Standard terms and conditions

1. Validity of the standard terms and conditions

The following terms and conditions are part of each contract which is concluded with the translation office of Jana Sommerfeld (hereafter referred to as the Translator). The translator shall perform her services exclusively on the basis of these standard terms and conditions. The standard terms and conditions of the “Customer” shall only be valid for the Translator if she has accepted them previously; acceptance is excluded if they contradict any of the following terms and conditions.

Amendments to an agreement and other arrangements as well as modifications and amendments of the contract shall be valid only in writing. This requirement of the written form may only be waived in writing.
2. Conclusion of the contract
a. For translation services

The contract shall be concluded with the signature of a written confirmation of the contract on the basis of an offer placed by the Translator. Dates of delivery shall only be binding if they have been previously confirmed by the Translator in writing. The Customer shall inform the Translator of the purpose, for which he needs the translation, for example if it is only for information, publication and advertisement, for legal purposes or for patent proceedings or for any other purpose for which a particular translation is necessary. If the aim of a translation is not known to the Translator, she shall translate it as well as possible for information purposes. The Translator reserves the right to refuse texts with illegal contents and those that infringe any conventions. Moreover, a text may be refused under certain circumstances which makes it impossible to translate the text.
b. For languages courses

The contract shall be deemed to have been concluded upon the announcement of the participant and the acceptance/confirmation of the announcement by the Translator. The duration of the courses shall be determined by any previous agreement. The Translator reserves the right to cancel a course in exceptional cases or to modify the contents of the lessons.
3. Offers and prices

All offers and prices shall be without engagement. They may be modified in the light of the actual situations and amended costs. The prices shall be calculated in euros if no other currency has been agreed previously. Special services shall be subject to an additional charge or shall be calculated on a time and material basis.
a. Translation services

The prices shall be calculated on a per-line basis if no other agreement has been concluded. One line shall comprise a maximum of 55 characters including spaces. An incomplete line with more than 30 characters shall count as a full line. A minimum rate of € 15.00 shall be charged if the price per line multiplied by the number of lines does not exceed the minimum rate. Formatting and conversion services, proof-reading, charges for an urgent assignment, elaboration and amplification of a terminology or a glossary shall be charged by time or separately. Moreover additional time for the opening of documents which are provided by the Customer shall be charged by time.
b. Languages courses

If no other agreement has been made, the prices for language courses shall be charged per unit. Materials for the language courses shall be paid by the Customer.
4. Realization, amendments and delivery dates
a. Quality

The translation services shall be provided according to the basic professional principles. In particular the Translator shall pay attention to the neutral and cultural correctness and precision, to the correct and consistent application of the predetermined terminology or alternatively, to the correct use of standard terminology as well as to the idiomatic correctness according to the valid rules of grammar and orthography.
b. a.Participation of third persons

The Translator may ask for participation of employees and of specialised third parties. In this case, the Translator shall ensure that such third parties observe the confidentiality provisions set out in Article 7a of these standard terms and conditions.
c. Examination and acceptance periods

The quality of the translations shall correspond to the customary market standards of quality. The Customer shall examine the translation delivered by the Translator before distribution and publication. If no obvious defects are reported by the Customer in the writing within 14 days after delivery of the translation, the translation shall be deemed to be correct. In this respect the Translator and the Customer agree that silence constitute acceptance. The Translator shall indicate this consequence to the client. The deadline for examination shall commence upon the delivery of the translation, i.e. three days after dispatch by mail.
d. Amendments

If any defects are discovered the Translator may remedy these defects. The Customer shall be entitled to demand remedying of defects. Such claim shall be exercised in writing. For this purpose, the Customer shall grant an adequate deadline. If the Translator does not eliminate the defects within the deadline or if she refuses to remedy the defects the amendment has failed. The Customer may remedy the defects himself, rescind the contract or insist on a price reduction. The remedy shall be deemed to have failed if the defects have still not been eliminated after the second attempt. If the Customer refuses the remedy of defects, the Translator shall be absolved from the liability arising from the defects. Claims held by the Customer against the Translator shall be barred after one year except in the case of wilful misconduct. The Translator shall not be held liable for any defects in the translation which are due to errors of omissions in the document provided by the Customer. Nor shall she be held liable fo any idiomatic imprecisions arising from missing context.
e. Delivery deadlines and contractual penalties with third persons

