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Looking for standard Terms and Conditions
Thread poster: Alexandre Chetrite
Alexandre Chetrite
Alexandre Chetrite
France
Local time: 07:32
English to French
Jul 15, 2012

Hi,

I am looking for standard Terms and Conditions for translators. I've seen some on other freelance translator web sites but I don't know if I can use them (with the translator permission maybe?).

These standard Terms and Conditions are to be used on my translator website, so they should be condensed.

Good day.



[Edited at 2012-07-15 15:20 GMT]
 
cranium
cranium
French to English
+ ...
SFT Jul 15, 2012

Conditions générales de prestations de service recommandées par la SFT

http://www.sft.fr/cgps-de-traduction-sft.html
 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 02:32
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Set your own Jul 15, 2012

Check other sources to see what they cover, and write yours. There is no "standard" in this trade.

For instance, I chose to separate translation from financial costs. Therefore I set my standard rates for payment via PayPal within two weeks from delivery. As PayPal costs me 10% in fees, and delays payment by up to two weeks, clients willing to use other methods (e.g. bank transfer, Xoom) and/or shorter payment terms are eligible for d... See more
Check other sources to see what they cover, and write yours. There is no "standard" in this trade.

For instance, I chose to separate translation from financial costs. Therefore I set my standard rates for payment via PayPal within two weeks from delivery. As PayPal costs me 10% in fees, and delays payment by up to two weeks, clients willing to use other methods (e.g. bank transfer, Xoom) and/or shorter payment terms are eligible for discounts.

Conversely, clients paying between 14 and 30 days from delivery may face limited availablity from me, and they'll never have priority service here. I don't take any jobs with payment term beyond 30 days, ever.

All this explanation is to lead you to conclude that if most translators everywhere merely copied my T&C, quite likely only half a dozen translation agencies would still exist in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, where the widespread payment terms are 45, 60, 90 or more days. So you should check your market and your business setting.

Regarding the more technical T&C, there are several aspects.

Regarding non-disclosure, I have my pledge published on this page on my web site. If that's not enough, I'll sign the clients' NDA, as long as it is reasonable and admits that Brazilian law shall prevail over it in case of sworn translations.

I have never delivered a translation project late in the past 38 years. If the client changes a project under way, they'll be notified of a new deadline, if that's the case.

Quality issues are covered by a lifetime guarantee. If any reasonable flaw is found on my work, it will be fixed immediately at no charge. I will have rejected beforehand any job offer where I am unable to deliver fully acceptable quality. If my possible quality level in a certain job is limited, the client shall be made fully aware of it before I take it.

Just as I don't deliver late, I have no tolerance for late payments. Late payers will have limited - if any - availability from me.

This should give you some items to think about for your very own T&C. ▲ Collapse
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 07:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Agree with JH Jul 15, 2012

José Henrique is right. Why not set your own? I simply made a list of the basic conditions I prefer to work with and it saves me a lot of time wrangling over formats and wordcounts etc. Here's a sample (in Spanish):
TARIFAS Y PAUTAS
Tasas vigentes a lo largo del año 2012 en curso:

->Traducción de textos de complejidad técnica corriente //media:

• Al inglés – X,XX€ / X,XX €/palabra - contabilizados por //en formato WORD o similar, según comple... See more
José Henrique is right. Why not set your own? I simply made a list of the basic conditions I prefer to work with and it saves me a lot of time wrangling over formats and wordcounts etc. Here's a sample (in Spanish):
TARIFAS Y PAUTAS
Tasas vigentes a lo largo del año 2012 en curso:

->Traducción de textos de complejidad técnica corriente //media:

• Al inglés – X,XX€ / X,XX €/palabra - contabilizados por //en formato WORD o similar, según complejidad, volumen y tipo de archivo.
• Al castellano - X,XX– X,XX € / palabra
• Al francés/alemán, otros idiomas - X,XX€ /X,XX palabra, a convenir

Revisión de textos: tarifa base de X,XX€/pal o por horas, previo acuerdo.

Los precios citados no incluyen IVA, ni la correspondiente retención del IRPF.

Nota:

1) Las tarifas arriba mencionadas son aplicables a los documentos de texto en MS Word o compatible (de fácil manejo). Los documentos en otros formatos (Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, PageMaker, HTML, FreeHand, Open Office etc.) se tasan en función de su nivel de complejidad y el tiempo real necesario para su traducción/revisión. La tarifa vigente por horas en tiempo real es de 35,50 €/hora.

2) Se ruega a los clientes entregar los documentos en formato no protegido, con la opción “Control de cambios” desactivada a priori, a fin de agilizar nuestro proceso.

3) Precios de textos de más complejidad, p. ej., cadenas de software, temas y/o formatos altamente técnicos, especializados, etc., a convenir.

4) Las inserciones gráficas (TIFF, JPG, BMP, PNG) o cuadros de texto a menudo dificultan la agilidad del servicio básico de traducción, con el consiguiente aumento de los honorarios, al requerir más tiempo la ejecución del trabajo.

5) No se puede garantizar las traducciones de abreviaciones y/o acrónimos que no hayan sido definidos en el texto original, excepto los más comunes.

6) Los desplazamientos y sesiones presenciales, en su caso, se facturarán por horas de tiempo real empleadas, siempre previa conformidad.

7) (EL TRADUCTOR) no se responsabiliza de las modificaciones efectuadas a posteriori por terceros en los textos traducidos.



[Edited at 2012-07-15 15:47 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 07:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Bog standard not an issue Jul 16, 2012

SBlack wrote:

Conditions générales de prestations de service recommandées par la SFT

http://www.sft.fr/cgps-de-traduction-sft.html


The link is a fine example of the usual "formal" business conditions. You can find this kind of thing anywhere. What I am more interested in is MY OWN "informal" conditions, i.e. the conditions I am happy to work in. I don't like working with certain formats, so I make that a condition of my collaboration, QED. All the usual boilerplate confidentiality clauses, etc, stated in the link are not an issue for me.
 


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