Lead Hand Terms of Use

Version 2026-09-23. Effective 23 September 2026.

Lead Hand is a service of 10623016 Canada Inc., operating as Mechnician ("Mechnician", "we", "us"). These terms are an agreement between you and Mechnician. They apply every time you use Lead Hand, on any device, including the app, the website, a phone call, a text or email thread that opens a case, a report, or a session with one of our people.

The short version

This is a summary of the parts that matter most at the machine. It does not replace the full terms, and you are agreeing to all of them. The full terms below are the agreement, and they win if anything here reads differently.

  • You are in charge. Lead Hand gives information and guidance. It does not give orders, and it cannot see, hear or touch the machine. Every decision about the work, and the work itself, is yours.
  • Your safety is yours. Secure the machine, control stored energy, lock it out, wear your protective equipment and follow the site rules, every time, whatever Lead Hand says or does not say.
  • Stop when it is beyond you. If a job is outside your training, your licence or what your employer has authorised you to do, or it feels unsafe, stop and get a qualified person. You never have to do something because Lead Hand suggested it.
  • It can be wrong. Lead Hand is built on artificial intelligence and on what other technicians reported. It can misread a photo, a plate or a code, and it can be wrong about your machine. Check it against the machine in front of you. If it is wrong, or it points you at something that feels unsafe, stop and tell us.
  • Parts and money are your call. Causes are ranked by likelihood, not certainty. You decide what to replace and what to buy.
  • Nothing illegal. Lead Hand will not help defeat emissions controls, safety interlocks, speed limiters or hour meters, and you must not use it to.
  • Permission to film. Get it before you point a camera at a site, a screen or a person. Some sites ban cameras outright.
  • Our liability is limited as far as the law allows, including for our own negligence, and you agree to cover claims that come from your own work.

1. Who can use Lead Hand

1.1 You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live if that is higher.

1.2 Lead Hand is a professional tool for people who operate, maintain, service or repair equipment as part of their work, including owner-operators. It is not offered for personal, family or household use, and by using it you confirm that you are using it for your work or your business.

1.3 If you use Lead Hand for an employer or a company, you confirm you are allowed to, and these terms bind you personally as well as that company. A company that gives its people access may also have a separate agreement with us. Where the two differ, the company agreement governs the company, and these terms still govern you.

2. What Lead Hand is, and what it is not

2.1 What it is. Lead Hand gives diagnostic information and guidance. It combines what you tell it and show it, what the machine reports, accounts from other technicians of what they found on similar machines, publicly available information, and the general knowledge of an artificial intelligence model. Mechnician staff and other specialists may also give guidance through it.

2.2 What it is not. Lead Hand is not, and does not replace:

2.3 Artificial intelligence can be wrong. Answers are generated by software and can be incorrect, incomplete, out of date, or right for a different model, serial range or configuration than yours. Lead Hand may misread a photograph, a data plate, a fault code or what you said, and it may identify the wrong machine as a result. A cause ranked first, or shown with a high confidence, can still be wrong. It works only from the information it is given and it will make assumptions where information is missing. It tells you what it assumed where it can; it cannot always know what it does not know.

2.4 Accounts from other technicians are accounts, not guarantees. When Lead Hand tells you what other technicians found, it is telling you what happened on their machine. It is not a promise that the same thing will happen on yours, from them or from us.

2.5 Photographs, video and sound. Lead Hand reads still photographs, including still frames taken out of a video clip you record. Video clips and sound recordings are stored so a person can review them and for future use; unless Lead Hand tells you otherwise, it has not watched or listened to them.

3. You are in charge at the machine

3.1 Your decisions. You alone decide whether, when and how to carry out any inspection, test, adjustment, repair, part replacement or return to service. You are responsible for checking that any information from Lead Hand applies to the machine in front of you and to your situation before you act on it. That includes confirming that Lead Hand has identified the right make, model, serial range and configuration, and that any step it describes is one you are competent and authorised to carry out. If the machine is not yours, you are responsible for having the owner's authority to work on it and to share information about it with us.

