KennisTranslations general terms and conditions for carrying out translation,
proof-reading, interpreting, DTP and/or other translation and localization work.
KennisTranslations shall carry out translation, proof-reading, interpreting, DTP
and/or other translation and localization works under the following general
terms and conditions.
For definitions see Annex I (Definitions referring to Translation and
Interpretation Services).
QUOTE
Unless otherwise stated, our translation services are calculated on the basis of
a unit price per source word (based on analysis provided by the software used
for any applicable work). All translations works provided include revision by a
second pair of eyes according to the work process described below.
Proofreading, redrafting, formatting, and localization services are charged on
the basis of an hourly rate, after the calculation of the number of hours
required to carry out the requested work. The quote also indicates a prevision
of business days necessary to perform the requested work, if applicable.
Interpretation services are charged on a basis of two sessions (of a maximum
four hours each, with a minimum interval of one and a half hours) amounting to 7
hours in total, commencing upon requested time of arrival. Exceptionally, the
interpreter may work for an extra hour (strictly one hour) beyond this limit,
subject to negotiated charges. In case the scheduled timetable exceeds 8 hours,
a second team of interpreters must be recruited. An extra value for copyright
can be charged in case the interpretation is to be recorded for further use.
Every order from a customer is subject to a prior free detailed quotation, based
on the information provided by the customer. The rate provided in the Quote is
fixed and final except in the following cases:
a) the modification of the content or the addition of documents by the customer
once the order has been confirmed;
b) the absence of documents at the time of calculating the quotation, in cases
where the quotation calculation was based on an indication of the approximate
number of words and an extract of the content;
c) it is not possible to perform a word count on the sent documents as they are
in an uneditable format, in which case the unit price is applied to the final
counts of the translated document(s).
d) in more exceptional cases, the under-estimation of the work to be done,
relating in particular to services invoiced on an hourly basis.
Whenever possible, unless other instructions are given by the customer, all
efforts will be done to supply the Work in the same layout as the source
version. If extra work is foreseen in order to deliver a document in a specific
format requested by the customer, this shall be clearly stated in the quote
together with the price for executing the formatting work.
KennisTranslations SA shall inform by writing (mail, e-mail or fax) the customer
of any modification to the price once in receipt of the countable documents and
as soon as possible in case of prevision of any changes in prices, before
executing the work.
Provided that order confirmation is received within 5 (five) days of the
quotation’s date of issue, the delivery period indicated on the quote shall be
effective as from the day on which the order is confirmed. In the event that an
order is confirmed more than one week after the issue of the quotation, the
delivery period may vary depending on the availability of the staff at the time
of receiving confirmation.
CONFIRMATION OF ORDER
The customer must send a confirmation by regular mail, e-mail or fax, stating
that the conditions established in the quote, including instructions, word
counts (No Match, Repetitions, Fuzzy Match, 100% Match), cost price, DATES,
delivery deadline and language combination, are accepted and that
KennisTranslations may start the work.
PAYMENT TERMS
Except in the case of any special conditions agreed in a specific service
agreement with the customer, invoices are understood to be net, without
discount, and payable within 30 (thirty) days from the issue date of the
invoice. Settlement should be made by cheque in the name of KennisTranslations
SA or bank transfer. Details of the bank account are indicated in the sent
invoice.
Where payment is delayed, orders in progress may be legitimately suspended until
full settlement of the payment or the resolution of disputes.
CANCELLATION OF WORK
In the event of the cancellation of an order notified by the Customer, any work
performed up to that moment shall be charged at 100% of its value, and the
remaining quoted value of the work shall be invoiced at 50%. KennisTranslations
may, at its sole discretion, waive the charges for the remaining quoted value of
the work.
In the event of the cancellation of an interpretation work already booked by the
Customer, the following charges apply:
more than 7 days before the event: no charge
2-7 days before the event: 50% of the value of the work
less than 48 hours before the event or on the day of the event: 100% of the
value of the work.
In case of justification by the customer, KennisTranslations may, at its sole
discretion, waive the charges for the remaining quoted value of the work.
SERVICE SPECIFICATION
PRODUCTION PROCESS
RECEPTION
The files to be handled should be sent by the Customer as soon as possible after
the acceptance of the work so as to ensure that the deadlines can be met, and
the latest with the confirmation of the order. Any specific instructions and
support documents to be used for the work should also be provided.
