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The following General Terms and Conditions shall apply to all
legal transactions between Business Interpreters (hereinafter:
BI) and the client and/or the employee, to the exclusion of the
general conditions of the client and/or the employee, unless BI
has agreed in writing to the application of the latter conditions.
A "client" is defined as any natural person or legal entity which uses
- or who requests detailed information on - the mediation of BI and/or commissions
BI to perform specific "linguistic activities", which are defined as
the translation, correction or editing of texts as well as other activities in
the linguistic field, such as interpreting, teaching, writing and re-writing
of texts, etc.
" Employees" are defined as the interpreters, translators and/or other
persons who have been brought into contact with the (possible) client through
the mediation of BI. |
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These conditions shall apply to all our cost estimates,
notifications, quotations, acceptances and agreements,
unless and in so far as we declare otherwise in writing,
and as such prevail over possible similar conditions
of the client and/or the employee(s), which are hereby
not accepted as well as being rejected in writing. |
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| 3.1 |
All quotations and cost estimates of BI are without obligation. |
| 3.2 |
The agreement shall take effect upon acceptance in writing by
the client or employee of the quotation or confirmation of the
assignment submitted by BI or - if no quotation has been submitted -
by confirmation in writing by BI of a commission granted to BI by the
client. In the event of BI being unable to examine the complete text
before submitting its quotation, BI may however retract the
quoted cost estimate and lead times even after acceptance of the
quotation by the client. |
| 3.3 |
BI may consider the client to be the person who has commissioned
the work, unless said person has clearly stated that he is acting
on behalf of, on the orders of and for the account of a third party,
on simultaneous communication to BI of the name and address of the said third
party. |
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| 4.1 |
BI commits itself to executing the commission to the best of its
ability and knowledge, employing sound professional knowledge and
skills, with due regard to the purpose specified by the client. |
| 4.2 |
If possible, upon request, the client will submit information on
the
contents of the text to be translated, as well as documentation and
terminology, if available. The dispatch of said documents is
always for the account and the risk of the client. |
| 4.3 |
Unless it has been expressly stipulated to the contrary, BI shall
be entitled to have the commission (partly) executed by a third party,
without prejudice to its duty to ensure that confidentiality is not
breached and without prejudice to the requisite quality of the execution
of the commission. BI shall require said third party to observe the
strictest confidence. |
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| 5.1 |
Interpreters shall make every conscientious effort to make their
expertise and skills fully available to the client in order to attain
the optimum result in their interpreting. |
| 5.2 |
The function of the interpreter shall exclude the written
translation of texts; interpreters shall therefore confine themselves to
the interpretation of spoken proceedings and shall not cover any event
not specifically provided for in the contract. They shall be bound by the strictest
professional confidentiality. |
| 5.3 |
To facilitate the interpreters' technical and terminological preparation,
the client shall provide the interpreters with a complete set of
documents in each of the working languages of a conference, meeting
or other gathering requiring interpreting, as early as possible,
but no later than 10 days before the start of said gathering. |
| 5.4 |
If during the conference, meeting or other gathering requiring
interpreting a text has to be read aloud, the client shall ensure
that the interpreters receive a copy beforehand (see previous paragraph).
The client shall inform the speaker that the reading speed for a
text for which interpretation is to be provided must not exceed 100
words a minute (3 minutes per double-spaced, type written page).
The interpreter shall be under no obligation to provide interpretation
of written statements if he or she has not received the text of the
statement well in advance and/or has not had sufficient time to study
it. If films are shown during a meeting, no interpretation of the
sound-track shall be provided unless the sound is transmitted direct
to the interpreters' headphones and unless the script has been supplied
to the interpreters beforehand and the commentary is spoken at normal
speed. |
| 5.5 |
A day's interpretation shall not normally last for longer than
8
hours and is interrupted by at least one break of at least 60
minutes. Agreements can be reached on possible compensation for overtime. |
| 5.6 |
Without the prior consent of the head of the team, persons not
belonging to the team of interpreters may not be used
as interpreters to complement that team, or make use otherwise of
the interpretation channels of the simultaneous interpretation
equipment. The distribution of work among the members of the team
will be established by the interpreters themselves. |
| 5.7 |
The services of the interpreter shall be provided
solely for direct
and immediate use by the listeners; no recording may be made,
either by the listeners or anyone else, without the prior consent of
BI and the interpreters concerned, who may ask for appropriate
remuneration for it. |
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| 6.1 |
BI shall treat all information entrusted to it by the client in
the strictest confidence. BI shall require its employees also to
observe the strictest confidentiality. However, should an employee
breach said confidentiality, then neither BI nor the employee shall
be held liable if the employee can demonstrate that it was not within
his/her power to prevent such disclosure. |
| 6.2 |
All information concerning BI shall be treated confidentially by
the client and the latter's employee(s). |
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| 7.1 |
The agreed lead time is an estimated time, unless expressly stipulated
otherwise. As soon as it becomes apparent to BI that the agreed delivery
time is not feasible, it shall immediately notify the client accordingly. |
| 7.2 |
