Delivery conditions for assignments to adjusters, surveyors and valuers
Clause 1 General
1. Unless expressly otherwise agreed upon in writing, these conditions shall apply to all offers, tenders, assignments and contracts, as well as to the execution of assignments by the survey bureau, as well as to anything that might arise as a result of or in connection with those offers and/or assign- ments.2. If the principal refers to his own general conditions at the conclusion of the contract, the survey bureau rejects those conditions, except in the case where the rvey bureau expressly declares in writing that it accepts those
suconditions.
3. Wherever the term the principal’ is used in these conditions, this term shall include all principals who have collectively given one assignment, as well as his or their authorized representatives.
Clause 2 Assignment
An assignment shall only relate to the matter specified in it; consequences for any other matter cannot be attached to it.
Clause 3 Agreement of assignment /Contract
1. The contract shall have been concluded only after the principal has received a written acknowledgement of the assignment from the survey bureau in which a specification is given of the object or loss incident in question, unless the principal himself has given an adequately clearly des- cribed assignment in writing,
2. Alterations in the contract shall be binding only if they have been confir- med and/or agreed to in writing by the survey bureau.
Clause 4 Obligations on the part of the survey bureau
The survey bureau shall carry out the assignment accepted by it to the best of its knowledge and ability, accurately and impartially, as to be expected from an unbiased adjuster/surveyor and intermediary.
Clause 5 Experts
1. If and inasmuch as deemed necessary by the survey bureau for the pro- per execution of its assignment, they shall be entitled to obtain the assistance of one or more experts.
2. Inasmuch as this is customary, the experts shall be appointed by the survey bureau only after consultations with and with the written permis- sion of th principal: the fees of these experts shall be chargeable to the
eprincipal.
Clause 6 Confidentiality
1. The survey bureau is bound to observe secrecy towards third parties in respect of all information brought to or having come to its knowledge in connection with the assignment, as well as in respect of the contents of its report to the principal; all this unless the proper execution of the assignment requires the appointment of one or more experts by the sur- vey bureau.
2. If the survey bureau has appointed one or more experts, secrecy as referred to in paragraph 1 of this clause shall be imposed upon these expert(s) by the survey bureau.
3. The principal shall deal with all reports etc. received from the survey bureau strictly confidentially and with the greatest possible care.
Clause 7 Conditions for the execution of an assignment
The principal shall see to it that the assignment can take place under such conditions as rendered reasonably necessary by the nature of the assign-ment.
Clause 8 Information furnished by the principal
1. Upon giving the assignment, or as soon as possible afterwards, the prin- cipal shall furnish the survey bureau with all data and information requi- red for the proper execution of the assignment.
If so required by the survey bureau the principal shall, in particular, furnish written information to the survey bureau in the manner specified by the survey bureau.
2. The survey bureau must be able to assume that the information received is correct and complete.
If the survey bureau and/or the experts appointed by the survey bureau as referred to in clause 5 sustain damage and/or loss in consequence of incorrectness and/or incompleteness of that information, the principal shall be liable to indemnify the injured party/parties for that damage and/or loss.
Clause 9 Premature termination
1. The survey bureau shall be entitled to terminate, for urgent reason of its own, the further execution of the already accepted assignment, without being bound to indemnify damage and/or loss possibly sustained by the principal in consequence of it, and under production of a verbal or written – this at the option of the survey bureau – report to the principal about the activities already carried out.
2. The principal shall indemnify the survey bureau for the expenses already incurred and for the activities already carried out, with respect to which the stipulations of clause 13 shall apply.