For interpreting works, working documents and texts to be read out at the
conference, as well as any specific instructions and support documents should be
sent by the Customer to KennisTranslations as soon as possible after the
acceptance of the work so as to ensure that the interpreters can adequately
prepare. All documents (agenda, related documents, speeches, glossaries, etc.)
pertaining to the assignment should be provided at least 8 days in advance of
the interpretation event. Whenever appropriate, a briefing session with the
person responsible for the venue shall be requested.
The documents can be received in electronic file format via email or electronic
file transfer, or in HTTP format via FTP server.
TRANSLATION
At KennisTranslations, we are aware that our strength lies in the human factor.
In accordance with our motto - "Translations with a Face" - all translation
assignments are identified with the name(s) of the translator(s) and reviser(s)
responsible for each assignment carried out, and will be made known to the
Customer upon request.
To the extent possible, KennisTranslations shall always use the same
translators, proof-readers, interpreters and revisers for a particular
KennisTranslations end customer to guarantee consistency and coherence of the
translations.
All glossaries and relevant documentation supplied by the Customer shall be
consulted and used to complete the assignment. Internal terminology databases
and linguistic resources shall also be consulted.
Terminology issues shall be handled by our terminology department, and included
in a list to be sent to the Customer in the form of a query (no later than when
the translation is finished). In the event of disagreement about any suggested
term/expression contained in the reference documents sent by the Customer to be
used in the assignment, or if any problem is detected in the original text, the
Customer shall be informed immediately so that a decision about the detected
issues can be made and built into the process.
If for any reason the agreed delivery deadline cannot be kept, or if any
problems or potential problems in connection with a Work shall arise,
KennisTranslations SA shall as quickly as possible contact the Customer, and
undertake all necessary steps to deliver the work in a satisfactory way to the
customer.
REVISION
According to our quality control system, all translations are integrally revised
by the technical and linguistic team before being returned to the Customer.
Documents are proof-read and spell-checked by a person other than the translator
who will examine the translation for its suitability for purpose. This includes,
in accordance with the requirements of the project, comparison of the source and
target texts for terminology consistency, register and style.
DELIVERY
Whenever possible, unless other instructions are given by the customer, all
efforts will be done to supply the Work in the same layout as the source
version.
The completed assignment is checked by the project manager in order to verify
that the service provided meets the service specifications. The files are
returned to the Customer as required in electronic file format via email or
electronic file transfer or in HTTP format via FTP server.
INTERPRETATION
Unless arranged otherwise with the Customer, the interpreters team shall present
themselves to the person of contact of the customer, at the location of the
venue, at least half an hour before the start of the work, in order to
familiarise themselves with the boots, technical equipment, and other eventual
teams.
In case technical facilities are not provided by KennisTranslations SA,
technical facilities and equipment provided by the customer should be in perfect
working order and the booths must be spacious enough to seat two people
comfortably. These should be sound-proof and appropriately located so that the
interpreters have a clear view of the speaker and of any projections that may be
shown; Optimal acoustic conditions must be provided for whispered or consecutive
interpreting; appropriate breaks for the interpreters, in accordance to best
practices, shall have to be considered by the customer.
The interpreters shall not perform any other duties except that of conference
interpreter at conferences for which they have been taken on as interpreters.
At the end of the conference, the interpreters team shall meet with the person
of contact, in order to give/receive feedback and close the interpretation
project.
QUALITY CONTROL
The quality control system implemented by KennisTranslations allows any eventual
errors to be identified and corrected during all of the stages involved in the
execution of the assignment. It also allows our services to be monitored and
improved, with feedback from our customers being incorporated. The quality
system is characterised by the following guidelines:
• The project manager ensures that the specifications of each work for each
customer are clearly understood and documented;
• During the course of an assignment, at least 3 verification steps are
executed: when the assignment is received, during its execution, and when it is
delivered; all executed work is subject to these control mechanisms, which are
documented;
• All checks are carried out by a person other than the person executing the
work;
• Each project is documented from start to delivery so that the origin of any
error that might occur may be immediately identified and corrected;
• All tasks are executed by qualified staff according to the minimum
qualification defined in the European Norm for the provision of translation
services EN 15038; all freelancers are subject to tests and approval before
starting work with the company, and regularly evaluated;
• All instructions given to internal and external staff are written;
• All translation service providers are aware that they should immediately
inform the project manager, by means of a special form, if any issues arise
which may cause loss of quality;
• Comments and feedback provided by customers are analysed so that they can be
integrated in the work process in such a way as to allow the service to be
adapted to the requirements of the customer;
• All instructions resulting from customers’ comments and feedback are presented
in writing to the staff concerned and are duly documented;
• The system is regularly controlled.
