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General conditions

General

All services provided by ELAN are subject to ELAN’s general terms and conditions, which may also be consulted on ELAN’s website www.elanlanguages.com. General terms and conditions of the client and/or person giving the order, or other general terms forming a part of orders, order forms, etc. do not apply, with the exception of special written agreement between the relevant parties. The nullity of one or more provisions shall not imply the nullity of the other provisions in these general conditions.

Orders

Orders should be confirmed in writing with an order form or a signed estimate by post, fax or e-mail. Orders made by telephone should be confirmed in writing within 24 hours, if the next day is a working day, in the absence of this, the order will be deemed as being null and void. When placing an order, the client and/or the person giving the order agrees to ELAN’s general terms and conditions. ELAN cannot be held responsible for the incomplete or incorrect invoicing details provided by the client and/or the person giving the order. If the client and/or person giving the order requires an amendment to a printed invoice, a € 50 charge will be levied for administrative costs.

Translations

The material required for translation work should be dispatched to ELAN at the client’s cost. The costs of dispatching the translation and the aforementioned material to the client will be borne by ELAN, on understanding that this will be effected by e-mail, fax or normal postal services. Translations provided by ELAN will be based on the words, expressions and spelling as quoted in recognised dictionaries. Clients may nevertheless, request that ELAN use their preference for a particular spelling or vocabulary. Clients should provide all the information required to ensure the good outcome of the work required, either before or during the issuance of the agreement. If the text contains specific internal abbreviations, the client is requested to provide the meaning of these in full. All translations will be carried out with respect for professional secrecy, except for those instances where the client has provided a written agreement to the contrary. In the event of a one-sided cancellation of the order, the client will be obliged to pay ELAN a sum of money as compensation. This compensation will comprise payment of the work already delivered in accordance with ELAN’s rates and a compensatory payment equal to 25% of the agreed price, except when a greater sum of compensation is indicated. ELAN agrees to keep all digital files relating to translation jobs (source texts and translations) on its servers for a period of five years. Thereafter ELAN reserves the right to delete these files. The client guarantees that the (source) texts, documents, reference materials, etc. supplied to ELAN in the context of a translation assignment do not contain any personal data within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation. The client must remove or anonymise all personal data in advance. The client confirms that the (occasional) processing by ELAN of personal data obtained by the latter, in breach of this provision, in the context of a translation assignment, shall not give rise to any infringement on the part of ELAN or of any entity within its network of the General Data Protection Regulation. In addition, the client fully indemnifies ELAN against any (damage) claim from any third party in this respect.

Interpreter assignments

The remuneration for the interpreters is costed per half day or per full day. The tariffs vary depending on the language. The remuneration is exclusive of travel costs and meals. The client is in charge of booking the hotel rooms for the interpreter team and technician, otherwise a handling charge of 15 % of the booking price will be charged.

  • If interpreters need to travel and stay overnight for the interpretation assignment a per diem of € 25/ interpreter/ day will apply for compensation.
  • Per diems apply, if the meals are not or not completely provided by the client (in case of multi-day meetings also dinner); interpreters already need to arrive the evening before the meeting in order to be on time for the meeting start;
  • Please note: In case of extensive travelling during and outside working hours (9.00 h -18.00 h) interpreters might charge varying travel day compensation fees. At the same time, the client and/or person giving the order commits to supply:
  • a meal for the translator-interpreter and/or technician should the assignment last longer than 3 hrs.
  • a room with electrical basic installation which complies with standards as applicable and with sufficient 220 Volt earthed electrical sockets.
  • distribution of the infrared receivers and the head phones among the participants + returning and storing them in the suitcases.
  • enough space for the technical control panel and interpreter booths.

The delivery and installing of the material normally takes place the day before. The room should be available from the day before the event and should be heated adequately (min 15° C) the whole time. The client and/or person giving the order will not, in any case, contact any of the interpreter(s) directly. The client and /or person giving the order will always contact the ELAN languages coordinator of technician at the scene. Theft or damage to the delivered material, from the installation to the dismantling of the installation, will be at the cost of the client and/or person giving the order entirely. Conditions of cancellation; After written confirmation a cancellation fee of 25% of the total amount will apply. Assignments which are cancelled between 60 and 90 working days before the start of the event will be invoiced at 35% of the total amount. Assignments which are cancelled between 59 and 30 working days before the start of the event will be invoiced at 50% of the total amount. Assignments which are cancelled between 29 and 15 working days before the start of the event will be invoiced at 75% of the total amount. Assignments which are cancelled less than 15 days before the start of the event will be invoiced at 100% of the total amount.

