Venture Steel guarantees material will be provided in tolerance to any chemical, physical and dimensional requirements as specified by the Customer. Such requirements must be clearly communicated on the Purchase Order. VSI will conform to the general delivery conditions of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for the product purchased, as well as any referenced specification and grade requirements on the purchase agreement. Referenced specifications may include ASTM, Society Automotive Engineering (SAE), Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), Aluminum Association (AA) or other suitably applicable society / proprietary material specifications. This policy follows the general metals industry standards noted above.

Industry Standard - the steel industry standard coil policy is for a Customer to process up to 10% of a coil before deeming it to be non-conforming. Many mill defects are likely to dissipate after the lead has been run through the machine. We do require the Customer to exercise discretion in processing excessive amounts of suspect material.

Exceptions - the Customer is expected to accept, without claim, the inside and outside laps of coils as well as any defects totaling less than 2% by weight. This would include surface, edge and shape defects. Any material that is purchased ‘as is’ from Venture Steel will be exempt from claims. Also, if the Customer accepts material on a signed deviation, then any claims made against the material for said deviation will be void.

Surface Quality - Venture will make every effort to provide as clean a surface as possible. However, mill surface issues such as coil breaks are part of the normal rolling practice. If coil breaks are a major deterrent to the forming practice it is recommended that material be purchased as temper passed to reduce the frequency and severity of breaks. As a normal practice Venture Steel does not order Surface Critical material. If surface critical material is required it must be stated in the initial Purchase Order requirement.

Venture makes no guarantees if Customers order non surface critical material for surface critical parts.

Specifications and Grades - where directed by the Purchase Order, Venture Steel will provide steel conforming to the procured specification and grade. However, we make no claim that the steel will make the part at all times due to the intrinsic nature of steel making and the processing at Customer’s facilities. For these reasons issues such as cracking, splitting and malformations may not be claimable to Venture nor the producing mill.

Support - Venture Steel will work with the Customer to try to prevent/correct issues such as cracking, splitting, application of steel, etc. in conjunction with laboratories, mills, metallurgical representatives and other experts. Any associated costs for these activities may be passed on to the Customer with their consent.

Cross Application - not all worldwide specifications are produced by North American mills. For this reason some material such as EN, JIS or DIN specs may be supplied with the closest SAE or ASTM spec available in the North American market. Venture will ensure that the original specifications (EN. etc,) are met at the time of processing. Please also note that cross application between imperial and metric specifications is a standard practice within the steel industry.

Rust - claims for wet material/rust must be initiated at the time of delivery to the Customer and must be noted on the transportation copy(ies) of any paperwork. Rust claims must be claimed within thirty days of the ready date of the material. Rust claims will not be accepted on any dry material such as hot rolled black, cold rolled un-oiled or galvanized un-oiled. Storage rust - please note that cold rolled material may experience storage rust during humid weather or if there is a prolonged period of time between processing and shipping. This will affect the outside lap and perhaps the slit edges. Customers are expected to accept this condition without claim.

Identification and traceability - the Customer is expected to maintain proper identification and traceability back to Venture Steel’s tag (coil) number or skid number. These numbers must be included on any communication pertaining to possible defects.

Proof of Defect - the Customer is expected to prove the defect and make available to Venture Steel said proof. This should take the form of samples of parts, samples of flat stock or digital pictures/video of same.

Investigation - Venture Steel reserves the right to inspect the samples/parts/coils/blanks at the Customer’s facility prior to accepting any claim. Through this inspection process Venture Steel will determine if we are responsible for the defect, whether though our processing or through the material itself. This inspection will usually be performed by the QA department but other arrangements may be made at Venture Steel’s discretion.

Determination of Responsibility - prior to accepting responsibility for any claim Venture Steel will need to verify that our processing or material was a direct contributor to the problem Corrective/Preventive Action - Venture Steel will investigate any claims that resulted from our processing/material and may provide a corrective action plan if requested. Venture Steel retains the right to reject corrective action requests if the defect is deemed to be undetectable.

Accumulation Claims - will not be honored. All claims are to be made as they occur.

Time Constraints - claims must be made within three months of the delivery date of the material on processed material.

For unprocessed material, claims must be made within thirty days. Claims must be made in writing to the Quality Department and/or the associated Sales Representative(s).

Customer’s Manufacturing & Inspection Standards - Venture Steel does not control the Manufacturing and Inspection Standards employed by our Customer’s or their processors. Therefore, Venture Steel will not compensate for labour, processing or administration charges.

Packaging and Delivery - all material to be returned must be done so in the same condition as shipped.

Claim Acceptance - claims may only be accepted by the QA department. Once Venture Steel has agreed to accept a claim we will reimburse the cost of the material

To fulfill this commitment, everyone must work together to provide and maintain a safe and healthy work environment that meets or exceeds all legislated and industry standards. We will apply the continuous improvement process to health and safety and will strive to control or eliminate all reasonably foreseeable hazards that may result in accidents, personal injury/illnesses, fires, security losses or other property damage.

We will minimize our consumption of resources by reducing, reusing and recycling whenever possible, thus preventing and reducing pollution and its impact on the environment.

The corporation, management, employees, customers, guests, contractors, and subcontractors share responsibility. We are all responsible for accident prevention, therefore we must be dedicated to, and demonstrate behaviour that supports a strong, proactive safety improvement process. We all must lead by example, placing safety ahead of everything else we do. Employees are expected to follow all safe work practices established by management.

We must all work with and support our health and safety program, to ensure that the necessary resources are made available to the program, and to consider the safety and health impacts and opportunities in all decisions.

We will provide all employees with appropriate training with respect to their environmental health and safety responsibilities.

We will recognize an employee’s obligation and right to refuse work that may cause imminent danger to them or other workers.

All members of management, the Joint Health & Safety Committee, and all workers must join together in making health and safety an integral component of activity. Health and safety is a key requirement for our success and viability.

We are committed to:

• Being an environmentally responsible neighbor in the communities where we operate, and correcting all conditions that endanger health, safety, or the environment.
• Conserving our natural resources by adopting pollution prevention practices. Examples include extending the life of equipment through preventive maintenance scheduling, eliminating waste through the reuse of packaging materials wherever appropriate, and reworking used equipment. We never discard what we can reuse.
• Ensuring the responsible use of energy throughout our business, including conserving energy by improving energy efficiency, and giving preference to renewable over non-renewable energy when feasible.
• Ensuring we operate as a green organization diverting as many bi-products as possible from landfill allowing us to exceed a 95% recycling rate.
• Promptly correcting any practice or condition not in compliance with this policy.