The terms and conditions detailed here have the purpose of disclosing explicitly our position regarding a series of situations that can come up during a translation project, so as to map responsibilities and avoid any misunderstanding. Not all these T&Cs are relevant in all translation projects, and we adapt them with flexibility in each case.
In our estimates we establish the singularities that are relevant and required for each specific project. That which is required in our estimate takes precedence over these T&Cs.
Estimates
- The cost of the translation and the date of delivery may be modified when the text, instructions and any other supporting material is not available when you ask us for a quote, or if these documents are modified or other documents are added.
Commitment
- When two or more estimates have been requested by different customers, the first one to accept our estimate engages our commitment. In this case we will give timely warning to the other potential clients, who may accept the extension of the delivery date in our quote or the allocation of another translator.
Means of Delivery
- Customer's Email. Other means of delivery must be specified and agreed to.
Delivery time frames
- The delivery time frame for a translation begins on the date when the text to translate and the PO or acceptance of our final
estimate, are both in the translator's hands. Without express approval of our estimate we will not start working on
a job. In those cases where our estimate may take over 3 days to be approved, the delivery date may be extended to avoid
issues with other current jobs.
- In those cases where a long term project requires partial deliveries, each delivery shall be considered a draft. Revision and
reviewing shall be done once the whole text has been translated. If the client requires each partial delivery to be revised and
reviewed and delivered as a final document, additional time and costs must be assigned for each instalment.
We do not certify the quality of partial deliveries, unless they go through a final review process.
Translator on Standby
- If, after the PO has been issued or our estimate accepted, the client requests the translator to hold his availability on standby while the final text is issued, that time will be invoiced on an hourly/daily/weekly basis and a new quote/PO must be issued before starting to work on the translation. The standby fee will be fully applied if during the standby period other clients/jobs must be declined or if the client supplies material that must be studied/incorporated.
Cancellation
- If a job is cancelled before completion:
- During the standby period: the client must pay the standby fee plus 30% of the PO.
- Once the job is ongoing: the client must pay the standby fee (if he requested standby), plus a 100% of the completed workflow, and 30% of the work that was not begun.
The Translator's Responsibility
The translator is responsible for delivering an accurate, faithful and complete translation of the original document, following the standards of the profession, incorporating the instructions and other information supplied by the client as agreed to, and in a timely fashion.
The Client's Responsibility
He must supply all the reasonable support to clarify any doubts and correct any issues in the original text. If the job requires following a specific standard's style guide or terminology, the client must supply it, and he must express that requirement when requesting a quote.
Guarantee
- Our guarantee gives our clients 3 months to request changes to a translation. All the conditions, styles, formats and terminology
provided by client, and delivery date, fees, etc., agreed upon and subscribed through my Estimate, shall be respected to the letter.
Any change requested, which represents client's preferences, regarding style or terminology, that were not requested before
starting a translation, shall be invoiced as a new assignment. I reserve my right to charge for the time taken to deal with unfounded
complaints, like reviewers mistakes which require justifying linguistic decisions. Equally, if the complaint is founded I'll stand by
your right for reasonable compensation.
Payment terms
From date of delivery of our invoice (by email):
- - Businesses, organizations and recommended individuals: before 30 days.
- - Unknown clients: full payment in advance.
- - A 5% discount is available for payments before 15 days.
- Any job valued at USD 1000 / Euros 800 or above, or with a time line above 10 days, will require an advance payment (established in our quote) and partial payments every 10-15 days. The final payment should be completed before 30 days after invoice date.
- Any payment above USD/GBP/EUR 100 not completed in the above time frame will earn an extra charge of USD/GBP/EUR 25
for late payment plus 2% of the full sum for each additional month the default is not paid. Any payment below
USD/GBP/EUR 100 not completed in the above time frame will earn an extra charge of 10% the amount due for each month the
default is not paid.
- The client agrees to cover the costs of a collecting agency in case
the translator should need to use those services to collect the outstanding
debt. If the client has warned us previously of a force majeure event,
enforcement of collection will be postponed, although the penalty will
still be in force.
