Dispute Resolution

Bad behaviour at GCTechSpace is unacceptable. By being a part of our community you give up certain freedoms in order for our community to run smoothly.

Dings

When you see a member doing something that’s not excellent, you’re obliged to issue what we call a ‘ding’. There’s a dedicated #ding channel on the Slack chat room, and posting there is the official way to ding someone. Dings are nothing more than records, so that people get friendly reminders about what we all want to see at the space, and so we can all see patterns of behaviour.

Anyone can issue a ding to anyone, and there’s no penalty for being dinged. Please take it as constructive criticism.

If you want to issue a ding, either talk to the member directly or post in the #ding chat room with evidence of the claim. Posting anywhere else is not valid, and if you have no evidence your ding may not be worthwhile. (You can still post anyway, it just may not have much weight). There’s no such thing as an anonymous ding, both for the requester or dinged person.

When posting a ding, please try and keep the tone as positive as possible. It’s not a space to attack people, just to make a record of things happening and to gently remind the correct behaviour. Feel free to use this template:

Person: John Doe Dinged for: Leaving the soldering iron turned on and messy overnight. Evidence: [photo] How to Improve: Make sure you have time to clean and pack tools away before you leave. We all need to be able to use the common spaces.

You can issue a ding for anything you deem un-excellent, but common examples are:

  • Leaving a mess behind
  • Removing a tool from where it lives and not returning it.
  • Breaching the SSP or COC

 

If you get dinged, do not discuss it in the ding thread, don’t argue. If you feel its incorrect or there was a misunderstanding, you can ask the person directly or send a message to the committee to have it removed.

Bans

There are many behaviours at GCTechSpace that are clearly definable as unacceptable, and these will attract an automatic ban as defined in this document. As part of our incorporation rules, the executive may issue bans of any length, at any time, to any one, and if permanently banned, members have a right of appeal.

Behaviours on the following list are automatic bans and the executive are obliged to execute them (By notifying the member and removing access). This list, since it is policy can be modified at any time by the executive, and by vote at a general meeting of the membership. Together we define what is unacceptable at GCTechSpace.

A reasonable attempt to provide notice of a ban must made at least 48 hours prior to it being announced to the general membership. The executive may use their discretion to allow supervised or full site access during this time period and/or supervised access any time during the ban. However, the reason for the ban and the risk to other members must be taken into account. Once notification has been attempted, the banned member is not allowed to utilise GCTechSpace facilities other than what is reasonably necessary to remove any projects or items stored on site until the ban has ended.

These bans, in some cases, may be avoided by the member repairing/replacing the affected item. This is at the discretion of the executive. Membership balance will be considered suspended for the period of any ban. Refunds are at executive discretion.

Types of Bans:

Schedule 1: 1st - 1 week, 2nd - 2 weeks, 3rd - 1 month, N + 1 month or permanent.
  • Tool Abuse, as defined by damaging the tool for its intended purpose through any usage other than an accident.
  • Outside of hours visits, sleeping overnight outside of organised GCTechSpace events, or disturbing other meetup groups who have hired the venue.
  • Damaging a tool accidentally and not reporting it via the member portal, trello, or email ([email protected]).
  • Leaving a battery charging on the power supplies unattended.
  • Causing GCTechSpace to breach any lease requirement not specifically covered in this schedule of bans.
Schedule 2: 1st - 2 weeks, 2nd - 1 month, 3rd - 3 month, N + 1 month or permanent.
  • Using a tool that requires induction without being inducted.
  • Using a tool in a clearly unsafe manner. Eg: long hair unrestrained around lathe or drill press
  • Leaving any potentially exposed voltage above 48v. Eg:
    • Crushed extension leads
    • Suicide cords
  • Leaving any kind of blade running unattended.
  • Leaving the laser cutter(s)/3d printer(s) running unattended.
  • Obvious large breaches of the SSP, such as viewing pornography at the space.
  • Modifying a tool marked as do not touch.
  • Consuming Executive time with behaviour consistent with Unreasonable Complainant Conduct as defined by the Federal Ombudsman.
  • Using or storing a hazardous material or dangerous good in an unsafe manner / not in accordance with current site procedures.
  • Introducing a new type of hazardous material or dangerous good to the GCTechSpace site without approval.
  • Violating the “Site modifications and electrical work” policy
Schedule 3: 1st - 3 months, 2nd - Permanent
  • Physical assault/abuse of another person.
  • Turning on a lathe or drill press with the chuck key installed in the chuck (if you survive).  
  • Defeating or bypassing any kind of interlocks on tools, whether factory or GCTechSpace installed, for the purpose of using the tool rather than as part of a repair process.
  • Accessing or attempting to access the site without exec approval during a ban.
  • Continuing to engage in activities onsite or online other than collecting stored items during a ban.