Dates of delivery shall be provided subject to Translators best efforts but shall be deemed to constitute estimates only. They shall not constitute a binding confirmation. The Translator shall do her utmost to fulfil the agreed date of delivery. If an inevitable delay beyond her control (for example due to an unexpected amount, illness etc.) is foreseeable, the Translator shall inform the Customer immediately. If non-fulfilment of a delivery date is due to a force majeure, the Translator may rescind the contact or negotiate a new deadline. All further legal remedies available to the Customer in cases such as these shall be excluded. If the Customer on the other hand has arranged contractual penalties with third persons it shall inform the Translator before the conclusion of the contract. In the absence of such notification, claims to damages from the Customer shall be excluded. The Customer shall accept part deliveries according to the agreed conditions.
5. Duties of the Customer
a. Documents

Informations and documents which are necessary for the translation (for example glossaries from Customer, terminology, pictures, drawings, records) shall be provided by the Customer without any delay. The Customer shall inform the Translator in time of any special requirements with respect to the translation (translation on a data medium, number of copies, layout etc.). Any defects and delays, which result from the non-observance of these obligations, shall be for the to the Customer´s account.
b. Rights of third persons

The Customer shall be responsible for the rights of a text and assures that a translation may be made. He shall indemnify the Translator for all third-party claims.
6. Conditions of payment
a. Remuneration

In the absence of any other agreement to the contrary, the Translator shall charge the agreed services according to her applicable rates and conditions. The Translator is the proprietor of a small company and therefore she is allowed to waive collection of VAT in accordance with Section 19 of the VAT Act.
b. Urgent assignments

For urgent assignments, work during the weekend or for the elaboration of a terminology (assignments which require a special investment of time and administration and which can not be executed within the normal time of delivery) the Translator shall invoice an additional charge according to the application rates of Article 3a of these standard terms and conditions. The Translator shall inform the Customer in writing if a given job is considered to be urgent and about the amount of the additional charge.
c. Minimum charge

For assignments with net value per language of under ¬ 15.00 a minimum charge of ¬ 15.00 shall be charged to cover the administrative costs.
d. Modification or termination of the contract

If the Customer modifies or cancels any contracts, jobs or comprehensive plans, the Translator may charge the previously agreed rate minus the work saved. This shall not prejudice the Customer´s right to terminate the contract for a good cause due to a serious violation of obligations by the Translator. The deduction for work saved shall be limited to 50% of the previously agreed rate without the necessity of a proof through the Translator. The Customer may demonstrate that higher amounts have been saved or that the Translator has earned money by accepting work from other sources or has deliberately failed to accept such other work.
e. Terms of payment

Payment shall be due directly after the delivery of the translation. In absence of of any other agreement to the contrary, payment shall be remitted 14 days after receipt of the invoice.
7. Miscellaneous provisions
a. Confidentiality

The Translator undertakes to keep all documents, software systems and information inaccessible to non-authorized persons and to treat as confidential all contents of documents. This duty of confidentially shall not include documents which are already in the possession of the Translator before receiving the translation job, disclosed to her by third parties or already in the public domain.
b. Liability

The translator shall only be liable for possible damages if she has violated a material contractual obligation or for negligence or intent. If the violation of a material is not due to negligence or intent, but to carelessness, the Translator´s responsibility shall be excluded. This exclusion or limitation of liability shall not apply to loss sustained by a consumer or personal injury or impairments to health.

The Translator´s liability for loss of or damage to the texts provided by the Customer shall be excluded in cases of natural phenomenons (storm, water, fire) or events beyond her control (burglary, net and server problems, connection and transmission problems or any other disruption to the data processing).

The translator shall not be liable for damage caused by viruses, trojans, autodialer, spammail or similar data loss. The Translator´s data processing installations are examined frequently to ensure that there are no viruses etc. For deliveries via email or other remote transmissions the Customer is responsible for ensuring that the transmitted documents are free of any viruses etc. The Customer shall be responsible for the electronic transmission via email. The Translator shall not be held liable for loss arising in connection with the electronic transmission (for example defective, incomplete or lost texts and documents).
c. Right of use

The Customer shall acquire the right of use of the translation upon full payment. The Translator shall be entitled to request that mention of her name in all copies distributed and published. The translations shall remain intellectual property of the Translator. Repeated applications (as a bulletin, a circular or the like) shall require the Translator´s prior approval.
d. Complaints, challenges

Complaints, the setting of deadlines and challenges shall be in the writing only.
8. Concluding provisions
a. Severability

If any provision in this contract becomes ineffective, the validity of the contract shall remain uneffected. Instead of the ineffective provision, the parties shall agree on a new provision to replace the ineffective provision coming as close as possible to the parties´ intentions.
b. Disputes

Any disputes arising form the standard terms and conditions shall be referred to the applicable courts of law of the City of Lübeck.