GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

Translating and interpreting are special types of service. For this reason, such orders can only be accepted in accordance with the following General Terms and Conditions. Any deviating provisions which may be stipulated by the customer shall require our express written confirmation.

1. Calculation Basis

1.1 As a matter of principle, written translation services are calculated according to the number of words in the source text. The price per word depends on the target language and degree of difficulty of the text to be translated in accordance with the current price list at the time of the order. Without precise knowledge of the source text(s) to be translated, a text with a medium degree of difficulty is taken as the basis.

1.2 Calculation according to lines in the target language is possible at the express request of the customer. Prices and methods of calculation are always agreed project-related.

1.3 Should, at the request of the customer, the translation order be executed using translating tools (e.g., TRADOS, TRANSIT, etc.) the price will be calculated based on the program’s analysis system.

1.4 A surcharge of 20-100% will be added to the net fee for express orders which must be executed outside normal working hours in order to meet delivery deadlines (work at night, weekends and on holidays). This will be agreed with the customer prior to commencement of the work.

1.5 Similar added value services (foreign-language desktop publishing, terminology work, correction, proofreading, etc.) will be calculated according to the time required. A time-sheet will be enclosed with fee invoice.

1.6 Should a price per page have been agreed on as the basis for calculation, such calculation will be made on the basis of a standard page (25 written lines of 50-55 ASCII characters each). A standard page of at least 20 written lines will be regarded as a complete page.

1.7 We calculate small orders with a flat-rate fee or as agreed.

1.8 Oral language services (simultaneous or consecutive interpretation) will be calculated according to the time needed or on the basis of a previously agreed daily rate. Partial hours will be counted as full hours. The normal working hours per day of interpreters in accordance with the rules of the A.I.I.C. are: – in the case of conference (simultaneous) interpreters, a maximum of six hours and in the case of consecutive interpreters, a maximum of eight hours. In case of overtime, a surcharge of 50% will be added to the agreed or time-proportional hourly rate. Outward and return journeys, as well as any preparation and post-processing time, will be remunerated in accordance with the contract.

1.9 The related costs (accommodation, daily allowance, business expenses, etc.) inevitably incurring in the case of employment in situ, will be invoiced in the documented amount.

2. Execution

2.1 Written language services will be executed according to our best knowledge and belief. Insofar as no special instructions or documents are provided by the customer, technical terms will be translated into the target language with the usually applied, lexicographically justifiable or generally understandable term.

2.2 The terminology lists and databases created in connection with a language service remain our property unless otherwise agreed when awarding the order or at the beginning of business relations.

2.3 Depending on the type of text to be translated, the source text will be translated into the target language literally, as a translation which conveys the intended meaning, or in accordance with the respective way of thinking of the target group, while fully preserving the informative content in each case.

2.4 Should, as a consequence of translation work performed, a claim be asserted against us by a third party for violation of copyright for any reason whatsoever, the customer undertakes to fully indemnify us against any and all such liability.

2.5 No liability will be assumed for translation errors which occur as a result of incorrect and/or incomplete data provided by the customer or errors in the source text. This applies also and in particular with respect to illegible and contradictory names and figures, units, and text passages.

3. Delivery Date and Delivery

3.1 In general, we undertake to perform work by the agreed delivery date.

3.2 The date of delivery will be considered to have been met if the completed order has been dispatched in such good time that, taking into account the time normally required for delivery via the respective forwarding method, it should have been delivered to the customer on time.

3.3 If the delivery date cannot be met due to Force Majeure or reasons beyond our control (traffic disruptions, failure of the energy supply and/or the internet, sudden illness, strike, insurgence, war events, and other operational disturbances), we shall be entitled to either withdraw from the contract or request the customer for an appropriate extension. Any other rights – in particular, claims for damages – shall be excluded in such cases.

4. Customer’s Obligations

4.1 When placing an order, the customer shall be obliged to define any requirements such as CAT tools, desk top publishing, including version, type of delivery, delivery as a printable version, desktop publishing, terminology extract, number of copies, etc.

4.2 The technical information and documents required for proper execution of the order (inter alia, in-house terminology lists, drawings and figures, explanations of abbreviations and the like) are to be made available to us in good time and without being requested.