3.2 Your safety, and the safety of people around you. You are responsible for working safely, in line with your training, the manufacturer's instructions, the rules of the site you are on, and the occupational health and safety law that applies to you. That includes, every time and whether or not Lead Hand mentions it:

Safety notes in Lead Hand are reminders. They are not a complete list of the hazards on your job, and the absence of a warning never means a step is safe.

3.3 Stop when a job is beyond you. You must stop, and get a qualified person, when a task is outside your training, experience, licence or certification, or outside what your employer has authorised you to do, or when you are unsure it can be done safely. That applies even if Lead Hand described the step, and even if Lead Hand did not warn you. You never have to carry out a step because Lead Hand suggested it, and nothing in Lead Hand overrides your right to refuse unsafe work under the law that applies to you.

3.4 What you tell us about yourself. Lead Hand shapes its guidance around the role, experience, licences and tools you tell it about. It relies on what you say and does not check it. If you overstate your experience or qualifications, the guidance you get may be pitched above your ability, and that is at your own risk. Keep your profile accurate.

3.5 Licences and legal requirements. You are responsible for knowing whether the law requires a licence, certificate or authorisation for the work you do, for example refrigerant handling, fuel and gas systems, high-voltage systems, air brakes, or safety inspections, and for holding it.

3.6 Your employer's duties stay with your employer. Where you work for someone else, your employer remains responsible for your training, supervision, equipment and safe systems of work. Neither Lead Hand, nor any Mechnician person or mentor who advises you through it, takes over those duties.

3.7 Never while driving or operating. Do not use Lead Hand while you are driving or operating a vehicle or machine. Stop, and make the machine safe, first. If a reading or a recording has to be taken with the machine running, take it from a safe position, never from the controls while the machine is moving.

3.8 Tell us when it gets something wrong. If Lead Hand, or anyone helping you through it, gives you information that is wrong for your machine, unsafe, or unlawful, stop, do not act on it, and report it to us using the contact details in section 22.

4. Figures, parts, cost and warranty

4.1 Engineering figures. Lead Hand labels a figure such as a torque, pressure, clearance, capacity or setting as verified, where it can name the source, or unverified, where it cannot. You must confirm any figure against the manufacturer's information before relying on it, and you accept the risk of using an unverified figure. Lead Hand does not give unverified figures for wheel ends and wheel fasteners, brakes, steering, lifting and load-bearing components, or anything restraining a suspended load or stored energy. If a figure you need is not shown, get it from the manufacturer.

4.2 Parts and repairs are your decision. Lead Hand ranks likely causes by probability. A ranking, a confidence figure or a parts list is not a finding that a part has failed. You decide whether to test further, and whether to order, replace or repair any part. Mechnician is not responsible for the cost of parts replaced that turn out not to be faulty, or for shipping, restocking or return charges, labour, travel, rental or downtime that follows from the repair decisions you make.

4.3 Warranties and service contracts. Work you carry out may affect a manufacturer's warranty, an extended warranty, a lease or a service contract. Check those before you start.

4.4 Estimates. Any time, cost or parts estimate from Lead Hand is a rough guide and not a quote.

5. What Lead Hand will not do, and you must not ask it to

5.1 You must not use Lead Hand, or any guidance from Mechnician, to remove, bypass, defeat, disable or tune out:

5.2 Lead Hand will record that a machine has already been modified, because that is needed to diagnose it. It will not explain how to make such a modification.

5.3 You must not use Lead Hand for anything unlawful, or to get around the licence terms or technical protections of anyone else's software, service portal or tool.

6. Photos, video, sound and the site you are on

6.1 You are responsible for having permission to photograph, film or record on the site where you are working, and for following that site's rules on cameras, phones and confidential information. Some sites, including mines and secure facilities, prohibit recording entirely. If you are not sure you are allowed to record, do not.

