Rio Solutions Ltd.

Terms of Use.

Your Agreement to Terms of Use. This website (rioltd.ca; the “Site”) is operated by Rio Solutions Ltd. The Site provides access to information, articles, publications, radon data, environmental data, geographical information systems data, flood maps, elevation maps, reports, statistical analyses, retail of specialty products, coordination of radon mitigation for your home or property, and other materials (the “Content”). The Site is made available to you subject to your compliance with these terms and conditions of use and the terms and conditions of the Rio Solutions Ltd. Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Terms”). By accessing or using the Site, you agree to be bound by, and comply with, the Terms and represent that you understand and can agree to the Terms. If you do not agree to be bound by, and comply with, the Terms, you are not permitted to access or use the Site.

Modifications

Rio Solutions Ltd. reserves the right to modify the Terms at any time. You should review the Terms regularly. By accessing or using the Site after any such modifications, you agree to be bound by, and comply with, the Terms then posted. If any modification is not acceptable to you, you must cease accessing and using the Site.

No Professional-Client or Other Relationship Created

Your access to, or use of, the Site does not create a professional-client or other relationship. Your use of the Site may facilitate access to, or communications with, partners, employees and consultants of Rio Solutions Ltd. (“Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel”) by way of email or otherwise via the Site. The receipt of any such communications by Rio Solutions Ltd. does not create a professional-client or other relationship. The Site or the availability of the Content does not suggest that any Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel practises professionally in any jurisdiction, or in any discipline, other than in which they are qualified.

Professional and/or Engineering Advice Not Provided

The Site and Contents do not constitute engineering, real estate, investment, health, medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice. The Content is provided for information purposes only and in some cases, is based upon a number of assumptions such as those listed herein. The Content should not be relied upon as accurate, reliable, complete, current, timely or fit for any particular purpose, without receiving advice from a relevant professional. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. Where Rio Solutions Ltd. does provide formal consulting services, such services are performed in accordance with generally accepted professional practices at the time of performance. No guarantee of specific outcomes, results, or fitness for any particular purpose is provided. All consulting services are subject to the limitations and assumptions described herein. No one should act, or not act, on the sole basis of the Content.

The Site and Contents include products that provide information and illustrative reference to assist with the evaluation of a hypothetical flooding scenarios derived from models. The information is intended to support preliminary risk screening and awareness of pluvial flood risks. The information is approximate and subject to a number of assumptions that are critical for proper interpretation. As such, the information should be used with caution. Any conclusions drawn or decisions made, based on the use and interpretation of the information, are the sole responsibility of the user. The following section contains a non-exhaustive list of assumptions.

Uders acknowledge and agree that they are not relying on Rio Solutions Ltd. for professional advice and that all flood mapping information is provided solely for general awareness purposes. Users assume full responsibility for obtaining appropriate professional consultation before making any decisions based on the information provided.

Modelling Assumptions

Users of the Site and Contents are advised that information and products from Rio Solutions Ltd. may rely on a number of modelling assumptions that are important in the interpretation of results. A sample of modelling assumptions are as follows.