Clause 10 Termination and annulment
1 The survey bureau is entitled to terminate its activities at instant notice and to annul the not yet executed part of the contract by means of a writ-ten statement to the principal without any judicial interposition being required, and without prejudice to its right to compensation of expenses, damage and/or loss and interest;
a, if the principal is declared bankrupt, assigns his property to his creditors, applies for a moratorium or if his property is fully or partly placed under attachment or if he proceeds to the partial or complete liquidation of his business:
b. if the principal dies or is put in ward or, should the principal be a legal entity, if a resolution for dissolution is tak;
enc. in case of attachment of whatever nature;
d. if the principal fails to meet any obligation incumbent on him by virtue of the law or of these conditions;
e. it the principal fails to pay an invoiced amount or part thereof within the prescribed time, or fails to meet one or more of his obligations towards the survey bureau;
f. if the principal proceeds to the cessation or conveyance of his business or an important part thereof, including the transfer of his business to a company to be formed, or if he changes the aims and objects of his bus- iness;
g. generally in all those cases where, after the conclusion of the contract, the survey bureau learns of circumstances which give it good grounds to fear that the principal will not meet his obligations.
2. If the principal meets, after all, his obligations towards the survey bureau after the occurrence of one or more of the aforementioned cases, for which reason the survey bureau has terminated its activities, the survey bureau shall be obliged only to report verbally or in writing – this at the option of the survey bureau – about the activities already carried out.
3. In the cases mentioned in paragraph 1 the survey bureau also has the right, at its option, to postpone the compliance with its obligations until the sum due, inclusive of any interest and expenses, has been received in full,
Clause 11 Report
1. In conclusion of the execution of the assignment, the survey bureau shall submit a written report to the principal describing its findings and the con- dition and/or quality of the object and/or purpose of the assignment.
2. Whenever this is deemed necessary by the survey bureau or agreed between parties, the survey bureau shall submit an interim report to the principal.
Clause 12 Termination and retention duty
1. The activities of the survey bureau shall end (except in case of pre- mature termination as described in clause 10) with the submission of the final report relating to the assignment accepted by the survey bureau.
2. The survey bureau shall retain all data, correspondence, documents and such-like records that have a bearing on the acceptance and the execu- tion of the assignment for a period of five years after the submission of the report; other material objects relating to the subject of the assignment shall not need to be retained by the survey bureau for more than twelve months after the submission of the report.
Clause 13 Payment
1. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, payment shall be made, without any deductions, by deposit into or remittance to the (postal) bank account spe- cified by the survey bureau within 30 days after the invoice date. The sett- lement date mentioned on the (postal) bank’s statement of account is the determining one and shall thus be deemed to be the date of payment.
2. The survey bureau has the right to demand at all times advance pay- ment, cash payment or security for the payment.
3. Each payment made by the principal shall serve in the first place to pay off any interest due by him, as well as the collecting charges and/or accounting costs incurred by the survey bureau and shall then be deduc- ted from the oldest outstanding debt.
4. If one of the circumstances specified in clause 10 paragraph 1 occurs, the principal shall be legally in default by the mere occurrence of one of the aforementioned circumstances. In that case all debts due to the sur- vey bureau by the principal shall mature immediately.
Clause 14 Interest and costs
1. lf the term of payment is exceeded, the principal shall be legally in default and the survey bureau shall be entitled to charge to the principal, as from the invoice date, an interest of 1.5% per month or, if this should be higher, the statutory interest; part of a month shall be deemed to be a full month.
2. In case of non-payment or late payment or non-observance of any of the principal’s other obligations, all collecting charges resulting from the non-payment or non-observance, both judicial and extra-judicial, shall be pay-able by the principal to the survey bureau, in addition to the invoice amount and the interest.
The extrajudicial collecting charges shall amount to at least 15% of the amount due by the principal, inclusive of the aforementioned interest, with a minimum of NLG 250.—, and they shall be due in all cases in which the survey bureau has engaged the services of a third party for the collection. The mere engagement of a third party is proof of the extent of and the principal’s liability to payment of the extrajudicial collecting charges, wit-hout the survey bureau being obliged to produce evidence that such costs have actually been incurred.
Clause 15 Liability
1. The survey bureau shall never be liable towards the principal if the assignment complies with the provisions of clause 2 as well as clause 4; this subject to the further provisions of this clause and those of clause 16.