6.2 Do not capture people who have not agreed to it, or documents, screens or information you are not allowed to share. Point the camera at the machine.

6.3 Do not upload manufacturer service manuals, technical service bulletins, wiring diagrams or other repair documentation that belongs to someone else, except to a private company shelf your company has set up under a separate agreement with us. A photograph of a diagnostic tool screen showing your own machine's data is welcome.

7. What you contribute

7.1 You keep what is yours. "Contributions" means anything you give Lead Hand: what you say or type, photographs, video, sound, readings, outcomes and notes, and any feedback or suggestions about Lead Hand itself. You keep any ownership you have in them. Material your company places on a private company shelf under a company agreement (section 6.3) is not a contribution: that agreement governs it, and sections 7.2 to 7.5 do not apply to it.

7.2 The permission you give us. You grant Mechnician a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable licence, with the right to sublicense to our service providers, to host, store, copy, adapt, translate, combine, de-identify, analyse and publish your contributions, to show them to other Lead Hand users, and to use them to operate, train and improve Lead Hand and Mechnician's other products and services. To the extent the law allows, you waive any moral rights in your contributions in favour of Mechnician and its users. If the company you work for has an agreement with us that restricts how its information may be shared, that agreement governs the contributions you make in its work, and we will not publish them beyond what it allows.

7.3 Your promises about contributions. You confirm that your contributions are your own honest account; that they are not copied from manufacturer documentation or any other copyrighted source; that you are allowed to share them and are not breaching any confidentiality obligation to an employer, customer or anyone else; and that sharing them does not break any law.

7.4 An account, not a warranty. A contribution is your account of what you did and what happened. You are not promising that it will work for anyone else, and Lead Hand presents it to other users on that basis.

7.5 We stand behind honest contributors. If someone makes a claim against you because another user relied on a contribution you made in good faith through Lead Hand, Mechnician will defend you and cover the resulting cost, provided you tell us promptly, let us control the defence, and co-operate with it. This does not apply where the contribution was dishonest, reckless or made in breach of section 5, 6 or 7.3.

7.6 Your identity. Lead Hand shows other users a handle, not your real name, employer or contact details, unless you choose otherwise. We do not give other users your contact details or a way to reach you outside Lead Hand. Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect and how we protect it.

7.7 Credits and rewards. Any credits, points, ranks or rewards in Lead Hand have no cash value, cannot be sold or transferred, and may be changed or withdrawn. A zero balance will never stop you getting help with a machine that is down.

8. Help from people

8.1 When a Mechnician employee, a specialist, a mentor or another user helps you through Lead Hand, whether by chat, phone or video, they are giving guidance on the same basis as the rest of Lead Hand, under these terms. They cannot see the machine the way you can. Everything in section 3 still applies. If a person helping you asks you to carry out a check or a step, or tells you a task is within your ability, that is their opinion based on what you have told and shown them. The decision, and your duty to stop under section 3.3, remain yours.

8.2 A mentor advises. A mentor does not supervise you, and does not take on your employer's responsibilities for you.

8.3 Other users are not Mechnician employees or agents, and we do not vouch for their skills or what they say.

8.4 Calls, video sessions and chats with our people or with other users through Lead Hand may be recorded and transcribed, become part of the case, and be used as described in section 7 and the Privacy Policy. By taking part you agree to that. If someone else joins from your end, tell them.

9. Reports, sessions and payment

9.1 Some Lead Hand services are paid, for example a written diagnosis report or a live guided session. The price and currency are shown before you are asked to pay, and applicable taxes are added. Prices marked as pilot or introductory prices may change for future purchases. Paid reports and sessions are produced by or with Mechnician people using Lead Hand, and sections 2, 3 and 8 apply to them in full.