The model used to derive flood depths due to pluvial events does not account for any drainage. This includes the loss of water due to: infiltration into soils, storm sewer systems, and culverts. One should essentially assume that every drainage path is blocked and the only way for water to move laterally is to pond until it exceeds the elevation of the land surrounding it. One exception is for large rivers (e.g., the Red and Assiniboine rivers) where bridges do not act as barriers and water can flow beyond the spatial domain. Note: There may be efforts at a later time to refine this assumption such that drainage paths meeting size criteria are accounted for (e.g., roadways and culverts with openings in excess of 3m2);
The assumption of no-drainage has the potential to both exaggerate or dampen flood magnitudes. An example of potential exaggeration is described above. For the case of dampening, one can imagine a scenario where there is considerable upstream contributing area that, by design, flows to a low point (e.g., drains through a catch basin into a retention pond). However, under the assumption of no drainage, the low point may experience a lower volume of water in the model, due to upstream attenuation;
Water flows in an idealized manner represented by grids that are approximately 1m by 1m in size. Prior to ponding, water falling on one grid will either flow into one of eight immediately adjacent grids based on the steepest slope (known as the D8 method) or will begin ponding if the grid is at a lower elevation than the eight adjacent grids;
Although we may offer some context (e.g., reference to Designated Flood Areas; DFAs) related to fluvial floods generated by hydrological conditions in watersheds extending beyond the model domain, we do not explicitly account for these events in our pluvial flood depth model. These flood driving mechanisms can be complex with other factors that are difficult to model such as regulation of water control structures, and hydraulic considerations due to bridges and ice. If this type of flooding is of interest, alternate flood mapping efforts (e.g., federal and province) should be explored;
Information pertaining to fluvial flooding (e.g., reference to DFAs) originates from external sources and are provided as complementary to pluvial flood information. For example, the Province of Manitoba publishes DFAs for the "Red River Valley" (south of Winnipeg) that approximately corresponds to a 1-in-200 year event and the "Lower Red River" (north of Winnipeg) that corresponds to the greater of a 1-in-200 year event or the historical ice jam affected water levels. Within the City of Winnipeg, a set of Interim Flood Risk maps delineate a Designated Floodway Area and Designated Floodway Fringe Area on the Red, Assiniboine, and Seine Rivers. These maps were developed in 1981 by Manitoba Water Resources as part of a National Flood Damage Reduction Program and roughly correspond to a 1-in-100 year event plus some freeboard.;
DFAs were obtained from various sources and may contain some outdated information (e.g., sourced from non-georeferenced pdf maps from the National Flood Damage Reduction Program in the 1980s known as the FDR are designated as Interim maps presenting the Floodway Fringe Area). DFA information may also be incomplete and distances to a DFA should be interpreted accordingly. For example, the Interim FDR maps do not delineate DFAs for all connected river systems and may miss some key areas (such as the segment of the La Salle Ricer that is west of Pembina Hwy) or may be particularly inaccurate in other areas (such as the Seine River north of the Floodway outlet). Rivers and urban landscapes are dynamic environments subject to changes due to several factors including erosion, sedimentation, build-up up of infrastructure, and realignment of roadways, that could influence the shape and extent of DFAs. In addition, changes in flood regimes and climate change could alter the probability of occurrence of various flood magnitudes. In some cases, attempts have been made to refine the DFA by supplementing incomplete information with elevation-based estimates, however, due to the nature of the available information, accuracy in DFAs is not quantified in a formal sense and related information should be interpreted with extra caution. We believe that DFAs are reliable to about +/- 3m in many areas, but suggest users interpret it more as +/- 100m due to several sources of uncertainty. As such, information presented should be used for Flood Awareness rather than detailed design or decision making. And if more information or clarification is required, please reach out to us and we can point you to the Authority Having Jurisdiction over flood mapping in your area of interest.;
Precipitation is assumed to fall uniformly in space. While it is common for large storms to deposit rain over a broad region, it is unlikely to see uniform amounts of rain fall at all locations within the model domain. We rely on published datasets such as the National Building Code of Canada to quantify extreme rain events such as the 1-in-50 year design 24-hour rainfall;
Underlying elevation data may have imperfections. We use Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) which are based upon Lidar derived Digital Surface Models (DSMs), with trees, buildings, and other surface features artificially removed. In addition to accuracy limitations in the Lidar data, it is also possible that the elevation data contains artifacts and imperfections due to the processing and differences in data collection dates. Furthermore, it is possible that some areas are affected by differential soil movements (e.g., due to moisture changes in expansive clays, land subsidence). Extra care should be taken interpreting Flood Map data in areas subject to special processing (e.g., in grids that are known to be occupied by a building) and when surficial changes have been made since the underlying Lidar data were collected. We also note that in reality, a building may impede the storage of water over it’s footprint, or if it is breached, it may offer additional storage of water by allowing flood water to enter a depression such as a basement.

The Site also provides access to specialty products for purchase. These producs are sold "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. Any manufacturers warranties, if applicable, are provided solely by the manufacturer and not by Rio Solutions Ltd. Rio Solutions Ltd. disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement regarding physical products. Installations and use of physical products are undertaken entirely at the buyer's risk.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

Users should use this Site and its Contents with caution and do so at their own risk. The site and the content are provided “As Is” without warranty or condition of any nature. Rio Solutions Ltd. and its Personnel accept no liability for the accuracy, quality, availability, suitability, reliability, usability, completeness, timeliness, currency, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or related rights of the Site and its Contents. Rio Solutions Ltd. And its Personnel assume no responsibility for any errors, omissions, inaccuracies in the Site or its Contents.

Some of the Site and its Contents are derived from various datasets and modelling efforts operated by Rio Solutions Ltd., its Partners, and other data providers (such as Environment and Climate Change Canada and Natural Resources Canada). Rio Solutions Ltd. makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or currency of any third-party data or information. Rio Solutions Ltd. expressly disclaims all liability for any decisions made in reliance upon such third-party data, and users acknowledge that they use such information entirely at their own risk. This information is presented in both textual and graphical forms, and are subject to a number of assumptions and data limitations. Subsequent quality assurance and verification procedures, or the availability of updated information and data may result in differences between what is currently displayed and what will become available at a later date. It is the responsibility of all persons who use this Site and its Contents to independently confirm the accuracy of the data, information, or results obtained through its use.