Should BI be accountable for the delay in delivery, the client
shall be entitled - if it is unreasonable for it to wait any longer
- unilaterally to rescind the contract. |
| 7.3 |
In the event that a client cancels an assignment for which BI has
already commenced work, the client shall be liable to pay compensation,
to be determined in accordance with circumstances, unless the assignment
is cancelled by the client for reasons which cannot be attributed
to BI, in which case BI is entitled to the agreed fee or the fee
which would reasonably have been due if the assignment had been completed. |
| 7.4 |
BI reserves the right to withdraw from an assignment if the client
alters the assignment, following acceptance by BI, to such an extent
that, in the opinion of BI, said assignment could not reasonably
have been accepted. BI is then entitled to the agreed fee or the
portion thereof which would reasonably have been due if the assignment
had been completed, in accordance with the work performed by BI up
to that date. |
| 7.5 |
Delivery shall be considered to have taken place at the moment
of delivery by hand, dispatch by normal postal service or electronic
post, fax, telex, courier, modem, etc. |
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| 8.1 |
Depending on the nature of the activities BI shall be remunerated
for its linguistic activities on the basis of a word rate or an hourly
rate, of which rate the client shall be notified on request. |
| 8.2 |
If the execution of the activities so requires and BI has received
a written or verbal request to that effect in advance, BI has the
right to increase the fee by a priority surcharge of 50% (working
days) or 100% (Saturdays, Sunday, national holidays and night work)
for activities performed outside normal office hours or devoted to
the assignment at the expense of other scheduled activities. |
| 8.3 |
In addition to its fee, BI may also declare the expenses incurred
while executing the commission. |
| 8.4 |
All sums shall be stated excluding value-added tax. |
| 8.5 |
Accounts should be settled within 15 days after the date of the
invoice, in the currency in which the invoice is drawn up. If payment
is not made within the prescribed period, the client shall immediately,
without further notification, be in default, in which case the client
shall be liable for a monthly interest of 2% of the amount specified
in the invoice, from the date of default to the moment of full settlement. |
| 8.6 |
In the event of extrajudicial collection, a collection charge of
15% of the first EUR 5,000. - of the principal amount augmented by
interest shall be levied, against a charge of 10 % on the remainder
with a minimum collection charge of EUR 150.-. |
| 8.7 |
The client is not allowed to effect direct payments to (an) employee(s)
for activities carried out, unless BI requested this explicitly beforehand
in writing. |
| 8.8 |
All collection costs, both judicial and extrajudicial, shall be
for the client's account. |
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| 9.1 |
The client shall report complaints concerning the work delivered
by BI as soon as possible and inform BI in writing of his dissatisfaction
within ten days of receipt of the work. The reporting of a complaint
shall in no way relieve the client of its obligation to pay for the
work delivered. |
| 9.2 |
Should the complaint be well-founded, BI shall improve or replace
the work delivered within a reasonable period of time or, if BI cannot
reasonably comply with the request for improvement, agree to a reduction
of the fee. |
| 9.3 |
If the client and BI cannot reach agreement concerning the complaint
within a reasonable period of time, the two parties may submit the
complaint to the Disputes and Disciplinary Committee of the NGTV
(Netherlands Society of Interpreters and Translators) within two
months after such situation has arisen. Settlement of the dispute
shall in this case take place in accordance with the NGTV arbitration
code. |
| 9.4 |
The client's right to make a claim shall lapse if
it has revised - or has caused to be revised - the
work as delivered and has subsequently passed it on
to a third party. |
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| 10.1 |
BI and its staff are not responsible for any loss which the client
suffers as a consequence of mistakes, omissions, wrong use of words
and other errors. BI shall never be liable for any other form of
loss, such as consequential loss, damages due to delay or loss of
income or profits. The liability shall in any event be limited per
incident to a sum equal to the invoice value excluding value-added
tax of the commission concerned, to a maximum of one thousand Euros. |
| 10.2 |
BI is not liable for damages if late delivery is due to force majeure
or any other unavoidable circumstance which in any event shall include
illness. |
| 10.3 |
Ambiguity in the text to be translated or in a presentation made
orally or in writing but intended differently by the client indemnifies
the employee(s) and BI from any liability. |
| 10.4 |
The decision as to whether the text to be translated or the translated/interpreted
text contains certain risks of bodily harm or injury shall be the
sole responsibility and liability of the client. |
| 10.5 |
BI shall not be held responsible for damage to or loss of manuscripts,
documents, information or information carriers placed at its disposal
for the purpose of executing the commission, nor shall it be held
liable for damage arising from the use of information technology
or modern means of telecommunication. |
| 10.6 |
Forwarding of materials is always at the expense and risk of the
client. |
| 10.7 |
The client shall be bound to indemnify BI from all claims by third
parties arising from the utilisation of the work delivered, with
the exception of such liability on the part of BI as may exist on
the grounds of the provisions of this article. |
| 10.8 |
In the event of damage to equipment such as microphones, infrared
heaters, receivers, headphones and the like, the client shall pay
for it at replacement values. |
| 10.9 |
Damage caused to BI as a result of gross negligence or non-performance
of the employee(s) shall be recovered from the employee(s) concerned. |
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| 11.1 |
In the event of the client failing to honour its commitments, or
in the case of bankruptcy, moratorium, receivership or liquidation
of the client's business, BI shall be entitled wholly or partially
to rescind the contract or suspend the execution of the commission,
such action never rendering BI liable for any claim for damages.