9.2 If we do not deliver a paid report or session, we will refund it. A report or session is not refundable because its conclusion turned out to be wrong or incomplete, or because you decided not to act on it: a diagnosis is a professional judgement on the information available at the time, not a guaranteed result. Nothing in this section limits a refund right the law gives you.

10. Availability

10.1 Lead Hand depends on mobile coverage, internet connections, and systems run by other companies. We do not promise it will always be available, fast or error free, and it must not be the only thing you depend on for a decision where time matters to anyone's safety.

10.2 Lead Hand is at an early stage. We may change, add or remove features, including features marked pilot, beta or preview, and may suspend the service for maintenance or security.

11. Your account

11.1 Give us accurate information when you register and keep it up to date. One account is for one person. Do not share it.

11.2 Keep your PIN and sign-in codes private. You are responsible for what happens under your account until you tell us it has been misused.

11.3 We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, puts anyone at risk, or is used to misuse the service. You may stop using Lead Hand at any time.

12. Privacy and data

12.1 Our Privacy Policy [link to be published] explains what personal information we collect, why, where it is stored, who processes it for us (including the providers of the artificial intelligence models Lead Hand uses), and your rights under the privacy law that applies to you, including Canadian federal and provincial law and United States state law.

12.2 Data about a customer's machine belongs to that customer. We use it to provide Lead Hand and as described in these terms and the Privacy Policy.

12.3 We keep a record of your acceptance of these terms, including the version, the time, the device and the network address it came from, and of the safety confirmations you give in the app.

13. Acceptable use

You must not: copy, scrape or extract Lead Hand content in bulk; use it to build a competing product or data set; reverse engineer it except where the law expressly allows; interfere with its security or operation; upload malicious code; submit false contributions or game credits or ranks; impersonate anyone; or harass or harm other users. You must not use Lead Hand if you are in a country or territory, or on a list, that Canadian or United States sanctions or export control laws prohibit us from serving.

14. Other people's content, names and links

14.1 Lead Hand may show or link to information published by others. We do not control that information and do not guarantee it is accurate or suitable for your machine.

14.2 Manufacturer and product names are the trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify equipment. Their use does not mean the manufacturer endorses Lead Hand or has checked its guidance.

14.3 Lead Hand, its software, design and knowledge base, and the answers and reports it produces are owned by Mechnician or its licensors, apart from your own contributions. You may use answers and reports for the work they were produced for, including sharing them with your employer, your customer or the machine's owner. You may not resell or republish them.

15. No warranty

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, LEAD HAND AND EVERYTHING PROVIDED THROUGH IT, INCLUDING ANSWERS, REPORTS, CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OTHER USERS AND GUIDANCE FROM MECHNICIAN PEOPLE, ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". MECHNICIAN MAKES NO WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, MERCHANTABILITY, MERCHANTABLE QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY DIAGNOSIS IS CORRECT, THAT THE RIGHT MACHINE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED, OR THAT ANY REPAIR WILL SUCCEED.

16. Limits on our liability

16.1 You accept the risks of your work. You understand that servicing and repairing equipment is hazardous work that can cause serious injury, death and damage to property, and that you carry it out at your own risk.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU RELEASE MECHNICIAN, ITS AFFILIATES, AND THEIR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS AND CONTRIBUTING USERS FROM ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM WORK THAT YOU, OR PEOPLE WORKING WITH YOU, CARRY OUT OR DECIDE NOT TO CARRY OUT AFTER USING LEAD HAND, INCLUDING INJURY, DEATH, EQUIPMENT DAMAGE, AND THE COST OF PARTS AND LABOUR, AND INCLUDING CLAIMS THAT THE INFORMATION OR GUIDANCE WAS WRONG OR INCOMPLETE OR THAT MECHNICIAN OR ANYONE ACTING FOR IT WAS NEGLIGENT.

16.2 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MECHNICIAN, ITS AFFILIATES, AND THEIR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS AND CONTRIBUTING USERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE, USE, PRODUCTION OR DATA, DOWNTIME, COST OF SUBSTITUTE EQUIPMENT, OR COST OF PARTS OR LABOUR, HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, EVEN IF ADVISED THAT THEY WERE POSSIBLE.

