The proof is where the work changes hands

When the job is checked against something you were shown

The Australian Consumer Law carries a guarantee for goods supplied by reference to a sample or demonstration model. If a person supplies goods in trade or commerce to a consumer by reference to a sample or demonstration model, and the supply does not occur by way of sale by auction, the guarantee is that the goods correspond with the sample or demonstration model in quality, state or condition; that, where the supply is by reference to a sample, the consumer will have a reasonable opportunity to compare the goods with the sample; and that the goods are free from any defect that would not be apparent on a reasonable examination of the sample and that would cause the goods not to be of acceptable quality (ACL s 57).

If goods are supplied by reference to a sample as well as by description, the guarantee for description and this one both apply (s 57(2)).

The plain-language version of the same guarantee comes from the NSW Government's list of consumer guarantees for products, which opens "Products must:" and includes the line that products must match any demonstration model or sample the buyer asked for.

The sources this guide draws on do not say whether a printer's proof is such a sample. The guarantee above applies when goods are supplied by reference to a sample or demonstration model, and a printer's proof is not named as one. So the sections below set out what the guarantees ask of a printing job either way, and what a sign-off on a proof can and cannot settle.

What the guarantees ask of a printing job

Services carry their own guarantees. If a person supplies services to a consumer in trade or commerce, there is a guarantee that the services will be rendered with due care and skill (ACL s 60). The ACCC's plain reading is the same: service providers must carry out all services using an acceptable level of care and skill, at least as good as a competent service provider with average skills and experience would provide.

There is a guarantee about purpose as well. If the consumer makes known, expressly or by implication, a particular purpose for which the services are being acquired, the services, and any product resulting from them, will be reasonably fit for that purpose (ACL s 61). A written brief is one way to make a purpose known.

And there is one for time. If the time within which the services are to be supplied is not fixed by the contract and is not to be determined in a manner agreed by the consumer and the supplier, there is a guarantee that the services will be supplied within a reasonable time (ACL s 62). The ACCC's plain version: services must be supplied within a reasonable time if there is no agreed time frame.

What a sign-off settles, and what it cannot

The guarantees cannot be taken away. They cannot be excluded by a contract (ACCC), and they cannot be altered or waived by sellers or consumers: any term in a contract that tries to limit or exclude a consumer's rights under the consumer guarantees is void (ACCC).

The basic rights covered by the guarantees cannot be taken away by anything a business says or does (ACCC).

So what does approving a proof settle? It settles the job's description, the thing both sides agreed to make. What it cannot do is settle away the guarantees that attach to the making of it, however the sign-off box is worded.

Who counts as a consumer

The guarantees attach to a consumer, and a buyer can be a business. A business can be a consumer too: a product or service bought for business use is covered by the consumer guarantees when it meets at least one of the conditions the ACCC lists.

The threshold has moved over time. A person is taken to have acquired particular goods as a consumer if, and only if, the amount paid or payable did not exceed the threshold the Act sets, or the goods were of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption, or were a vehicle or trailer acquired for use principally in transporting goods on public roads (ACL s 3). The ACCC's guide to consumer guarantees says it reflects the law at a point in time, and the changes it lists include this one: for goods and services supplied from 1 July 2021, the threshold amount has increased from $40,000 to $100,000.

When something goes wrong, the ACCC sorts service problems into major and minor. A service has a major problem when it creates an unsafe situation, or has either one serious problem or several smaller problems that would have stopped someone buying the service had they known about them beforehand, or cannot be used for its normal purpose or for a specific purpose the consumer told the seller about and cannot easily be fixed within a reasonable time (ACCC).

When a service has a major problem, a consumer can choose to cancel the contract and get a refund, which may not be the full amount because a reasonable amount for work done so far and as expected may be payable, or to keep the contract and pay a lower price that takes the problem into account (ACCC).

Under the Australian Consumer Law, customers can ask for a remedy for goods or services that do not meet the consumer guarantees, and the remedy options are repair, replace, refund or cancel (business.gov.au).

The small print on a print order

A printed order form can carry a term that tries to limit or exclude the guarantees, and such a term is void (ACCC).

What is worth having in writing is the description of the job: what the goods will be, and, where the supply is by reference to a sample, the reasonable opportunity to compare the finished goods with it that the guarantee provides (ACL s 57).

None of this decides a dispute for anyone. It sets out what the guarantees promise, on which conditions, and where a complaint goes: the Australian Government and the state and territory governments manage the Australian Consumer Law, and the state and territory consumer protection agencies manage individual complaints and may offer voluntary dispute services (business.gov.au).