Inherent Risk
Fragile components may crack, break, loosen, deform, separate, or fail even during otherwise careful handling because of age, concealed defects, prior repairs, material fatigue, corrosion, or unknown history.
Customer Acknowledgment
Fragile Fixture Liability Acknowledgment
This acknowledgment explains the special risks involved when Shawn Penoyer, LLC is asked to inspect, remove, disassemble, handle for repair, repair, pack, box, crate, store, transport, reassemble, or install antique, vintage, Murano, crystal, glass, pre-owned, previously installed, inherited, custom, sentimental, high-value, or otherwise fragile fixtures or components.
When this acknowledgment is required for a project, the customer's acceptance and signature are a condition of Shawn Penoyer, LLC accepting or continuing the applicable fragile-fixture work.
Last Updated: August 18, 2026
Unknown History
A fixture may have been installed, removed, transported, stored, cleaned, repaired, modified, or reinstalled multiple times before we ever see it. Prior stress or damage may not be visible.
Uncertain Value
Antique, inherited, custom, or sentimental fixtures may have no readily verifiable replacement value. Shawn Penoyer, LLC does not assign or guarantee a customer's claimed, sentimental, collectible, or speculative value.
1. Inherent and Concealed Risks
Older and delicate fixtures can contain conditions that are not visible or reasonably discoverable before work begins. A component may fail because of age, prior installation, prior removal, transportation, storage, cleaning, repairs, concealed defects, material fatigue, corrosion, or unknown handling history.
- Hidden fractures or micro-fractures in glass, crystal, arms, bobeches, bowls, stems, prisms, finials, shades, or decorative components.
- Fatigued metal, weakened arms or joints, old solder, corrosion, oxidation, rusted or seized fittings, stripped threads, brittle wiring, deteriorated sockets, or weakened insulation.
- Prior repairs, adhesives, substituted or missing parts, altered hardware, loose connections, bent frames, re-tapped threads, solder repairs, or undocumented modifications.
- Unknown prior ownership, installation, removal, moving, shipping, storage, cleaning, repair, restoration, or handling history.
2. Reasonable Care - No Damage-Free Guarantee
Shawn Penoyer, LLC will exercise reasonable care in performing the accepted written scope. However, damage-free removal, disassembly, handling, repair, packing, transport, storage, reassembly, or installation cannot be guaranteed when failure results from inherent condition, concealed defects, age-related deterioration, prior repairs, prior damage, or other conditions not caused by a failure to exercise the level of care required by applicable law.
Our agreement to attempt the work does not mean the fixture has been determined structurally sound, safely serviceable, restorable, repairable, replaceable, or capable of being disassembled or reassembled without component failure. Breakage or component failure, by itself, does not establish that reasonable care was not exercised.
3. Inspection Limits and Our Role
Any photograph review, visual inspection, onsite assessment, measurement, or condition note is limited to conditions reasonably observable at that time. It is not a destructive inspection and does not guarantee concealed defects, weakened materials, internal wiring problems, prior repairs, or hidden fasteners will be discovered before work begins.
Hiring Shawn Penoyer, LLC does not mean we are appraisers, authenticators, conservators, historians, manufacturers, manufacturer-authorized specialists, or experts in the exact maker, origin, age, construction, authenticity, restoration history, collectible status, market value, replacement value, or sentimental value of a particular antique fixture.
4. Handling Plan, Measurement and Scope
For some antique or unusually fragile projects, an onsite inspection and measurement visit may be required before final pricing or before custom packing materials are purchased. That visit may be used to document visible condition, evaluate access and mounting conditions, assess whether components appear capable of safe disassembly, and measure for packing, boxing, crating, or storage materials.
The safest method may change as concealed conditions are discovered. A fixture may be left substantially assembled, partially disassembled, or fully disassembled with individual components wrapped and packed separately. We may revise the handling plan when continuing under the original plan would create unreasonable risk or a materially different scope.
5. Removal, Disassembly and Repair Handling
Removal and disassembly can be especially difficult when old fasteners, threaded components, sockets, arms, canopy hardware, mounting parts, decorative components, wiring, or structural connections are rusted, seized, corroded, repaired, painted over, glued, distorted, stripped, cross-threaded, soldered, or otherwise resistant to normal disassembly. Applying additional force may itself increase the risk of breakage or permanent damage.