Rio Solutions Ltd. and its Personnel disclaim all other warranties, representations, and conditions of any kind, expressed or implied or collateral, including but not limited to, implied warranties and conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement of intellectual propery and related rights or that the Site or its Contents will be error free or will operate without interruption. In no event will Rio Solutions Ltd. or its Personnel be liable or have any obligation to the user for any reason including claims arising from contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other legal theory for any damages of any kind including, without limitation, direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, punitive damages, lost profits, loss of use, loss of data, personal injury, fines, fees, penalties, or other liabilities, whether or not Rio Solutions Ltd. Or its Personnel is advised of the possibility of such damages, resulting from the use of, or the inability to make use of, the Site or its Contents.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, Rio Solutions Ltd.'s total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Site, or the Content shall not exceed the amount paid by you for the specific service or product giving rise to the claim, or $100 CAD, whichever is LESS. This represents the maximum recovery available under any circumstances and this limitation applies regardless of the legal theory upon which the claim is based.

Digital products, reports, maps, and consulting services are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" without warranty of any kind and are intended for informational and awareness purposes only. Rio Solutions Ltd. specifically disclaims any warranty that digital products or services will be accurate, complete, reliable, or suitable for any particular purpose. USERS ASSUME ALL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF DIGITAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Rio Solutions Ltd. and its Personnel from and against any and all claims, demands, damages, losses, costs, expenses (including reasonable attorney fees), liabilities, and causes of action arising out of or relating to: (a) your use of the Site, Content, or products; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any applicable law or regulation; or (d) any decisions or actions you take based on information obtained from the Site or Content. This indemnification obligation shall survive termination of these Terms.

Currency of Content

The Content is provided solely for general informational purposes only, and is current as of the date of publication. While the Content is believed to be factual and current, its accuracy is not guaranteed and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. Accuracy of the Content is subject to change with time due to such events such as changes in environmental conditions, or subsequent availability of data and information. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author(s) as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Rio Solutions Ltd. or its affiliates.

Communications Not Confidential

Rio Solutions Ltd. does not guarantee the confidentiality of any communications made by you via email or otherwise through the Site and cannot guarantee that any such communication is protected by solicitor-client or any other professional privilege. If you wish to provide information of a confidential or sensitive nature to Rio Solutions Ltd., please contact a professional directly by telephone.

Permitted Uses

You may access and use the Site and the Content only in accordance with all applicable laws and the Terms. Subject to the Terms, Rio Solutions Ltd. grants to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to access and use the Site and the Content only to display and save on your own computer, download and print a copy of the Content for your use, provided that the Content is not modified (“Permitted Uses”). By accessing or using the Site or the Content, or by displaying, saving, downloading or printing a copy of any Content, you do not acquire any other right or licence to the Site or the Content.

Linking

Where you provide a link to the Site from another website, Rio Solutions Ltd. reserves the right to require you to disable such link. The Site may, for convenience, provide links to websites of other parties. The content in any website to which the Site provides a link is not provided by, or under the control of, Rio Solutions Ltd., and if you choose to access any such website, you do so entirely at your own risk. Neither Rio Solutions Ltd. nor any Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel endorses or republishes any content contained on any website that links to, or may be linked from, the Site or provides any representation, warranty or guarantee regarding the quality, accuracy, reliability, completeness, currency, timeliness, non-infringement, or fitness for any purpose of any such website or the content thereon.

Prohibited Activities

You may not access the Site or use the Site or the Content in any way or for any purpose that is unlawful. Without the prior written consent of Rio Solutions Ltd., you may not access the Site or use the Site or the Content for any purpose that is outside the scope of the Permitted Uses, or that violates the rights of Rio Solutions Ltd., any Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel or any other person. Without limiting the foregoing, without such consent, you may NOT engage in, or perform, directly or indirectly, any of the following activities with the Site or the Content or any portion thereof:

No distribution. Making available, distributing, displaying, posting, disseminating, publishing, republishing, retransmitting, communicating to the public, or broadcasting without express written permission. Custom reports and consulting services may contain confidential information and are intended solely for the use of the specific client who commissioned such services.
No modification. Creating a derivative work, modifying, translating, selecting, arranging, merging, compiling or otherwise combining with other data or other content or framing from or on another website;
No scraping. Scraping, whether screen scraping, database scraping, or any other activity intended to collect, store, reorganize, summarize or manipulate any Content, whether by an automatic program or a manual process;
No transaction. Selling, licensing, sublicensing or engaging in any other commercial transaction relating to the Site, the Content or any reproduction of all or any portion thereof in any medium;
No decompilation. Decompiling, disassembling, reverse engineering or other exploitation of the Site, its architecture or the underlying software or code; and
No outside permitted uses. Any activity that is outside the scope of activity permitted by the Terms.

To seek permission in respect of any activity with the Site or the Content that is not permitted by the Terms, please contact info.rioltd@gmail.com.