Complaints

All complaints should be sent via registered mail with full justifications within seven days of the delivery of the translation or the execution of the services, failure to do so will render complaints null and void. In the absence of this, the translation or service provided will be deemed to have been accepted. Complaints or disputes about the non-conformity of the translation that is completed within the contractual deadline, should be thoroughly substantiated with dictionaries, glossaries, similar text material written by authorised native speakers. Unsubstantiated rejection of a translation does not constitute a reason for nonpayment of the invoice. Should there still be differences about the quality of the translation following an investigation of the complaint by ELAN, ELAN or the client should present the matter to the Arbitration Committee of the Belgian Chamber of Translators, Interpreters and Philologists (BKVTF). The Arbitration Committee will only pronounce upon the conformity of the translation against the source text. No single complaint gives the client and/or the person giving the order the right to suspend payment.

Delivery deadline - delivery

ELAN is not bound to the delivery and execution deadlines proposed by the client and/or person giving the order, unless agreed otherwise in writing. The delivery and execution deadlines quoted by ELAN are provided only as an indication.Exceeding these deadlines may in no way be considered as a contractual error on ELAN's part, nor shall it give rise to a fine and/or compensation. ELAN may in no way be held responsible for late delivery or loss of material by third parties or damage during dispatch.

Circumstances beyond control

In case of force majeure, including but not limited to fires, strikes or power cuts, ELAN’s obligations shall be suspended. In such cases ELAN is only obliged to deliver, as well as executing all its other commitments, as soon as this is reasonably possible.

Payment

Invoices are payable within 30 days of receipt of the invoice, net and without reduction to the address of the headquarters unless otherwise agreed. The client remains in all instances responsible for the payment even if ELAN has accepted to issue the invoice in the name of a third party. In the event of dispute, the invoice must be contested along with a letter including justifications sent by registered mail within seven days of the date of the invoice. In the absence of such a notification the invoice will be deemed to be accepted. Invoices that are not paid or not paid in full on the due date will give ELAN full authorisation to charge with no advance warning, an additional 12% interest per annum, as well as a fixed and irrevocable compensation of a further 10% on the amount due, with a minimum of € 125. Failure to pay one single invoice by the due date entitles ELAN to lawfully demand immediate payment of all other invoices even though these may not be overdue. If the client continuously demands re-invoicing, ELAN Languages shall have the right to charge a supplement to cover the administrative costs involved.

Limited liability

ELAN may only be held liable in instances of fraud. In all instances, with the exception for fraud, ELAN can only be held liable for the amounts of the invoiced sums or sums paid by the client and/or person giving the order to assignment in question. Under no circumstances can ELAN be held liable for indirect damages, including increase in general costs, loss of clients, loss of profits, absence or damage of electronic data. This list is non-exhaustive.

Dissolution

Should the client and/or person giving the order not meet his or her obligations, or in the event of an unavoidable inability, settlement or bankruptcy on the part of the client and/or person giving the order, ELAN is legally entitled to end the assignment either partially or completely, or to postpone the execution thereof, without being liable to pay any compensation.

Unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing, ELAN retains the copyright to the translations, texts and course materials produced by ELAN. As soon as the client has paid the full fee for these translations, texts and course materials, ELAN shall grant the client an unrestricted right of use and exploitation regarding these translations. The client and/or principal indemnifies ELAN against third-party claims of third parties regarding alleged infringements of property rights, patents or copyrights, or other intellectual property rights in connection with the execution of the order.

Settling differences

All contractual relations with ELAN Languages Belgium (company number 0453.420.164) shall be governed by Belgian law. Contractual relations with ELAN Languages Nederland (company number NL813935398B01 or NL809633954B01) shall be governed by Dutch law. Contractual relations with ELAN Languages Germany (company number HRB 52 06 3) shall be governed by German law. Disputes shall be submitted to the competent court of the place where the registered office of ELAN Languages' branch office, as the case may be, is located.