- The total price mentioned in our quote is the amount the translator must receive. We do not accept discounts to cover banking or
transfer expenses at the client’s side of the counter. The transfer costs on the translator's side of the counter are covered by the translator.
If you discount banking or transfer expenses you must inform us to include it in our fees.
Confidentiality
- The client must state if a document, or parts of it, must be treated with confidentiality. Documents are treated with the level of confidentiality required by the client. I will be the only person with access to your files, unless you require additional translators. Basic security procedures include non-disclosure of project related information, access restrictions and file protection. If your documents are highly confidential I will translate them offline, and you should send them by registered snail mail or by courier, not by email. I do not destroy the particulars of a job because they show the history of a relationship. Confidential material is kept on external backups.
Copyrights (including Author's rights)
- The translator takes for granted that the client owns the copyright authorization/license from the author to translate his text, and that the client will free this translator of all responsibility related to the rights of the author of the original text.
- The client purchases an exclusive or limited license to use the translation created, depending on the type of document and its possible future uses:
- Confidential texts (in-house use, legal texts, etc.): exclusive commercial license.
- Non-confidential texts: can be an exclusive or limited license.
- Advertising/marketing texts: limited license and fees according to uses.
- Literary texts: limited license according to uses and royalty.
This commercial license (limited or exclusive) does not transfer the author's rights, only the right to use. Any translation
that is published or disclosed publicly, by whatever means, must include a reference of the author of the translation
(Translated by: Richard Pérez-Mongard) after the name of the author(s) of the original text
or its editor (in a 60% proportion, as suggested by WIPO).
- In regard to the translations delivered with a limited license, the translator reserves his right to use those texts, or part of
them, to promote his services.
- The client can make full use of his license once he has fulfilled payment.
- Any change made to the translated text must be informed to the translator, and agreed with him, before being published
and/or disclosed. Any Certified Translation must not be modified without the translator's authorization. A new Certification must
be produced.
- The client, as grantee of the license, frees the translator of any responsibility related to any effects that may be caused by
the messages contained in the original text, which are transferred to the translation with due accuracy, as well as from any legal
actions that may arise with its disclosure by the client.
Revision Services
- If a client wants me to revise someone else's translation and deliver it as a final document (without the translator's involvement), that is, without giving the translator the opportunity to make the changes he considers appropriate, the client must free the reviewer of all responsibility and legal consequences related to the author's rights over that translation. The reviewer cannot be mentioned as author of that translation, only as reviewer.
SPECIAL NOTES FOR AGENCIES
TRADOS and other CAT tools
I don’t use TRADOS or any other expensive CAT tool. The CAT tool I use is all I need to produce translations efficiently and with consistency. If you require TRADOS, I’m sure you’ll find someone that has it. I just hope he/she is as good a translator as I am in my specialties. If you hire my services and pay me through Moneybookers, you'll be contributing with 1% of my income to the development of a free CAT tool (OmegaT) that serves a social need for non-wealthy translators and new generations of professionals.
Client TMs and 100% matches
- I only accept client TMs if client accepts responsibility for transfer of full matches without editing (in this case you shouldn’t mention me as the translator of such text). If you expect me to check and edit these, I would have to charge my full fee, not with a discount. I’ll make an exception to this, in future continuing projects, if the TM proves its competence and adaptability to my style of writing. I always re-use my accumulated Client/Specialty TMs but rarely the amount of full matches are worth considering, even with long term clients, due to the kind of texts, with the exception of very standardized texts like MSDSs, form templates and some product catalogues.
Fuzzies and Repetitions
- I don’t give discounts for fuzzies. However, if I calculate a total with my fee and the result is equivalent to the total calculated with your fee (including fuzzies) there is no reason why we shouldn’t work together even if I don’t like to bother about fuzzies. I have an administrative fee (25% of the usual fee) for repetitions (only with Word documents, 1 sheet Excels or documents with extractable text). With 100% fuzzies (exact match) I charge 50% of my usual fee (to agencies) and 75% of my usual fee (to end clients).