CONFIDENTIALITY
KennisTranslations SA acknowledges that any information which is known or has
become known to him in the course of execution of translation, revision,
interpretation, or merely entrusted to it, of whatever nature, whether personal,
commercial, scientific, legal, or any other services, is of a strictly
confidential nature. This information shall not de disclosed to third parties
without prior written consent of the Customer. This obligation refers not only
to the duration of this Agreement with KennisTranslations, but also to the
period thereafter.
The confidentiality obligation does not include information which:
- is already known to KennisTranslations and/or its co-workers, unless this
information was disclosed with confidentiality obligation;
- is developed lawfully by the KennisTranslations independently of the Customer;
- is obtained lawfully by KennisTranslations SA without obligation to secrecy
from third parties;
- has already been published for the general public by the lawful owner.
In the case of the transfer of data over the Internet, and recognising that data
transported by these means is not protected from any possible misappropriation,
and that the communication of any information of a sensitive nature is at the
sole risk of the user, KennisTranslations SA cannot be liable for any possible
leakage of information or data exchanged over the Internet.
All translators, revisers and interpreters working on behalf of
KennisTranslations SA are bound by a Confidentiality Agreement and therefore
equally accept their liability in the event of their disclosure of the
information made available to them for the purposes of their translation
services.
COPYRIGHT
After the full payment of the invoices due for the Work, and unless otherwise
agreed, KennisTranslations SA declares that the entire copyright in the Work,
including without limitation all economic rights and the exclusive rights to
reproduce, fix, adapt, modify, translate, create derivative works from,
manufacture, market, introduce into circulation, publish, distribute, sell,
license, sublicense, transfer, rent, lease, transmit or provide access
electronically, broadcast, display, enter into computer memory, and use the
Work, all modified and derivative products thereof, and all portions or copies
thereof in any form, as well as any inventions, designs, and marks embodied in
the Work or developed in the course of the creation of the work, including
without limitation all utility and design patent rights and equivalent rights in
and to such inventions and design rights, and all trade and service mark rights,
is assigned to the customers, and successors.
Until full and final payment for the services provided, namely translation,
proofreading/revision or localisation, KennisTranslations SA. shall hold the
copyright of all translated documents, whether in whole or in part. In the case
of non-payment, any use, representation, or reproduction of the work in
question, whether in whole or in part, shall remain unlawful.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND LIABILITY
By placing an order, the customer accepts to settle the invoice by the indicated
due date, usually within 30 (thirty) days after invoicing. Any special
arrangement requested by the Customer at the time of confirming the order shall
be indicated on the invoice.
The Customer shall be granted a period of five (5) working days as from the
receipt of the translated or proofread documents to make known in writing any
disagreement with respect to the quality of the services. Once this period has
elapsed, the services shall be considered to have been duly executed and shall
be subject to invoice.
Defects present in one part of the translation shall not be grounds, for any
reason whatsoever, for questioning the entire project. In case of complaint,
KennisTranslations SA will open a Complaints Case acknowledging the same within
one working week and close the matter in the least time possible.
In the event of dispute as to the quality of the services rendered, the
liability of KennisTranslations SA shall never exceed the invoice amount of the
order in question. KennisTranslations shall under no circumstances be held
liable by the Customer or any other party for indirect, incidental, special or
consequential damages (including, but not limited to, loss of profits or
savings, work interruptions, deterioration or replacement of equipment and
goods, or the recovery or replacement of programmes or data) arising from
complaints based on the accuracy, readability, precision or coherence of the
data handled by KennisTranslations, even if the latter has been informed of the
possibility of such claims or damages.
