costs arising from reliance on generated output.
This exclusion does not apply where and to the extent liability cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability resulting from intent or conscious recklessness for which the provider is legally responsible. Nothing in this section removes duties that apply to the provider under the data processing agreement or applicable law, although liability for a breach of those duties remains subject to this section to the fullest extent legally permitted.
11. Suspension and termination
An organisation may stop using the pilot and request deletion at any time.
The provider may suspend access immediately where reasonably necessary to address a security risk, unlawful use, attempted cross-organisation access, serious abuse of capacity or a legal requirement. Where the circumstances permit, the provider will explain the reason and allow the organisation to remedy the issue.
The provider may discontinue an organisation’s access or the entire pilot on 30 days’ notice. A shorter period may be used where continued operation is not reasonably possible for urgent security, legal or technical reasons.
12. Changes to these terms
The provider may change these terms. Materially adverse changes will be announced at least 30 days before they take effect. An organisation that does not accept such a change may stop using the service before the effective date and request deletion.
Changes that are reasonably necessary for urgent security, abuse prevention, legal compliance or correction of an evident error may take effect sooner. The provider will explain such a change as soon as reasonably practicable.
13. Open-source code and branding
The Places Builder source code is separately available under the AGPL-3.0 licence. The source-code licence does not grant rights in the Places Builder name, logos or the placesbuilder.com and placesbuilder.online domain names. Use of those identifiers is governed by the applicable trademark policy.
14. Applicable law and court
These terms are governed by Dutch law.
Disputes will be submitted to the legally competent court in the Netherlands. Where the parties may validly agree on a specific court, the competent court for the district of Noord-Holland will have jurisdiction.
15. Contact
Questions, deletion requests and private security reports may be sent to ralph@ralpheckhard.com.