Terms & Conditions

1. About these Terms

These Terms and Conditions govern use of the website, entrant and reviewer portals, award-entry services, evaluation processes, public winner records, communications, payments, and recognition assets operated under the AExA name. “AExA”, “Arcturus Excellence Awards”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the AExA contracting entity identified in the relevant invoice, order confirmation, engagement communication, or official AExA notice.

If a separate written agreement, official quotation, invoice, category rule, or programme-specific condition expressly conflicts with these Terms, the more specific written term will apply to that matter.

2. AExA’s role as an awarding body

AExA is an awarding body that receives entries, reviews eligible submissions against published criteria, and issues recognition following evaluation and validation. AExA recognition is not an accreditation, regulatory approval, statutory licence, product certification, management-system certification, or guarantee of future performance.

Payment, nomination, eligibility, or completion of an application does not guarantee an award, achievement level, shortlist position, publication, endorsement, or commercial outcome.

3. Eligibility and authority

You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into a binding agreement. When acting for an organisation, client, nominee, team, project, product, or other third party, you confirm that you have authority to submit information, accept these Terms, arrange payment, and grant the permissions described here.

AExA may request evidence of identity, employment, authority, ownership, consent, or eligibility at any stage. We may reject or suspend an entry where authority or eligibility cannot be reasonably verified.

4. Accounts and security

Account information must be accurate, current, and complete. Entrant registration may require email verification through a one-time code. You are responsible for keeping login credentials confidential, restricting access to your account, and notifying AExA promptly of suspected unauthorised access.

Accounts may not be shared, transferred, sold, or used to impersonate another person or organisation. Activity completed through an account will be treated as authorised by the account holder unless AExA has been notified of a security issue.

5. Award categories and individual awards

Public categories organise related individual awards. Entrants are responsible for selecting the award that most closely matches the achievement being submitted. AExA may recommend a more suitable award, combine or rename awards, correct catalogue errors, or close an award where operationally necessary.

Entries are accepted on an ongoing basis unless AExA announces otherwise. The availability of a category or award on the website does not create an obligation to evaluate an incomplete, ineligible, unlawful, or unpaid submission.

6. Entries, nominations and supporting evidence

Entrants must provide complete, accurate, relevant, and non-misleading information. Evidence should support the claims made and may include documents, data, reports, links, images, testimonials, or other material requested in the application.

You must not submit material that is unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, deceptive, malicious, confidential without authority, subject to an undisclosed legal restriction, or infringing another party’s intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, contractual, or other rights.

You remain responsible for securing any permissions required from clients, employees, partners, nominees, photographers, authors, data subjects, and other contributors.

7. Accuracy, verification and audit

By submitting an entry, you confirm that the information supplied is accurate and may be verified. AExA may request clarification, source records, calculations, permissions, interviews, references, or additional evidence. We may contact named referees or relevant parties where reasonably necessary and lawful.

Failure to respond, material inconsistencies, fabricated evidence, undisclosed conflicts, or misleading claims may result in rejection, score adjustment, disqualification, withdrawal of recognition, removal from public directories, suspension of an account, or other proportionate action.

8. Evaluation process

Eligible submissions are assessed against the criteria and scoring model applicable to the selected award. Evaluation may include administrative eligibility checks, independent review, scoring, conflict-of-interest controls, moderation, verification, and governance approval.

Reviewers exercise professional judgement within the published framework. AExA may appoint, replace, or add reviewers; allocate entries; moderate inconsistent scores; correct calculation or administrative errors; and seek specialist input where necessary.

9. Reviewer independence and conduct

Reviewers are required to protect confidential information and declare actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest. An entrant must not attempt to identify, contact, influence, reward, pressure, or privately brief a reviewer regarding a live submission.

AExA may reassign a submission or exclude a score where independence, competence, availability, or conflict controls require it.

10. Decisions, scores and achievement levels

Awards are issued only after review and validation. Depending on the applicable scoring framework, successful entrants may receive a Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze achievement level. Thresholds, weightings, and evidence expectations may differ by award.

AExA may withhold an award where the evidence does not support recognition, even where an entry is otherwise eligible. Scores and reviewer comments are confidential unless AExA expressly chooses to share them. Decisions are final on matters of professional judgement, subject to correction of a demonstrated administrative, eligibility, calculation, or procedural error.

11. Notification and public records

Successful entrants are normally notified through their registered contact details. Award announcements may also be published through official AExA channels. Entrants are responsible for maintaining current contact details and checking account and email communications.