16.3 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MECHNICIAN'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO LEAD HAND IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID MECHNICIAN FOR LEAD HAND IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, AND (B) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS IN THE CURRENCY YOU PAID IN, OR CANADIAN DOLLARS IF YOU PAID NOTHING.

16.4 Where the law says otherwise. Some laws do not allow certain warranties or liabilities to be excluded or limited, for example liability for death or bodily injury caused by negligence, or for fraud, gross negligence or intentional misconduct, or rights that consumer protection law gives you and that cannot be waived. Where such a law applies, the exclusions and limits in sections 15 and 16 apply only as far as that law allows, and nothing in these terms removes a right that cannot lawfully be removed.

17. Your responsibility to us

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you will defend and indemnify Mechnician, its affiliates, and their directors, officers, employees, contractors and contributing users against any claim, loss, damage, fine, cost or expense, including reasonable legal fees, arising from: work you carried out or directed; your breach of these terms; your contributions; your breach of any law or of anyone else's rights; or a claim by your employer, your customer, the owner of a machine, or anyone else connected with your work. If you are using Lead Hand for a company, the company gives this commitment together with you. This section does not apply to the extent a claim is caused by our fraud, gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

18. Time limit for claims

To the extent the law allows, any claim against Mechnician relating to Lead Hand must be started within one year after the event that gave rise to it, or it is permanently barred. Where the law that applies to you does not permit a period that short, the shortest period it does permit applies instead.

19. Disputes and governing law

19.1 Talk to us first. Before starting any formal claim, contact us and give us 30 days to try to resolve it.

19.2 Canada and elsewhere outside the United States. These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. The courts of Ontario, sitting in Toronto, have exclusive jurisdiction, except where the law of your province gives you the right to bring a claim where you live.

19.3 United States. If you live or work in the United States, any dispute relating to Lead Hand will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, before a single arbitrator, and the Federal Arbitration Act governs this section. If the American Arbitration Association determines that its Consumer Arbitration Rules apply to you, those rules apply instead. The hearing, if any, will be held by video or telephone, or in the county where you live, unless we agree otherwise. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court. You may opt out of arbitration by emailing us at the address in section 22 within 30 days after you first accept these terms, saying you opt out. If the waiver in section 19.4 is found unenforceable for a dispute, this section 19.3 does not apply to that dispute.

19.4 CLAIMS MUST BE BROUGHT INDIVIDUALLY. TO THE EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, YOU AND MECHNICIAN EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO BRING OR TAKE PART IN A CLASS, COLLECTIVE OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.

20. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. When a change affects what you are agreeing to, Lead Hand will show you the new version and you will need to accept it before you carry on. Each version carries its date at the top, and we keep a record of the version each account accepted.

21. General

21.1 These terms, the Privacy Policy, and any company agreement referred to in section 1.3 are the whole agreement between you and Mechnician about Lead Hand.

21.2 If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, it is limited to the minimum extent necessary and the rest stays in force.

21.3 If we do not enforce a term straight away, we have not given up the right to enforce it.

21.4 You may not transfer these terms. We may transfer them to an affiliate or to a successor to the Lead Hand business.

21.5 We are not responsible for failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

21.6 Accepting these terms electronically, by ticking the boxes and tapping to agree, has the same effect as signing them.

21.7 Sections 3 to 5, 7, 8, 12, 14 to 19 and 21, and any other section that by its nature should, continue after you stop using Lead Hand.

21.8 These terms are written in English. [A French version will be provided for users in Quebec before Lead Hand is offered there.]

22. Contact

10623016 Canada Inc., operating as Mechnician. [registered address]. Email [legal contact address]. Notices to you go to the email address or phone number on your account.

End of the Lead Hand Terms of Use, version 2026-09-23.