4.3 The customer shall also be obliged to provide constructive assistance in the execution of the order and to designate a competent person to be contacted in case of inquiries regarding the subject matter.

4.4 Technical manuals and more comprehensive printed documents must be placed at our disposal, free of charge, as source text and working basis, in electronic form as an overwriteable original file and readable PDF file or photocopy.

4.5 In the case of oral language services, the interpreter is to be provided with any documents relevant to the subject matter of the discussion, as well as any background information, in good time to enable him or her to thoroughly prepare for the event concerned.

4.6 Unless otherwise agreed, any and all working documents shall remain in our possession upon completion of the order and will be kept in safe custody/stored, together with the completed product, for a period of five (5) years while maintaining confidentiality and observing the legal provisions governing data protection. Upon expiry of this period, the documents will be destroyed and the data records deleted.

5. Dispatch

5.1 As a rule, delivery will be via the internet as an email attachment or as an uncoded data set via the access created either permanently or for a specific period for the translation agency commissioned with the work or for the customer on our FTP server. Upon request, the order can also be delivered on storage media or as a paper printout per mail or courier.

5.2 Wherever possible, replacements will be provided for postal or courier consignments lost in transit. However, the customer shall not be entitled to assert any legal claim thereto. In particular in such cases, the customer may assert no claim for damages for lost documents or because of failure to meet the agreed delivery date.

6. Complaints

6.1 Should the language service contain obvious substantive, terminological, linguistic or orthographic errors, the customer shall be obliged to notify us without delay and indicate the defect in precise terms. We expressly reserve the right to rework the translation within a reasonable period of time in accordance with the German Civil Code [BGB].

6.2 Complaints of any type can be made by the customer within one month from receipt of the delivery. Should the customer not give notice of any defects within this period, the language service will be deemed to have been accepted.

6.3 Should the customer refrain from having the translation reworked for any reason whatsoever, the customer shall not be entitled to arbitrarily reduce the invoiced fee at his discretion or to refuse payment. Cancellation of the contract and claims for damages on the part of the customer shall be excluded in such cases.

7. Warranty, Liability

7.1 Language services of any type will be provided in accordance with and subject to strict adherence to the guidelines of our quality management system certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001-2008 in the currently applicable version or – at the express request of the customer – in accordance with the standard DIN EN ISO 15038.

7.2 We shall accept liability for the correctness and completeness of the language service up to the amount of the respective order value, at the most, however, up to € 100,000. All liability claims against us exceeding said amount are herewith explicitly excluded.

8. Cancellation

8.1 Should the customer, for any reason whatsoever, withdraw a translation order which has already been awarded without being contractually or legally entitled to do so, the customer shall be obliged to refund to us the costs incurred up to the point of cancellation and to pay for any services rendered up to this point in time.

8.2 Should oral language services not be cancelled at the latest three days prior to the commencement of the work, we shall be entitled to at least one daily fee, unless we are able to offer the interpreter(s) engaged an appropriate replacement order.

9. Terms of payment

9.1 Unless otherwise agreed, the net amount of invoices for language services shall be payable immediately.

9.2 Should partial deliveries have been agreed, the service rendered will be invoiced with the respective partial delivery.

9.3 In the case of larger orders with long delivery periods, we shall be entitled to require an appropriate advance payment to cover running costs.

10. Reservation of Ownership

10.1 Delivery items shall remain our property until complete payment of the invoice.

11. Applicable Law, Place of Performance and Legal Venue

11.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively to language services of any type as well as to any claims derived therefrom.

11.2 The place of performance and legal venue shall be Düsseldorf; in the case of oral language services, the place at which the service is provided.

11.3 Should one or more of the aforementioned provisions of these General Terms and Conditions be or become invalid in whole or in part or prove to be incapable of being implemented, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. The German Civil Code [BGB] shall apply in such cases.

Düsseldorf, 1st May 2012

© IFA-TRADUCTO^® Sprachdienstleistungen und Werbung GmbH

The use of the text of these General Terms and Conditions in whole or in part is prohibited without our express written consent.