Rules

Manchester Hackspace is proud of its diverse community from all walks of life and with all sorts of skills. Everyone is welcome to use the space in harmony regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, race, ability, sexuality, socio-economic background or belief.We will not tolerate harassment in any form. Harassment includes, but may not be limited to:

• Offensive comments related to gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, religion, or socio-economic background.
• Deliberate intimidation.
• Stalking or following.
• Inappropriate or unwanted physical contact.
• Unwelcome sexual attention.
• Inappropriate or unrequested photography or recording.
• Sustained or repeated disruption.
• Lack of respect for personal space.
• Any other action that makes someone uncomfortable.

We expect anyone asked to stop to do so immediately.

If you act or talk in a way that someone thinks is inappropriate, it is inappropriate. Do not ever put your opinions or desires before the comfort of others. There is never an excuse for behaviour that makes anyone else feel unwelcome or targeted.

Where a member or their guest is found to be breaking the rules or disrupting the peace, you should let them know as the first port of call.

Together we provide a space that is available 24 hours a day, where members can design, make, learn, share and socialise, and we think we do this at a very fair price. Hackspace runs on a very slim yearly budget to keep our membership costs as low as possible. 

By joining as a member of the space, you are paying subscription to a community. Please do not treat the space as a commodity. Sometimes tools will be broken, and we recognise this can be frustrating when a project needs finishing, but it is all of our responsibility to make sure our tools are kept in good condition, and consumables are kept in stock.

You’re welcome to use the hackspace as much as you like on the basis:

• Your use of the space is within the remit of Hackspace’s aims.
• You don’t monopolise the space or equipment to the detriment of other members.
• You don’t live at hackspace

Our membership fees are upwards scalable from the minimum amount based on the usage you get from the space. If your business makes use of the space, consider donating a proportion of your profits back to the space.

Hackspace provides a basic range of consumables to help projects. Use them sparingly, providing your own or replenishing the space’s stock where you are likely to use a lot. If a consumable is running low, have a look if it is on the consumables list, and if you are able to replenish it, or let someone know it is running low.

Remember this is a shared space, so don’t treat it like your home. This means:

• Hackspace is not your bedroom. Power naps are fine. All-night hacking sessions are fine. Intentionally sleeping the night is not.
• Hackspace is not your kitchen. Our small kitchenette is for making tea and snacks, not for cooking three full meals a day.
• Hackspace is not your shed. We have limited storage, which is in high demand. Ensure your possessions left at the space comply with our Member’s Storage guidelines, see below.
• We don’t employ any staff, so to keep Hackspace running smoothly we rely on all members giving a little of their time in proportion to the use they get out of the space.

When you visit, try to set aside 10-15 minutes before you leave to do some of the quick tasks that keep the space safe and usable for everyone. These include:

• Taking out the bins
• Sweeping the floors
• Emptying bins and vacuum cleaners
• Refilling soap dispensers
• Restocking the tuckshop fridge & consumables
• Giving tours at our open evenings
• Taking on a task from the to-do list
• Maintaining tools, and reporting faulty ones via the report form https://forms.gle/2cp73P1SHGaGuRvaA
• Taking things to the tip.

If you’re a more frequent user, lease also consider offering to help with bigger or more regular jobs. These include:

• Machine inductions.
• Open evening tours.
• Administration.
• Organising skill-shares and events.
• Attending Hack-the-Space Days
• Joining a subgroup team.
• Becoming a Director

Commercial Use of Hackspace

Using the space for business purposes (such as prototyping your start-up’s products) is fine, but remember that your business is no more important than any other member’s project. You do not get priority access to equipment, storage, or workspaces. You can’t expect other members to stay out of your way, stay quiet, or give up their turn on equipment.

Do not use Hackspace as your business’ registered address.

If the behaviour continues or the member does not feel comfortable this should be reported via the Complaints Form as soon as practical. This can only be seen by the board of directors. If your complaint is about a board member, please speak to another board member directly.