BI may then demand immediate payment of remuneration due to BI. |
| 11.2 |
If, as a result of circumstances beyond its control, BI can no
longer honour its commitments, BI is entitled to dissolve the agreement
without being obliged to pay damages. Such circumstances shall include
- but not be exclusively confined to - fire, accident, illness, strike,
riots, war, hindrance or restriction of transport, governmental measures
or other circumstances which are beyond BI's control. |
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| 12.1 |
If the agreement, whether concluded orally or in writing,
is cancelled for whatever reason, the following cancellation stipulations
apply: |
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Services of interpreters and employees: |
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50% of the amount agreed upon if BI was notified of the cancellation
less than 2 months prior to the commencement of the commission. |
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75% of the amount agreed upon if BI was notified of the cancellation
less than 1 month prior to the commencement of the commission. |
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100% of the amount agreed upon if BI was notified of the cancellation
less than 2 weeks prior to the commencement of the commission. |
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Other services: |
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100% of the rate for contracts between BI and third parties relating
to the agreement between BI's client and BI. |
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| 13.1 |
If (an) employee(s) is/are unable to carry out his/her/their
assignment due to force majeure, neigher BI nor the
employee(s) may be held liable for such occurrence.
Force majeure is interpreted as including - but not
be exclusively confined to- : war, riot, restrictive
measures imposed by domestic or foreign authorities,
strikes, fire, traffic obstructions, sabotage, so called
war risks and, in general, all unforeseen circumstances
as a result of which compliance with the agreement
can no longer reasonably be demanded of BI.
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| 13.2 |
The client's financial obligations shall remain unchanged, even
when physical circumstances (strikes; hijackings; traffic diversions
or delays; political, civil and military upheaval; etc.) prevent
the contract from being carried out either in whole or in part. Should
such circumstances result in an interpreter or employee having to
stay at a location for a period longer than that specified by the
contract, said location not constituting his or her residence, he
or she shall be entitled to receive compensation in line with the
daily allowance and expense allowance set out in the contract. |
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| 14.1 |
Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, BI retains the copyright on
all linguistic activities it performs. |
| 14.2 |
The client shall indemnify BI from third-party claims regarding
alleged breach of rights of ownership, patent, authors' copyright
or other intellectual property in connection with the execution of
the commission. |
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BI's confirmation essentially signifies a working agreement between
the client and the employee(s). It does not signify a permanent employer-employee
relationship in respect of either party. The employee(s) shall bear
the responsibility of paying his/her/their own taxes and contributions.
Any employee who is to work for the client as a result of mediation
by BI shall carry out these duties at the client's risk. The client
shall bear the risk of and any expenses resulting from injury suffered
by persons or damage to objects due to the negligence on the part
of the employee(s). |
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The client will refrain from giving assignments direct to former
employee(s) of BI for a period of 5 years from the date on which
the employee(s) concerned were first put in contact with the client
via BI. If within the above-mentioned period the client is approached
by employee(s), known to him via the mediation by BI, it undertakes
to refer such employee(s) back to BI. In the event of infringement
of the provisions of this article, the client will be liable for
the payment of a fine of EUR 1000 per infringement, augmented by
Euro 1000 for each day the infringement continues, without prejudice
to BI's right to claim full compensation. The same shall apply mutatis
mutandis to employee(s) in the above sense. |
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If during the periods stated in article 16 either the client or
the employee wishes to enter into an employment contract with the
employee or the client, respectively, on receipt of a written request
from one of the parties BI will grant exemption from article 16,
provided the requesting party pays to BI a representation fee amounting
to 20% of the gross annual salary agreed between parties. If both
parties make such a request to BI, they will each pay to BI 10% of
the agreed gross annual salary by way of representation fee. |
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| 18.1 |
The law of the Netherlands shall apply to all legally binding transactions
between the client and BI. |
| 18.2 |
Any dispute shall be subject to the judgment of the officially
appointed Netherlands judge. |
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