If a component cannot be safely removed, separated, loosened, repaired, or reassembled using reasonable methods, we may stop, leave it in its then-current safe condition, revise the scope, recommend a qualified specialty restorer or other professional, or decline further work. Additional work outside the accepted scope requires separate written approval.
6. Packing, Boxing, Crating, Storage and Transport
Packing, protective boxing, crating, storage, transportation, and later reinstallation are separate services unless specifically included in writing. Packaging and support methods are selected based on the information reasonably available at the time of service, the fixture's construction, intended storage duration, and anticipated handling method.
No packing, boxing, crating, or storage method can eliminate all risk from concealed defects, vibration, shock, temperature, humidity, material fatigue, pre-existing weakness, or third-party handling. After turnover to a customer, mover, freight carrier, storage facility, consignee, or other third party, we do not control that party's loading, handling, storage environment, transportation, or delivery unless a separate written scope expressly provides otherwise.
7. Value, Replacement and Insurance
Antique and unique fixtures may have no readily established replacement value. Shawn Penoyer, LLC does not assign, authenticate, guarantee, or accept a customer's subjective, sentimental, collectible, speculative, resale, or asserted value. If the customer wants a particular financial value recognized for insurance purposes, that value should be established independently through an appropriate appraisal and insurance arrangement before work begins.
Customer/property insurance is the primary source to which any covered property damage claim should be submitted first, subject to the actual terms, exclusions, limits, deductibles, and determinations of the applicable insurance carrier. Customers with high-value, irreplaceable, antique, sentimental, collectible, custom, or difficult-to-replace fixtures should consult their insurance professional before work begins regarding appropriate scheduled-property, valuable-articles, inland-marine, cargo, or similar coverage.
Nothing on this page creates insurance coverage, changes policy terms, changes insurer priority, makes Shawn Penoyer, LLC an insurer of customer property, or requires any insurer to pay a claim not covered by its policy.
8. Customer Disclosures, Parts and Documentation
The customer must disclose known damage, prior repairs, missing parts, electrical concerns, instability, prior breakage, known restoration work, or other material information relevant to the requested service. Unless a separate inventory or appraisal service is specifically purchased, accepting a fixture for service does not guarantee that the fixture is complete or that all intended pieces are present.
Shawn Penoyer, LLC may photograph or video-record the fixture, its components, packaging, mounting conditions, existing damage, access conditions, disassembly sequence, packing process, storage condition, transportation condition, and reinstallation for documentation, quality control, insurance, safety, and dispute-prevention purposes, consistent with our Terms and Privacy Policy.
9. Right to Decline, Pause or Stop Work
We may decline, postpone, suspend, or stop work when fixture condition, access, mounting method, deterioration, packing method, removal difficulty, seized or rusted components, customer expectations, insurance situation, requested scope, requested risk allocation, or other discovered conditions make the project unsafe, impractical, or materially different from what was quoted.
We may also decline or discontinue a project if the customer does not accept the applicable acknowledgment or expects Shawn Penoyer, LLC to assume an undefined replacement, collectible, sentimental, speculative, or unverified valuation risk.
10. Customer Acknowledgment and Authorization
For projects requiring this acknowledgment, the signed customer document confirms that the customer understands the inherent, age-related, concealed, and unknown risks; understands that damage-free handling cannot be guaranteed; understands unique antique components may be difficult or impossible to replace; understands Shawn Penoyer, LLC is not acting as an appraiser, insurer, authenticator, conservator, historian, or guarantor of the fixture; and authorizes only the services specifically approved in the applicable written project documents.
This acknowledgment is intended to allocate risks arising from the fixture's pre-existing, inherent, concealed, aged, repaired, or otherwise fragile condition. It does not excuse Shawn Penoyer, LLC from exercising the level of care required by applicable law.
Signed Project-Specific Acknowledgment
This website page explains the general fragile-fixture policy. For qualifying projects, Shawn Penoyer, LLC provides a separate project-specific Fragile Fixture Liability Acknowledgment for customer signature. The signed acknowledgment supplements, but does not replace, the accepted estimate, quote, invoice, work order, storage agreement, or other project-specific written scope.
Nothing in the acknowledgment excludes or limits liability for gross negligence, willful or wanton misconduct, fraud, or any other liability or right that applicable law does not permit the parties to waive or limit.
Project documents control. The applicable signed acknowledgment and accepted project-specific documents control the approved scope, pricing, fixture identification, and any additional project-specific conditions.