Terms of business for interpreting
These Terms of Business are issued by Found in Translation Ltd. trading as Drakou Translations and are the basis on which the company executes the related work.
1. Role of the Chartered Institute of Linguists
The Chartered Institute of Linguists is a professional body of qualified linguists. To be admitted to any of its grades, members have to undergo stringent admission criteria and, once admitted, they are governed by a Code of Professional Conduct, a copy of which is available from www.ciol.org.uk. The Institute will investigate complaints about any alleged breaches of that Code and every CIOL member will be bound by it. However, the Institute is not involved in these Terms of Business or any contract between the Interpreter and the Client and will accept no liability in connection with these Terms of Business or any contract between the Interpreter and the Client.
2. Applicable law
The Contract shall be governed by the laws of England and the Client agrees to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
3. Definitions
In these Terms of Business:
a) the Client is the person or corporate body that places a Commission;
b) the Commission is the assignment or work placed with the Interpreter by the Client and may comprise various forms of interpreting to be agreed between the Client and the Interpreter;
c) the Contract is the contract entered into between the Client and the Interpreter in respect of the Commission and any requirements of the Commission;
d) the Interpreter is the practitioner who accepts the Commission;
e) the source language & target language represent the languages in which the Interpreter will perform the work; and
f) for the purpose of interpreting and related work, requirements shall include any special terminology to be used and notified in advance to the interpreter by the Client and the Client shall also provide the Interpreter with relevant documents, e.g. agenda, subject-matters/reports to be discussed during the conference/meeting, further background information (if available), any existing glossaries and lists, as well as an overview of participants and/or speakers at the very latest one week prior to the assignment unless otherwise agreed.
4. Purpose
These Terms of Business are intended:
a) as a basis for executing Commissions and will be made available to Clients on request; and
b) to form the basis of a good working relationship between Clients and the Interpreter.
5. Acceptance
A Commission shall not be considered as agreed and confirmed until a signed Contract has been exchanged between the Interpreter and the Client.
6. Force majeure
If unavoidably prevented from fulfilling the Commission, the Interpreter will, in consultation with the client, use reasonable endeavours to source a replacement Interpreter of equivalent competence and qualifications.
7. Fees
7.1 Fees/rates shall be agreed before the Commission is commenced and any quotation based on the Client's description of the work shall only be binding once full details of the Commission and the requirements have been confirmed in writing.
7.2 If it emerges after the Commission has commenced that not all the relevant information has been provided and/or if there are any changes to the requirements, the Interpreter may vary the fees/rates accordingly.
8. Payment
All work must be paid for and payment shall be made within fifteen (15) days of the date of the invoice issued by the Interpreter to the Client.
9. Cancellation
In the event that the Commission is cancelled by the Client, the Interpreter shall be entitled to cancellation fees as follows:
a) 50% of the fees specified, if the cancellation is received by the Interpreter more than 6 calendar weeks before the beginning of the Commission;
b) 75% of the fees specified, if the cancellation is received by the Interpreter less than 6 calendar weeks but more than 2 weeks before the beginning of the Commission; and
c) 100% of the fees specified, if the cancellation is received by the Interpreter at any time on or after the date falling 2 weeks before the beginning of the Commission.
10. Copyright in interpreting
The interpretation is the intellectual property of the Interpreter and is therefore covered by copyright law. Before recording the Interpreter’s work, the Interpreter’s written consent must be sought. It is up to the Interpreter to refuse such consent. Generally, the recording of the Interpreter’s work is only acceptable for internal use (such as the creation of minutes) and not for publication. It must be borne in mind that an Interpreter’s work is made for the moment and is influenced by many aspects of the working situation (background noise, sound quality, speaker’s gestures etc.). Voice-over artists offer their services for any other recordings. If the Interpreter consents to the recording of his or her voice, a recording fee becomes applicable.
11. Confidentiality
11.1 The Code of Professional Conduct of the Chartered Institute of Linguists requires member Interpreters to treat all work performed by them and any information given to them as confidential.
11.2 The Client shall not, without the express written consent of the Interpreter, disclose to third parties any information relating to his/her fees.
13. Complaints
Any complaint by the Client about the Interpreter’s work shall be submitted to the Interpreter within seven (7) days.
14. Liability
14.1 Neither party shall, under any circumstances whatsoever, be liable to the other, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or restitution, or for breach of statutory misrepresentation, or otherwise, for any:
a) loss of profit;
b) loss of goodwill;
c) loss of business;
d) loss of business opportunity;
e) loss of anticipated saving;
f) loss of corruption of data or information; or
e) special, indirect or consequential damage,
suffered by the other party that arises under or in connection with the Contract.
14.2 Without prejudice to clause 14.1, the Interpreter's total liability arising under or in connection with the Contract, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or restitution, or for breach of statutory misrepresentation, or otherwise, shall in all circumstances be limited to the amount of invoiced.
Last updated 20 June 2023
Drakou Translations is a trading name of Found in Translation Ltd., a limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 14937905.
Registered office address: 128 City Road, London, United Kingdom, EC1V 2NX