1 Scope
1.1 These General Terms and Conditions shall apply to training and services provided by The Business Language Company (hereinafter referred to as BLC) to the Customer as contractually specified.
1.2 These General Terms and Conditions and the terms and conditions of an individual order shall become binding on the Customer’s acceptance of a written quotation.
1.3 In the case of contradiction between these General Terms and Conditions and those of an individual order, the provisions of the individual order shall prevail.
2 Translation
2.1 Translation is here defined as the conversion of text provided by the customer (source documents) into one or more different languages in accordance with the principles of proper professional practice and with minimal orthographic or grammatical errors.
2.2 In submitting documents for translation the Customer declares that they are legally permitted to authorize such a translation and to transmit the source documents to BLC. The Customer further authorizes BLC to transmit the source documents in full or in part to its vicarious agents and other third parties for the purpose of order fulfillment.
2.3 Lead times and delivery dates provided by BLC in a quotation or other forms of communication shall always be considered non-binding estimates.
2.4 In producing translations, BLC shall use conventional language and terminology that is generally understandable, unless terminology lists or other special instructions are provided by the Customer prior to the creation of the respective quotation.
2.5 Electronic ‘translation memories’ may be created during the preparation of translations, and to the extent that rights and/or copyrights arise from the creation of these translation memories such rights shall be vested in BLC.
2.6 The Customer shall inspect translated documents on receipt and either accept the translations as complete or notify BLC of any defects or other necessary changes within 14 days stating the exact nature of the changes required.
2.7 If no information is provided by the Customer to the contrary within 14 days the respective translation shall be deemed to have been accepted as complete by the Customer.
2.8 All rights and copyrights in the translated text shall be transferred from BLC to the Customer on full payment of the respective invoice and acceptance of the completed translation by the Customer.
2.9 BLC shall not be required to correct defects resulting from incomplete, inaccurate or ambiguous source documents or the failure of the Customer to provide adequate instructions or terminology lists in advance.
2.10 In placing an order the Customer hereby indemnifies BLC against all liability for damages resulting from the use in any form of translations provided by BLC.
2.11 BLC does not provide any form of legal or notary authentication with respect to the translations it provides, which shall always be considered ‘for informative purposes only’ and shall not be considered or presented as ‘official’, ‘certified’ or ‘legal’ translations, even in cases where the source document is a legal document.
3 Training
3.1 The Customer shall appoint a contact person for all communication with BLC regarding training implementation.
3.2 Training shall be carried out by trainers selected by BLC in suitably equipped rooms provided by the Customer, or on an online platform selected and agreed to in advance, and in accordance with a predefined training schedule which shall form a binding part of the agreement.
3.3 The Customer shall ensure that all training participants are informed of the time and location of their training sessions.
3.4 The Customer shall take all necessary steps to ensure unhindered access by the appointed trainer(s) to the designated physical or virtual training areas.
3.5 The Customer shall provide BLC with the names and contact details of the designated training participants no later than one week prior to the start of training, and training participation shall be limited to these named individuals.
3.6 Training sessions may only be rescheduled at the discretion of BLC, and training sessions which are unattended by participants or canceled by the Customer with less than 24 hours notice shall be forfeited.
3.7 In the event of trainer absence through illness or other unavoidable cause BLC shall provide a replacement trainer as quickly as possible and/or the affected training sessions shall be rescheduled without charge.
4 Pricing & Payment
4.1 Prices are agreed on a per-order basis and shall under no circumstances be interpreted as permanently agreed rates.
4.2 Additional costs incurred by BLC or its appointed agents in the fulfillment of its contractual obligations shall be charged additionally to the Customer.
4.3 Invoices for translation shall be issued on the delivery of the completed work to the Customer, and invoices for training and other services shall be issued at the end of each calendar month for the quantity of training and services that have been provided in that calendar month.
4.4 Invoices are payable within 30 days by electronic bank transfer.
4.5 BLC reserves the right to terminate an order without refund in cases including but not limited to nonpayment of invoice(s) and repeated unexplained non-attendance of training participants.
5 Final Provisions
5.1 All contracts shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, and disputes shall be resolved in the legal courts of Munich, Germany.
5.2 If one or more provisions of these General Terms and Conditions are or become invalid, the remaining provisions shall not be affected.
5.3 The original English language version of these General Terms and Conditions shall be binding, and all translations shall be considered for information purposes only. In the case of contradiction, the English language version shall prevail.
5.4 The Customer shall refrain from entering into separate business agreements with any representative of BLC for a period of two years following their final activities with the Customer on behalf of BLC.
5.5 BLC shall not be liable for any losses or delays caused by force majeure such as natural disasters, terrorism, IT errors, health problems or any other cause beyond the direct control of BLC.
5.6 BLC reserves the right to amend these General Terms and Conditions at any time, and shall publish the current version online at: https://businesslanguagecompany.com/gtc
Last revised: 5th July 2020