KennisTranslations SA shall not be held liable for delays in delivery caused any
reason beyond its control, namely any eventual delays incurred by communications
by fax, modem, e-mail or any other data carriers, or cases of force majeure. Any
delay demonstrated as being directly attributable to KennisTranslations shall be
compensated up to the value of 5% (five percent) of the initial value of the
order in the form of a discount on the invoice or a credit against the next
order. Any delay that is directly attributable to the Customer (delay in the
delivery of files, delay pending necessary information, invalid format,
unreadable text, etc.) shall not give grounds for any compensation.
HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS
Any complaints concerning the quality of the services supplied by
KennisTranslations SA, shall have to be accompanied by precise corrections and
explanatory comments on the nature of disputed text, with pertinent supporting
examples. Stylistic or terminological questions which are a matter of preference
shall not be considered. The formal complaint shall be submitted in writing by
registered mail with return receipt to the Quality Officer, KennisTranslations
SA, Rua Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira, 16 - 1.º Dto, 2780-052 Oeiras, Portugal (or
by e-mail with automatic return receipt addressed to
commercial@kennistranslations.com) within 5 (five) working days of the delivery
of the work.
After the opening of a Complaints Case, and in the event of a legitimate claim
concerning the quality of the work performed, KennisTranslations SA may after
agreement with the Customer or at its sole discretion, adopt one or more of the
following compensatory measures:
• carry out at its own expense, and within a timely manner, a revision of the
disputed text performed by an independent proof-reader of its choice.
• grant a discount against the invoice, of up to a maximum amount of 40% of the
value of the invoice concerned, before taxes
• grant a credit against a future order up to a maximum amount of 40% of the
value of the invoice concerned, before taxes
ANNEX I
DEFINITIONS REFFERING TO TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION
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Customer |
any individual or corporate entity represented by the purchaser signing the
Purchase Order. KennisTranslations SA understands without restriction that any
employee or contractor of a company or organisation placing an order on behalf
of this company or organisation shall have received prior authorisation from the
management to undertake the procurement of services. |
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Work |
Any task pertaining translation, proof-reading, interpreting, DTP and/or other
translation and localization work supplied to a customer. |
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Source language |
Original language spoken or written to be interpreted or translated/revised. |
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Target language |
Language into which the source language is to be rendered by interpretation or
translation. |
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Translation |
Conversion of a text from a source language into the target language specified
in the Work Specification and based on data taken from the translation memory,
the machine translation and/or the terminology lists if and where available. |
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CAT translation |
Conversion of a text in a source language into the target language specified in
the Work Specification using Computer-Assisted Translation software data taken
from the a translation memory, the machine translation and/or the terminology
lists if and where available. |
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Interpretation |
Rendering of spoken information in the source language into the target language
in oral form. |
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Proof-reading
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Work carried out by a proof-reader, checking of proofs before publishing. |
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Reviewing |
Work carried out by a reviewer, in which he/she examines a target text for its
suitability for the agreed purpose and respect for the conventions of the domain
to which it belongs and recommend corrective measures. |
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Revision |
Work carried out by a reviser, in which he/she examines a translation for its
suitability for the agreed purpose, compare the source and target texts, and, if
necessary, rewriting of the text with an eye to linguistic aspects such as
terminology, grammar, style and accuracy of translation. |
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Purchase Order |
A confirmation from the customer, sent by regular mail, e-mail or fax, stating
that the conditions established, including instructions, word counts (No Match,
Repetitions, Fuzzy Match, 100% Match), cost price, delivery deadline and
language combination, are accepted and that KennisTranslations may start the
work. |
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Word counts |
Number of words of a text based on analysis provided by the software used for
any applicable work (e.g. calculated using the Word Count Statistics tool in MS
Word, or word count tool of any CAT Tool used for doing the work). |
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100% Match |
A source text segment which is identical with a source language translation unit
in the translation memory and which corresponds with a target language segment. |
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Repetitions |
A source text segment which is identical with a segment translated earlier in
the current source text and which consequently does not require a new
translation. |
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Fuzzy Match |
A source text segment for which a similar but not entirely matching source
language translation unit with corresponding translation in the translation
memory is available.
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No Match |
A source text segment for which no 100 % Match, Repetition, Fuzzy Match or MT
Proposal of an acceptable quality level is available. |
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