The form asks for the following compulsory information:

• Reporter Name
• Reporter Email
• Identifying information (name/nickname/description) of the person
• The time, date and location of the incident
• Description of the incident
• The frequency of incidents of this type
• Other people involved in the incident/witnesses

Restriction of access and termination of membership

The board of directors reserve the right to restrict or terminate membership of the Hackspace for whatever reasons they deem sufficient. However, here are some general guidelines as to behaviour likely to cause restriction or termination of membership:

• receiving three or more warnings from within 6 months
• continuing with behaviour after you have been asked to stop.
• a pattern of harassing behaviour, whether or not warnings have been issued.
• a single serious or obviously intentional offence.

The board reserves the right to suspend access to the Hackspace while investigations are carried out. No compensation nor refund will be given in this case, or in the case of membership termination.

The space provides limited storage for active projects. All stored items should be in either member storage or large project storage.

Members may use one cube space, or half of a shelf in the storage area. A shelf should be claimed via the members portal, and can be returned after use by the same system. The contents of the shelf should be clearly labelled with your name, the date and contact details. Contents must not overhang, overweigh, or otherwise interfere with others’ storage. It is recommended that you store your items in a box.

The Hackspace reserves the right to remove, dispose, donate or repurpose anything not stored inline with these guidelines. Do not leave projects in workshop areas.

• If a project becomes inactive please remove it from the space. 
• Any labelled oversized items left in member’s storage will be moved to large project storage.
• Unlabelled large items in either of the storage areas will be moved to the ‘free stuff’ area, and may just vanish without warning!
• Items in large project storage with an expired “Do Not Hack” label will be moved directly to the ‘free stuff’ area, and may just vanish without warning!

Large Projects

• If you’re going to take up a lot of space with a project you must ask on the forum for general permission to store your items.
• Oversized items must be stored in the large project storage area, not in members storage.
• Oversized items need to be clearly labelled with a Do Not Hack sticker including your name / unique nickname, a method of contacting you and an estimated finish date. If you are going to overshoot this finish date, replace the Do Not Hack sticker with an updated estimate.

Prohibited Storage Items

• Dangerous / Flammable Chemicals.
• Lithium batteries must be in a safe charging-bag. Lithium charging bags are cheap.
• Illegal items
• Radioactive Materials
• No live animals or perishable articles including food
• No genetically modified organisms

We have numerous assets that we consider critical infrastructure, and that members must not work on or make changes to themselves.

These include:

• Our physical building, external walls, and internal walls
• Doors, locks, and access control systems
• Electrical infrastructure, wiring, and sockets
• Plumbing infastructure
• Safety infrastructure (first aid kits, fire extinguishers, fire alarms)
• On-site digital infrastructure, networking equipment, and network wiring
• Online digital infrastructure, websites, and services

The board of directors will coordinate any work needed on items of critical infrastructure to ensure the board maintain oversight and awareness of changes to our critical infrastructure, and make sure we are operating in compliance with legal, health & safety, landlord, and insurance obligations.

If you become aware of any issues affecting critical infrastructure, please report it via our “Member Incident Report” form as either “Broken tool/Malfunctioning Equipment” or “Something else”.

The Board of Directors a.k.a The Board, The Directors, The Governance

The Board are members voted in each year at the AGM for a term of two years. The board are volunteers who become the legal directors of Manchester Hackspace’s formal company Manchester Makers Limited Company number 08012547. The directors take on a lot of legal responsibility but make no financial gain, and continue paying their membership.

Subgroup Teams

Each workshop area is maintained and organised by a subgroup team. Anyone is welcome to join the teams.

Members

A member is anyone over the age of 18 who pays their monthly subscription.

Hackspace a.k.a HACMan, Hacman, HacMan, Manchester Hackspace, Hackspace Manchester

The community and organisation as a whole, including the members, board of directors, physical space and aims of the organisation.

The Hackspace a.k.a The space

Refers to the physical building and its contents.