Copyright of Rio Solutions Ltd.

All Content, including all (i) text, data and other literary works; (ii) logos, designs, graphics, images, maps, figures, photographs, artwork and other artistic works; (iii) musical works and other sounds; (iv) videos and all audio-visual works; (v) performances; (vi) other materials; (vii) selections, arrangements, compilations, modifications and enhancements of all of the foregoing; (viii) software, including program code that may execute on the Site’s servers or that may be embedded or be downloadable from individual webpages on the Site; and (ix) the architecture and layout of the Site and webpages thereon, is protected by copyright owned by, or licensed to, Rio Solutions Ltd.

Risks You Assume

Access to, and use of, the Site and the downloading of Content are done at your own risk. Rio Solutions Ltd. does not represent, warrant or guarantee that the Site or the Content is compatible with your computer systems or that the Site or the Content is or will be free of viruses, worms, trojan horses or disabling devices or other code that manifests contaminating or destructive properties or has harmful effects. You are responsible for implementing safeguards to protect the security and integrity of your computer system, and you are responsible for the entire cost of any service, repairs or connections of and to your computer system that may be necessary as a result of your use of the Site.

You acknowledge that Rio Solutions Ltd. may chose to operate without professional liability insurance coverage and that your sole recourse for any claims is limited to the liability limitations set forth in these Terms. You assume all risks associated with the use of flood mapping information and related services.

General Provisions

The Terms, including any documents referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between Rio Solutions Ltd. and you pertaining to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and Rio Solutions Ltd. with respect to the Site or the Content. A printed version of the Terms and of any notice given in electronic form will be admissible in judicial administrative or arbitral proceedings based upon or relating to the Terms to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. Any failure by Rio Solutions Ltd. to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of the Terms will not be construed as a waiver of any provisions or right. If any of the provisions contained in the Terms are determined to be void, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by an arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction, such determination shall not affect the remaining provisions contained herein or the affected provision in a jurisdiction outside the jurisdiction of such court.

Any claim, action, or proceeding against Rio Solutions Ltd. arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Site, or the Content must be commenced within one (1) year of the date the cause of action arose, regardless of when the claimant discovered or should have discovered the facts giving rise to the cause of action. Any claim not commenced within this period shall be forever barred.

Rio Solutions Ltd. shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance of its obligations under these Terms if such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, labour disputes, government actions, internet or utility failures, or equipment malfunctions. In such events, Rio Solutions Ltd.'s performance shall be suspended only for the duration of such circumstances.

The following provisions shall survive termination of these Terms: Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Copyright of Rio Solutions Ltd., Governing Law, Dispute Resolution, and any other provisions that by their nature should survive termination.

Business Structure Notice

Rio Solutions Ltd. is a corporation. Users acknowledge that the company's liability is limited by its corporate structure and available assets. Users understand that recovery for any claims is subject to these limitations.

Governing Law

The interpretation, validity, effect and enforcement of the Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Manitoba and the laws of Canada applicable therein. These laws apply to the access and use of the Site or the Content by you, notwithstanding any conflicts of laws principles, your domicile, residency or physical location, or the location of the Rio Solutions Ltd. office or any Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel with whom you may communicate or deal. The Site and the Content are intended for use only in jurisdictions where they may lawfully be provided for use.

Dispute

All disputes arising out of or in connection with this agreement, or in respect of any legal relationship associated with or derived from this agreement, shall be arbitrated and finally resolved, pursuant to the National Arbitration Rules of the ADR Institute of Canada, Inc. The place of arbitration shall be Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The language of the arbitration shall be English. However, in the event that Rio Solutions Ltd. determines that any breach or other violation of the Terms, or any violation of the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of Rio Solutions Ltd. or any Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel, does or will result in immediate or irreparable harm to Rio Solutions Ltd. or the applicable Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel, Rio Solutions Ltd. and the applicable Rio Solutions Ltd. Personnel may seek relief in the way of interim, temporary and permanent injunctions and such other and further relief as a court may deem just and proper. You hereby consent and submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of the Province of Manitoba and the Federal Court of Canada in any such action or proceeding and agree not to commence any action or proceeding except in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Refund Policy

For physical products (e.g., Dranjers), we offer a refund within 30 days of purchase. In order to be eligible for a refund, you are responsible to ship the product(s) back to us with tracking number, in unused condition, and in original packaging. Once received and inspected, we will contact you to process the refund. Please note that shipping costs are non-refundable and will be deducted from your refund.

For digital products (e.g., Flood Map Reports), we review refund requests on a case-by-case basis within 7 days of purchase. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please email us with the subject line "Refund Request" and tell us why. We will review requests and we may have some follow-up questions to understand your reasoning prior to making a decision on refunds.

Please note that in the event of a refund, a processing charge may be applied.