1. Scope of application
The General Terms and Conditions of Sprachenservice Renata Galić GmbH (in the following "SRG") apply to all the business interactions between SRG and the customer (both legal and natural persons), as long as nothing to the contrary has been confirmed by SRG expressly in writing.
The General Terms and Conditions are accepted by the customer when the order has been placed and applies for the entire duration of the business relationship, and with that, also future business transactions.
2.
Placing an order
2.1
Translation and interpreting services are completed and carried out on time and in the best possible quality.
Specialist terms, as far as no specific instructions have been given or documents sent, will be translated into the customarily version in the case of translations. If the customer wants non-customary terminology to be used, in particular in-house terminology, then this needs to be specified when the order is placed.
2.2
SRG relies on the duty of cooperation on the part of the customer.
The customer is required to provide a legible document (source text) when placing a translation order.
Information and documents that are necessary for completing the translation need to be provided to SRG by the customer on time and without being asked (images, meaning of abbreviations, customer's glossaries, tables, sketches etc.).
The customer is obliged to check the translation work provided by SRG for mistakes and usability in concrete situations, before using the translated work. SRG is not liable for any subsequent mistakes, such as defective printing, when the customer has not met their duty of cooperation in full and on time.
2.3
If the customer would like to publish the translated text or use it for advertising purposes, or would like to have the translation formulated in a specific style, they need to make this known when placing the order and provide clear information, glossaries, style and text instructions for the text to be published or the adaptation of the advertising text. If the customer does not disclose the aforementioned application purpose when placing the order, and the text is then published or used for advertising purposes at a later time, the customer is not entitled to pursue claims for damages if the publication or advertising efforts need to be repeated due to translations mistakes or an insufficient adaptation.
If the translated text is destined to be printed, the customer must provide SRG with a correction copy for validation.
2.4
Insufficiencies that occur due to the non-adherence of the points provided above, are not at the expense of SRG, unless the insufficiencies are due to the intentional or gross negligence of SRG.
2.5
According to § 312g (2) BGB (German Civil Code) there is no right of cancellation for translation orders unless the translator has not yet started to perform the service. In the event that the translator has started the production of the translation, the standard lines accrued up to that point will be invoiced.
In the case of interpreting orders, the customer can postpone or cancel the appointment up to two days before the agreed interpreting date. Cancellations that occur after this will be charged with a cancellation fee of € 200,00.
3.
Execution of order
In order to execute all business transactions, SRG is entitled, as far as this makes sense and is appropriate according to SRG, to call upon the services of third parties. Contact between the customer and the third party commissioned by SRG require the express written consent of SRG.
4.
Delivery
4.1
SRG generally provides translations as a single, typewritten copy on paper or on standard data carriers.
4.2
The agreed delivery deadline for the translations presumes that the customer provides SRG with the source text in good time.
In the event of a possible delay in transmitting or providing the source text by the customer, the delivery deadline originally agreed with SRG must be put-back if necessary.
4.3
In the event that the customer wants changes to the source text after the translation has been begun with, the delivery deadline originally agreed with SRG must be put-back if necessary.
4.4
In the event of force majeure (e. g. power outage, strike or other disturbances to operations, sudden illness of the translator/interpreter, traffic disturbances etc.), SRG is not liable for delayed deliveries because during this period, the sequence of each delivery deadline is hindered. SRG is required to report this situation to the customer immediately. Also included under force majeure in this sense is the outage of the external or internal communication network. The agreed delivery deadline is put-back correspondingly in these cases.
Due to the fact that the outage of e-mails due to technical or operational reasons can happen to both the sender as well as the recipient, SRG does not assume any liability for the on-time and deadline meeting sending of the urgent translations by e-mail. In this case, the customer must be explicitly required to provide a written confirmation that the translation was sent, in order to give SRG the possibility of sending the translation by fax in emergency cases.
4.5
The translations completed by SRG remain saved for a period of six months following completion and sending to the customer unless something ulterior has been agreed in writing. The customer ensures that the saving is not in contradiction of the provisions of the Federal data protection law.
5.
Remuneration
5.1 The basis for invoicing translations is generally the norm line of 50 to 55 characters. Decisive are the characters generated in the translation, meaning the target text. In those exceptional cases when a price per word is agreed, the number of words indicated by Microsoft Word / Excel / PowerPoint will be decisive for the translation. If, however, Latin letters are only used in the source text, the number of characters in the source text will be decisive.
Changes wanted or instigated by the customer to an already translated text will, as far as no translation mistake made by SRG exists, also be invoiced.
The minimum flat rate for a translation job is, depending on the language combination, between € 25 and € 50.
In the case of urgent translations, an additional charge of at least 10 % will be invoiced.
Necessary ancillary costs such as, e. g. telephone, fax, e-mail, postal fees will be invoiced additionally.
5.2
Certified translations are completed by a translator empowered to do so by the courts. Fees for the certification in such translations are due.
5.3
Interpreter services are invoiced per started hour. Travel to and from, as well as any waiting times are invoiced in accordance with the applicable hourly rate for interpretation services. Expenses and necessary expenditures (e. g. parking ticket) are invoiced separately.
5.4
All offers and prices are non-binding and can, when necessary, be adapted to the actual situations and the altered degree of effort involved.