2. Except for liability on the part of the survey bureau by virtue of imperati- ve legal stipulations and generally accepted rules of reasonableness and fairness, the survey bureau shall not be liable for, and thus never be bound to, indemnify mediate or immediate damage and/or loss of whatever natu- re, sustained directly or indirectly, including business interruption loss in respect of movable or immovable property, or by persons both at the prin- cipal’s and at third parties’ in consequence of:
a. improper conditions, as referred to in clause 7, and incorrect and/or incomplete information, as referred to in clause 8;
b. incorrect and/or incomplete information as referred to in clause 8, more
specifically where information asked for by the survey bureau is concer-ned, inasmuch as it has reasonably not been possible for the survey bureau to witness the circumstances in order to obtain the information in question;
c. activities not carried out by the survey bureau, inasmuch as it has in reason not been necessary for the survey bureau, by virtue of the provi- sions of clause 2 and of clause 4, to carry out those activities.
d. errors and/or delays resulting from the incorrect operation of equipment used by the survey bureau in the execution of its assignment, unless the principal proves satisfactorily that the survey bureau has been negligent in the care of that equipment.
This exclusion applies both if the incorrect operation referred to is due to the failure or malfunctioning of the power supply and/or other outside cau-ses affecting the equipment, the prevention of which is not within the control of the survey bureau, and if it is due to defects to the equipment itself, including software.
e. the non-completion or late completion of the report.
f. the operations and activities of the experts appointed within the scope of clause 5 of these general conditions.
3. The survey bureau shall not be liable either for damage and/or loss caused to equipment and other objects placed at its disposal by or on behalf of the principal.
4. The principal shall protect the survey bureau against claims from third parties in respect of damage to equipment and other objects placed at its disposal by or on behalf of the principal for the execution of the activities by the survey bureau, as well as in respect of damage and/or loss to objects to be inspected.
5. The survey bureau shall never be liable for indirect damage and/or loss.
Clause 16 Limitation of liability and time bar
1. Any liability on the part of the survey bureau shall be limited in all cases to the amount of the fee and expenses charged or to be charged by the survey bureau to the principal, but shall never be in excess of the amount paid out in the case in question under the professional liability insurance of the survey bureau.
Any concurrence of assignments shall in this connection be deemed to be one single case.
2. Any claims against the survey bureau shall be barred by limitation one year after the date of submission of the report to the principal.
Clause 17 Indemnity
The principal shall indemnify the survey bureau against all claims of third parties, both in respect of the execution of the assignment and in respect of the report issued by the survey bureau.
Clause 18 Applicable law and disputes
1. AII offers, tenders, assignments and contracts, as well as the execution of assignments by the survey bureau, shall be governed by Dutch law.
2. All disputes, both of factual and of legal nature, arising out of or connec- ted with the contract to which these conditions apply, including disputes that are deemed to be disputes by only one of the parties, shall be settled by arbitration, in conformity with the rules of the Nederlands Arbitrage Instituut (Dutch arbitration institute).
3. This arbitration clause does not eliminate the right of parties to apply in cases of urgency, to the president-judge of the district court for summary proceedings, in which connection the only competent president-judge is the one of the district court having jurisdiction over the area where the sur- vey bureau in question is established, and to proceed to obtaining a gar- nisheeorder and the ways to maintain same.
4. This arbitration clause does not eliminate either the right of the survey bureau to apply to the competent civil judge demanding payment of an invoice and the interest and collecting charges related with it, in case the term of payment of an invoice in accordance with clauses 13 and 14 is exceeded, in which connection the only competent civil judge is the one of the court of civil judicature having jurisdiction over the area where the sur- vey bureau in question is established, inasmuch as the legal provisions admit of this.
5. The right of the survey bureau to bring the dispute before the president- judge of the district court or the civil judge who is competent in accordan- ce with the normal competence reguions, is left intact by the provisions
latof paragraphs 4 and 5 of this clause.
Clause 19 Dutch and English versions
1. There are two versions of these terms and conditions, one in the Dutch language and one in the English language.
2. In case of discrepancy between these versions, the provisions of the Dutch version shall prevail, in disregard of the provisions of the English version.
