1. In these General Terms and Conditions and in all other specific Terms and Conditions for particular services offered by Baseefa:
a. The words "Baseefa", "we", "our" and "us" are deemed to refer to Baseefa
b. The words "customer", "your" and "you" are deemed to refer to the person, company or agent who is seeking a service from Baseefa
c. The words "certification" and "certified" are deemed to include all the conformity assessment services operated by us, whether or not a certificate is issued.
2. These General Terms and Conditions apply to all contracts between Baseefa and its customers and are effective upon registration of the customer with Baseefa. Additional specific terms and conditions apply to the individual services offered by Baseefa, as outlined in the Guides for each service.
3. You register with Baseefa by supplying basic contact information, and statements of limitation of authority applicable to individuals within your company. From this, we are able to accept subsequent orders for work from those individuals, in accordance with the limitations you have laid down.
4. You may vary the details of your registration, or terminate it at any time, by notifying us in writing.
5. The registration should be made in the form indicated in the accompanying registration form and be signed by an individual with appropriate authority within your organization, normally a director or company secretary.
6. We have an absolute right not to accept a request for registration, or to refuse to continue a registration, but if we do so we will indicate the reason. (Normally a refusal to grant or to continue registration will only occur in the event that you are not capable of complying with, or have previously failed to comply with, our terms and conditions.) If you are not satisfied with the explanation provided, you may appeal to our advisory board.
7. Your responsibilities to us are that:
a. You will pay all fees due to us within thirty days of the date of the invoice unless you have had confirmation from us, in writing, that an alternative payment regime is acceptable.
b. You will supply such information, drawings, samples and facilities as may be necessary for us to perform our work to an agreed schedule.
c. You will ensure that all technical documentation and drawings supplied to us are clearly and uniquely identified and dated.
d. You will provide access as necessary for our personnel, or those working on our behalf, to perform their duties.
e. You will inform us promptly of any significant change that could affect a product system or service that is certified by us.
f. You will keep a register of all customer complaints and remedial action relating to any product, system or service certified by us, and shall allow our representatives full access to the register.
g. Ownership of certificates and related documents is retained by us and you will return them to us on request.
h. Certificates and related documents cannot be transferred to other parties without our express permission in writing and you will inform us if you wish us to consider such a transfer.
i. Where a certificate relates to an activity carried out at a particular location, you will notify us of any intended change of location for the activity so that appropriate measures can be taken in accordance with the rules for the particular service.
j. You warrant that the manufacture, use, sale or supply of any product, system or device certified by us will not infringe any copyright, patent or other intellectual property right of any person or other body.
k. You will indemnify us against any financial losses that we might incur as a result of your failure to comply with these terms and conditions.
l. You will use a certification mark or other mark that relates to a particular service only in conjunction with that service and in the way provided for in the rules of that service. In particular, in respect of marketing and publicity, you will not represent or pass off any such mark as your property. You will immediately discontinue any use of such a mark which is unacceptable to us and any form of statement with reference to the authority by which you use the mark which, in our opinion, is misleading.
8. Our responsibilities to you are that:
a. We shall provide suitably qualified personnel to perform work for you, either from our own staff or by employment of sub-contractors that we have approved for the purpose.
b. We shall ensure that any sub-contractors are competent for the work that they undertake and that they and their personnel are bound by such of these terms and conditions as are applicable.
c. We shall use our best endeavours to conduct our work in a professional and competent manner. However, we cannot warrant the quality of any particular product, system or service certified by us. Neither can we accept liability for any consequences arising from the use of such products, systems or services.
d. All information obtained by us in the course of our work shall be treated as confidential in so far as the information is not in the public domain. This undertaking does not preclude us from making available, in confidence, such information as we may be required to provide under national or European Community legislation or under the terms of our accreditation.
e. We shall provide advice in good faith, based upon the professional judgment of our personnel as applicable to the information we have at the time. We accept no responsibility beyond that for the exercise of due diligence for any consequences arising out of that advice.
f. We shall advise you in writing of any complaint from another party regarding the compliance with stated standards of a product, system or service that we have certified.
9. In the event that you wish to appeal against a decision we have taken in respect of these Terms and Conditions, you should follow the Appeals Procedure, published in our Publication Number P08. Such an appeal does not affect your statutory rights.
10. We may alter these Terms and Conditions at any time. We will give you due notice in writing of such alterations.
11. The interpretation of these Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.
12. Any notice required by these Terms and Conditions to be given to either party shall be deemed to have been given by the sending of a letter by post or fax to the party at its registered address and service shall be deemed to be effected at the time at which the letter would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post or telecommunications.
Issue 2 October 2004