5.5
Correction work/reading and editing work are either invoiced at an hourly rate or for an agreed flat-rate fee. This also applies to the subsequent integration of changes into already completed translations due to changes to the source text by the customer.
5.6
If a quote/offer is given after inspecting the source text, this only applies when it is provided in writing. These types of quotes/offers are binding for both contract partners.
Quotes/offers that are provided without having looked at the source text are provided without any guarantee. In order to be able to provide a binding quote/offer, the final source text from the customer is required.
5.7
All prices under point 5 are in Euro and are plus the statutory VAT.
5.8
The payment for the translation is, in the case of private customers, provided in cash when the translation is picked up. In these cases, SRG is entitled to request an appropriate payment on account, which is usually 50 % of the overall translation costs.
If it has been agreed that the customer will pick up the translation and the customer does not do this on time, from the day the translation was completed and ready to be picked, the customer becomes obligated to pay.
The invoices issued by SRG are to be paid in full within 14 days of having been issued. What is decisive for on-time payment is the credit on the SRG business account. In the event that the customer is in default of payment, a reminder fee of € 3 will be charged per invoice.
If the customer still does not pay after having received a reminder, SRG is entitled to charge 5 % points over the base interest rate after the last reminder deadline has passed.
5.9
In the case of a contract order value in excess of € 2,000, SRG is entitled a payment on account of 50 % of the contract order value or an appropriate advance payment.
6.
Right to rectifying mistakes/make improvements
6.1
SRG reserves the right to rectify mistakes.
6.2
The claim on the part of the customer for rectification of possible mistakes in the translation must be sufficiently explained in writing and proven by the customer within four weeks after the translation has been forwarded to the customer or the service has been performed.
6.3
SRG has the right to make improvements in the event that the complaint that mistakes are contained in the translation has been properly submitted and proven to be correct. This can involve improving the translation or having it redone completely.
The customer is obliged to give SRG a sufficient amount of time to do this. If the customer refuses to do this, this frees SRG from the liability for defects. If the mistakes are rectified by SRG within a reasonable deadline, the customer will not have any entitlement to a reduction in the price.
6.4
If SRG allows the reasonable deadline to pass without having rectified the mistakes, the customer is entitled to withdraw from the contract or demand a reduction in the price. In the case of negligible mistakes, no right to withdrawal from the contract or a reduction in price exists.
6.5
Guarantee claims do not entitle the customer to hold back or off-set agreed payments.
6.6
For translations with difficult to read, illegible or incomprehensible source texts, no liability for mistakes exists.
6.7
Improvements to the style or the adaptation of specific terminology (in particular branch or company specific terminology) etc. are not recognised as translation mistakes.
6.8
No liability for mistakes exists whatsoever in the case of abbreviations that the customer did not point out or explain when placing the order.
6.9
SRG assumes no liability whatsoever for the correct reproduction of names and addresses contained in the source text that are not in the Latin alphabet. In such cases it is recommended to the customer to provide the way the names and own descriptions on a separate sheet in the Latin alphabet. That also applies for illegible names and numbers in, for example, birth certificates or any other documents.
6.10
The translator principally translates the content of the source text. If the source text should contain mistakes in the way addresses are written for example, the translator can provide an explanatory note when the corresponding evidence of the correct way of writing is provided (e. g. personal identity card).
6.11
Figures are taken directly and as they are in the source text. No liability is assumed for the conversion of numbers, forms of measurement, currencies and similar. An explanatory note will be attached to such conversations.
7.
Liability
7.1
SRG is not liable for faulty, incomplete or lost texts and data following electronic transmission.
7.2
SRG is not liable for damage caused by viruses, Trojans, spam mail or similar files.
7.3
SRG does not undertake any legal examination of the source text. No liability is assumed for legal mistakes in the translation which resulted due to mistakes in the source text.
7.4
SRG is not liable for the loss of documents due to fire, water, overvoltage, the powers of nature, burglary or theft.
7.5
In cases of gross negligence and wilful intent, the liability in each individual case is limited to € 1,000.
8.
Compensation
8.1
All claims for compensation taken against SRG, as far as not otherwise compellingly imperative under the law, are limited to the amount of the net invoice amount. An exception to this compensation limitation are those cases where the damage was caused on a grossly negligent or intentional way. A liability for lost profits or subsequent damage does not exist.
8.2
If SRG has taken out liability insurance for financial losses, the claims for damages are limited to the actual amount that the insurance company will compensate in a concrete case.
9.
Professional secrecy
All SRG employees pledge to keep confidential all facts that they have become aware of in connection with the work they have carried out on behalf of the customer.
10.
Reservation of ownership and copyright
The translation remains the property of SRG until the price has been paid in full. SRG retains the copyright.
If, due to copyright infringements in connection with the source text, claims are made against SRG, the customer is obligated to indemnify SRG with respect to third parties.
11.
Place of jurisdiction
The place of fulfilment and jurisdiction for both contractual parties, as far as can be legally agreed upon, is Bergisch Gladbach in Germany. The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany apply.
12.
Invalidity of clauses
If individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions should be or become invalid, this invalidity does not affect the remaining provisions.
Sprachenservice Renata Galić GmbH, in January 2020
Renata Galić
Margherita Piccolo
Nicole Hoffmann
Laura Mirel Galić
Caroline Vierkotten