A winner record may include the client or organisation name, logo, short public profile, award title, achievement level, citation, outcome information, and other approved recognition details. AExA may edit public material for grammar, length, consistency, clarity, legal compliance, and house style without changing its substantive meaning.

12. Fees, invoices, taxes and authorised partners

Any applicable fee, tax, currency, payment schedule, or invoicing arrangement will be communicated through an official quotation, invoice, portal notice, order confirmation, or authorised partner instruction. Payments may be made directly to AExA or through a partner formally authorised by AExA.

Use only payment details issued through official AExA channels or by a confirmed authorised partner. A partner may facilitate entry support, invoicing, or payment, but cannot guarantee an award, change evaluation criteria, control reviewers, or promise a particular result.

Unless an official written term states otherwise, fees are generally non-refundable once an entry has been submitted or review activity has begun. Refunds may be provided for duplicate payments, a service AExA cannot deliver, or where required by applicable law. Taxes, bank charges, exchange-rate differences, and intermediary fees are the payer’s responsibility unless stated otherwise.

13. Changes, corrections and withdrawals

Draft entries may be edited before submission. Changes after submission require AExA approval and may be refused where review has begun or the change would materially alter the entry. An entrant may request withdrawal, but withdrawal does not automatically create a right to a refund.

AExA may correct obvious typographical, catalogue, calculation, or administrative errors at any time and will notify affected entrants where the correction is material.

14. Entrant content and intellectual property

You retain ownership of material you submit. You grant AExA and its authorised reviewers, moderators, service providers, and professional advisers a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, copy, format, translate where agreed, analyse, reproduce internally, and otherwise use the material as reasonably necessary to administer, evaluate, verify, secure, audit, and record the submission.

If recognition is awarded, the licence also permits AExA to publish the information identified as public-facing, together with approved names, logos, award details, citations, and outcome summaries, for the purpose of maintaining winner directories and communicating the recognition.

15. Public profiles, publicity and winner information

The entrant portal may identify certain fields as public if awarded. Do not place trade secrets, personal data, security-sensitive information, or confidential client information in those fields. By completing a public-profile field, you authorise its use if recognition is issued.

AExA may announce or display successful entrants, but is not required to publish every award or maintain a record indefinitely. Requests to correct factual errors will be considered. Removal requests are subject to legal, contractual, audit, integrity, and legitimate-recordkeeping requirements.

16. AExA names, logos, badges and recognition assets

AExA names, marks, logos, website content, designs, scoring materials, certificates, badges, and templates are owned by or licensed to AExA. No right is granted except as expressly stated.

A verified recipient may use approved recognition assets for the awarded client, award, achievement level, and period stated, subject to AExA brand guidance. Assets must not be altered in a misleading way or used to imply certification, accreditation, regulatory approval, endorsement of unrelated products, or recognition of an entity that did not receive the award.

AExA may require correction or withdrawal of an asset used inaccurately, after recognition is withdrawn, or in a manner that may damage the integrity of the awards.

17. Confidentiality and sensitive information

AExA applies reasonable administrative, technical, and access controls to protect non-public submissions. Access may be provided to authorised staff, reviewers, moderators, service providers, and professional advisers who require the information for legitimate programme purposes.

No internet or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Entrants should minimise sensitive material, redact unnecessary personal or commercial information, and avoid uploading information that cannot lawfully be disclosed. AExA may retain records where required for audit, dispute, security, legal, or integrity purposes.

18. Privacy and data protection

Personal information is handled in accordance with the AExA Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection requirements. You confirm that you have a lawful basis and necessary authority to provide personal information relating to contacts, nominees, employees, reviewers, referees, clients, or other individuals.

Information may be processed by service providers and transferred across regional or national borders where necessary for hosting, email delivery, payment, support, security, evaluation, and administration, subject to appropriate safeguards and applicable law.

19. Electronic communications

You agree to receive operational communications necessary to administer your account, verify your email, save and submit entries, request evidence, arrange payment, provide support, notify results, and protect security. These service communications are not optional while an account or active submission is being administered.

Marketing or promotional communications will be sent only where permitted. You may use the unsubscribe method provided, although unsubscribing from marketing does not stop essential account or submission communications.

20. Prohibited conduct

You must not misuse the website or services. Prohibited conduct includes unauthorised access, malware, automated scraping, interference with security, fraudulent or duplicate identities, manipulation of evidence, bribery, collusion, reviewer influence, abusive communications, infringement, unlawful data collection, or use of AExA material to create a competing or misleading service.

AExA may investigate suspected misconduct, preserve relevant records, restrict access, and cooperate with payment providers, hosting providers, professional advisers, regulators, or law-enforcement authorities where lawful and appropriate.

