General Terms & Conditions
SCOPE
The following business terms shall apply for all assignment agreements between Icelandic Translations and its clients (hereinafter referred to as the “Client”), unless otherwise agreed in writing.
TENDER AND APPROVAL
A fixed tender can only be drawn up after Icelandic Translations has received access to all conditions. These include all source texts for translation, a description of the translation’s purpose and target group, as well as all other information needed to perform the assignment. If this information is not included in the work, and the purpose or target audience of the translation is unclear, the employees of Icelandic Translations will send an inquiry to the client to obtain this information.
The client shall handle Icelandic Translations tender confidentially and shall not disclose its content to third parties. If he does, Icelandic Translations is entitled to compensation for the damage it has thereby suffered.
The validity of tenders submitted by Icelandic Translations is specified in the tenders. At the end of the validity period Icelandic Translations is not bound by the offer and reserves the right to make a new offer with a new deadline. Tenders from Icelandic Translations are considered to have been accepted by the client when Icelandic Translations has received written approval from the client, and email confirmation is also considered to be written approval.
Subsequent changes to the Offerings, including addendums and additional agreements, must be confirmed in writing by the employees of Icelandic Translations, in order for the Client to be able to apply them. If such changes or additions require a longer period of work, Icelandic Translations staff will forward this information to the client as soon as it becomes available.
PRICES
Offers are exclusive of VAT unless otherwise specified.
If the work is carried out for a fixed fee, Icelandic Translations reserves the right to charge separately for additional work due to requests for changes to the order and/or source material, or for requests for services not included in the original offer/contract.
If the client cancels a project, the client shall pay for the work that has already been done and, where applicable, pay for analysis and preparation of that part of the work that has yet to be carried out. If a work initiated by Icelandic Translations is cancelled, Icelandic Translations will provide the client with the finished material upon request.
If a client makes changes to a text submitted by Icelandic Translations, Icelandic Translations will enter the changes in the TM within two weeks from the date that Icelandic Translations receives the changes. If the customer requests that changes not submitted within two weeks be entered in the TM, Icelandic Translations reserves the right to consider the editing work as a separate task and charge an hourly fee accordingly.
OBLIGATIONS OF ICELANDIC TRANSLATIONS
Icelandic Translations shall carry out the orders of all customers professionally and in accordance with the instructions and instructions given in the orders.
Icelandic Translations shall provide the client with the best possible service respecting detailed and updated information, invoices etc.
CUSTOMER’S OBLIGATIONS
The client is responsible for the content of the material delivered to Icelandic Translations. This material includes the source material that is to be processed, the correctness of the information provided therein, the legality of the information as well as the instructions and other necessary information that the client provides.
The customer is also responsible for the final approval of the material received from Icelandic Translations.
ISSUES AND DEFICIENCIES
After Icelandic Translations has delivered the finished material to the customer, the customer is responsible for reviewing the material to ensure that it complies with the customer’s wishes. If the Customer chooses to submit comments regarding the translation, content or other aspects of the Service, the Customer shall immediately inform Icelandic Translations of this and shall indicate the deficiencies as soon as they are found, or should have been found, and no later than 30 days from delivery. Icelandic Translations is under no obligation to accept comments received after this date.
If the errors or deficiencies are such that the content cannot be used for the purpose for which it is intended, the client is entitled to a discount on the price in accordance with the errors or deficiencies, or to demand that Icelandic Translations completes the work in an acceptable way. If the fulfilment results in delayed delivery and if it is clear from the circumstances that a delayed fulfilment is of no use, the client is entitled to cancel the agreement.
The Client acknowledges that he/she is aware that texts can be translated or interpreted in different ways and that the Client is responsible for expressing wishes about a particular language (e.g., formal or informal), additions, localization, and other matters that may affect the text.
Deficiencies in the material that has been delivered shall be corrected at Icelandic Translations’s cost in reasonable time. If this does not take place, the client is entitled, after presenting a demand with a reasonable deadline, to cancel the agreement, request a lower price or demand compensation.
DELAY
If the employees of Icelandic Translations or the client see that it is not possible to honour the pre-approved delivery of documents or the return, the other party should be informed without delay. In this context, the reason for the delay and the reasonable time for fulfilling the agreement should also be provided.
If the delay is due to Icelandic Translations, the client is entitled to cancel the agreement if:
‒ it is clear from the agreement or other circumstances that the client is unable to use the material after a given time and it is clear that the work cannot be completed by that time.
‒ the client made clear to Icelandic Translations that the completion of the work is the most important aspect of the service and the client has fulfilled all his obligations in a timely manner according to the agreement.
If the delay is due to the client, Icelandic Translations is entitled to compensation for costs that may result from the delay.
