of Debra Schilling, certified translator and interpreter
- Area of application
(1) These terms and conditions shall apply to contracts between the certified translator and interpreter Debra Schilling, Dunckerstraße 16, 10437 Berlin, Germany, (“contractor”) and her client, insofar as no other agreement has been expressly made.
(2) The general terms and conditions of the client are only binding for the contractor if she has expressly agreed to them.
- Conclusion of contract
The contract between the parties comes into effect when the contractor has sent a written confirmation (also by e-mail) in which the agreed fee is named and the specific translation or interpreting services are described.
- Services of the contractor
(1) The translation or the interpreting shall be performed in accordance with the standards of proper professional practice.
(2) In the case of a translation, the client shall receive the contractually agreed copy of the translation. Specialist terms, insofar as the client has included no documents or special instructions, shall be translated in the generally used, lexically acceptable and generally understandable version.
(3) If the contractor is commissioned as an interpreter, the results of her work are intended exclusively for immediate hearing. A recording or further use (e.g. live broadcast) of the spoken words requires the express consent of the contractor.
(4) Terms of delivery and delivery deadlines shall be agreed during the placement of the order and are binding. The contractor is however not liable for any delay, if she fails to deliver services because of circumstances for which she is not responsible. If the non-compliance with a delivery deadline is due to a force majeure, the contractor is entitled to request an appropriate extension from the client.
- Cooperation and disclosure obligation of the client
(1) The client shall inform the contractor in good time of the desired embodiment of the translation (e.g. time frame, intended use, delivery on data carriers, number of copies, print readiness, external format of the translation etc.) or of the conditions of the interpreting (persons involved, required linguistic terminology, type of interpreting etc.). In the case of interpreting, the further use of the spoken words can incur additional costs (e.g. by recording on a recording medium, live broadcast, film screenings etc.).
(2) If the translation is intended for printing, the client shall provide the contractor with a proof sheet before going to press, so that the contractor can resolve any possible errors. Information for which the client is responsible (e.g. names and numbers) are to be checked by the client.
(3) Information and documents which are necessary for the creation of the translation or within the scope of the interpreting assignment shall be made available to the contractor by the client without request upon placing the order (special terminology, figures, drawings, tables, abbreviations, internal terms, etc.).
(4) The contractor is not responsible for errors and delays that result from a lack or delayed delivery of information, material and instructions.
(5) In the case of a translation, the client assumes liability for the rights to the submitted text and ensures that a translation is allowed to be made. The contractor is released from any corresponding claims made by third parties.
- Rights of the client in respect to faults
(1) The client must invoke the claim for the correction of faults within 14 days of receiving the translation. If no faults in the service are reported within this time limit, the translation is considered to be duly accepted.
(2) If the client reports an objectively present and significant fault in the translation within the time limit of the previous paragraph, the client has a claim to the resolution of the fault (amendment) within a reasonable time period.
(3) The client must state the fault as precisely as possible when making a fault notification.
- Liability
(1) The contractor is liable for gross negligence and wilful intent. Liability for minor negligence shall only apply in the case of a breach of contractual obligations.
( (2) The client’s claim against the contractor for compensation according to No. 5 (1) sentence 2, is limited to EUR 25,000. Only damages typical for the contract that were foreseeable by the contractor at the time of the conclusion of the contract will be compensated.
(3) The exclusion or the limitation of liability according to No. 5 (1) and (2) does not apply for loss of life, physical injury or damage to health incurred by a user.
(4) Client claims against the contractor due to a faulty translation or faulty interpretation are limited to one year from the acceptance of the work, if no fraudulent intent exists. The provisions of § 202 paragraph 1 of the German Civil Code shall remain unaffected.
(5) The contractor is not liable for any damage to or loss of materials provided by the client. The client is responsible for the sufficient backing up of their data.
- Professional confidentiality
The contractor pledges to maintain confidentiality for all data that is made known to her in connection with work done for the client.
- Involvement of third parties
(1) The contractor is entitled to enlist the services of co-workers or expert third parties for completing the order.
(2) When enlisting the services of expert third parties, the contractor shall ensure that these third parties commit to the confidentiality in accordance with No. 6.
- Payment
(1) The amount of the fee for the translation is generally determined from the word count of the source text. If the task is an interpreting order, the contractor shall calculate the hourly rate (with the last hour being rounded up) or daily fee in accordance with the type of interpretation (consecutive, liaison or simultaneous interpretation etc.)
(2) The contractor’s invoices are due and payable without deductions from the date of the invoice. All prices are net prices plus the legal value added tax.
(3) In addition to the agreed fee, the contractor has a claim to the reimbursement of any expenses actually incurred that are agreed with the client. In all instances, the value added tax, if it is legally required, is calculated separately. The contractor can request an appropriate advance payment for extensive translation or interpreting orders.
4) If the amount of the fee is not agreed, a commensurate and normal amount of remuneration is owed, depending on the type and difficulty of the task. This will not be less than the respective applicable clauses of the German Judicial Remuneration and Compensation Act (JVEG).
- Reservation of proprietary rights and copyright
(1) The translation remains the property of the contractor until payment is made in full. Until then, the client has no right of use.
(2) The contractor reserves the right to any copyright that may apply to the translation or the interpretation.
- Termination by client
(1) The client can cancel the contract before the completion of the translation work and before the start of the interpretation work. The termination requires the written form. The contractor must be reimbursed for any incurred and no longer avoidable costs resulting from the contract.
(2) The contractor’s fee claim shall remain effective for the translation taking into account any expenses saved.
(3) For interpreting work, the cancellation fee is 50% of the total fee up to seven day before the starting date, 75% for less than seven days before the starting date, and the entire fee is due for cancellations made 2 days or less before the starting date.
- Applicable law
(1) The order and all claims resulting from it are subject to German law.
(2) The contract language is German.
- Severability clause
If one or more of the provisions becomes invalid, the effectiveness of these General Terms and Conditions remains unaffected. The invalid provision is to be replaced by a valid one, which shall be as similar as possible to the economic result or intended purpose of the invalid one.
- Changes and supplements
Changes and supplements to these General Terms and Conditions are only valid when they are agreed in writing.