21. Third-party services, links and authorised partners

The website may rely on or link to third-party services, including payment gateways, email providers, hosting providers, cloud storage, analytics, video, social media, and authorised partners. Their services may be subject to separate terms and privacy practices.

AExA is not responsible for independent third-party content or systems outside our reasonable control. A link or technical integration does not by itself mean that AExA endorses every statement, product, or service offered by that third party.

22. Availability and changes to the service

We aim to keep the website and portals available, but access may be interrupted by maintenance, security work, upgrades, outages, third-party failures, or events beyond reasonable control. Entrants should keep copies of important material and submit in sufficient time for their own operational needs.

AExA may improve, replace, suspend, or discontinue features and may update categories, forms, criteria, reviewer arrangements, or administrative processes. We will seek to avoid materially disadvantaging an already submitted entry without reasonable notice or an appropriate transition.

23. Suspension, rejection and withdrawal of recognition

AExA may restrict an account, reject or pause a submission, withhold a result, remove a public record, or withdraw recognition where there is non-payment, material breach, fraud, serious inaccuracy, rights infringement, misuse of assets, reviewer interference, reputational or legal risk, or failure to cooperate with reasonable verification.

Where appropriate, AExA will give the affected party an opportunity to respond. Immediate action may be taken where necessary to protect security, legal compliance, confidential information, third parties, or the integrity of the awards.

24. Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the website, portals, evaluation services, and content are provided on an “as available” basis. AExA does not warrant uninterrupted access, compatibility with every device, or that all errors can be prevented.

Recognition does not guarantee sales, investment, procurement, employment, regulatory acceptance, media coverage, sponsorship, market position, or any other commercial benefit. Entrants remain responsible for their own decisions and for ensuring that public claims about an AExA award are accurate and not misleading.

25. Limitation of liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability for fraud or other matters protected by mandatory law. Subject to that limitation, AExA will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential loss; loss of profit, revenue, opportunity, goodwill, data, or anticipated recognition; or loss caused by matters outside reasonable control.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, AExA’s aggregate liability arising from a particular entry or transaction will not exceed the amount paid to AExA for that entry or transaction during the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim. If no amount was paid, liability will be limited to the minimum amount permitted by applicable law.

26. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify AExA, its authorised partners, officers, staff, reviewers, and service providers against third-party claims, losses, and reasonable costs arising from material you submit, your lack of authority, infringement of rights, unlawful conduct, misleading claims, misuse of recognition assets, or material breach of these Terms.

27. Events beyond reasonable control

AExA is not responsible for delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control, including natural disasters, conflict, civil disruption, government action, labour disputes, utility or telecommunications failure, cyber incident, epidemic, payment-network failure, or failure of a critical supplier. AExA may extend, pause, modify, or cancel affected activities and will communicate material changes where reasonably possible.

28. Questions, complaints and administrative review

Questions should first be raised through the official Contact page or registered portal account. A result query must identify the application and the specific alleged administrative, eligibility, calculation, conflict, or procedural issue. AExA is not required to conduct a fresh evaluation merely because an entrant disagrees with professional judgement.

Any review request should be submitted within the period stated in the result notice or, if no period is stated, within 10 calendar days after notification. AExA may decline late, repetitive, abusive, unsupported, or out-of-scope requests.

29. Governing law and disputes

The governing law and contracting entity identified in an applicable invoice, order confirmation, authorised-partner arrangement, or separate written agreement will apply. Where no governing law is expressly identified, these Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the relevant AExA contracting entity is established, without applying conflict-of-law rules.

The parties will first attempt in good faith to resolve a dispute through written communication. Subject to any mandatory consumer or statutory rights, the courts of the applicable governing jurisdiction will have exclusive jurisdiction.

30. Changes and general provisions

AExA may update these Terms to reflect legal, operational, security, technology, or programme changes. The updated version will be published with a revised date. Material changes affecting an active paid submission may also be communicated directly where reasonably practicable.

If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect. A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver. You may not transfer your rights or obligations without written consent. AExA may assign its rights and obligations as part of a restructuring, transfer of operations, or appointment of a successor contracting entity, subject to applicable law.

These Terms, together with any applicable category rules, quotation, invoice, order confirmation, privacy policy, and expressly incorporated written conditions, form the entire agreement for the relevant service and replace prior informal statements on the same subject.

31. Contact

Questions about these Terms, an entry, payment instruction, authorised partner, result, or recognition asset should be submitted through the official AExA Contact page or the secure portal. Do not send confidential evidence through public social-media channels.