LIMITATIONS TO COMPENSATION
Icelandic Translations is not liable to compensate the client for indirect damage – for example, loss of production, loss of profits or the client’s compensation to third parties – that arises due to delays, deficiencies, errors or other deficient performance of Icelandic Translations, provided that Icelandic Translations has not acted with gross negligence.
Liability for compensation for direct damage is limited to the agreed price for the work in question, insofar as Icelandic Translations has not acted with gross negligence. However, Icelandic Translations is not liable to compensate for direct damage that could not be foreseen when the contracted was signed.
FORCE MAJEURE
The following circumstances constitute force majeure, if they occur after the signing of the contract – or before then, if their consequences were not foreseeable before the signing of the contract – and if the contract cannot be fulfilled because of them, there are significant delays or increased costs: labor disputes or other circumstances beyond the control of the contracting party, such as fire, impoundments, currency restrictions, malfunctions of machinery with a specific function that could not be foreseen and prevented by the maintenance of technical personnel, and delays in delivery from subcontractors for the reasons listed above. Force majeure occurring releases both parties from liability for delayed delivery and entitles them to demand an extension of the delivery period. Epidemics or diseases.
A party wishing to invoke force majeure must notify the other Party, if this can be done, within a satisfactory period after the circumstance has occurred or could be foreseen.
If fulfilment of the agreement is delayed by more than three months from the conclusion of the tender in the event of force majeure, either one of the parties is entitled to surrender the agreement in writing.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND ARCHIVING
Icelandic Translations guarantees that all information, materials and documents that are handled within the company in connection with an assignment from the client are treated with the strictest confidentiality.
Icelandic Translations is not permitted to disclose anything relating to the content that the company receives from customers, nor to provide information about works from customers to anyone other than those necessary to fulfil the customer’s wishes and perform the work in question for them. A confidentiality agreement shall be in place between Icelandic Translations and all employees and contractors of the company.
The exception to this is that Icelandic Translations may specify that it works for specific customers, without disclosing the nature of the customer relationship, content or individual employees of customers, for marketing purposes.
Icelandic Translations shall ensure that all material which is received from the client is stored in a manner that guarantees that the confidentiality agreement is fulfilled.
After completing a contract, customers may request that Icelandic Translations destroy all material from a customer that will not be needed for future collaboration between the two parties.
TERMS OF PAYMENT
Payment terms are 20 days from their date of issue. For payment to the customer, Icelandic Translations is entitled to charge penalty interest equivalent to the current discount rate, plus up to an 8% surcharge. The payment of penalty interest does not prevent Icelandic Translations from claiming compensation for further losses resulting from the client’s disregard of this agreed payment obligation.
The client is not entitled to deduct or hold back any part of the purchase price due to counterclaims unless Icelandic Translations has given written consent for this.
If invoices are not paid within 10 days after the due date, Icelandic Translations is entitled to cease all activities related to the assignment and hold all completed material until proof that the invoice has been paid is provided to Icelandic Translations.
OWNERSHIP OF TEXT
Icelandic Translations is the owner of the text sent by the company to the customer. Upon payment of an invoice, it transfers ownership from Icelandic Translations to customer. If the payment deadline has not passed, the customer is free to use text after delivery. Icelandic Translations reserves the right, however, to require the customer to stop using text if he has not paid a published invoice for the work of the text within the contractual payment period. In addition, the Customer agrees to withdraw such text from publication if Icelandic Translations so requests until payment is received or agreed upon.
PREMATURE CANCELLATION OF AGREEMENTS
In the case of serious breach of contract, the parties can immediately cancel the agreement. In the case of obvious shortcomings in Icelandic Translations services that the customer can truly demonstrate, he has the right to terminate the contract immediately.
The parties are also entitled to cancel the agreement immediately if the other party is declared bankrupt, liquidated or enters into negotiations for composition with its creditors.
Icelandic Translations is entitled to cancel the agreement if the client does not fulfil its payment obligations or obstructs or makes it impossible for Icelandic Translations to perform the assignment pursuant to this agreement. In these cases, Icelandic Translations is entitled to full payment for the work that had already been completed at the time of the cancellation.
APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Any disputes between the parties shall be settled, in accordance with the laws in Iceland, without consideration to rules in international law.
The City Court of Reykjavík shall be the venue for all disputes between Icelandic Translations and the client.
TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT (THE “TERMS”).
If any of the terms in this agreement ceases to be valid or cannot be enforced according to applicable statute, the parties shall, in mutual agreement, replace the invalid or unenforceable provision with a valid, applicable provision as far as possible, for the purpose of the original provision and the remainder of the agreement.