GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR GRANTING AND MAINTAINING CERTIFICATION OF PRODUCT OR FACTORY PRODUCTION CONTROL
These General Terms and Conditions for the provision and maintenance of product certification or factory production control govern the contractual relations under which "Fire Certification and Inspection" Ltd, registered in the Commercial Register and the Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities with UIC 206130981 and registered office and management address: obj. Sofia, s. Vladaya, ul. Kukuriak № 2, represented by Boyan Nikolov - manager, hereinafter referred to as FCI LTD or the CONTRACTOR, provides the services of product or factory production control certification and are accepted by the decision of the sole owner of the capital on 13.12.2024.
FCI LTD shall provide the services of performing and maintaining certification of a product or factory production control after concluding a contract with an individual and/or legal entity for the specific activity, in which the services, prices and terms for performing the activities are individualized, under the following commercial conditions:
1. SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT
1.1. FCI LTD agrees to perform certification of products and/or manufacturing owned by the client, according to technical indicators specified in standards and accepted certification schemes (all described and specified in the specific contract).
1.2. For all new products or factory production controls that are additionally requested for initial certification by the CLIENT or for the extension/continuation of the granted certification, the parties shall further agree the commercial terms by signing an addendum to the service contract.
1.3. In case of compliance of the products, their production conditions and/or production control with the requirements of the standards and applied certification schemes, FCI LTD shall issue certificates, granting the right for their use to the CLIENT.
1.4. FCI LTD shall have the rights in case of non-compliance of the products, product manufacturing conditions or production control with the requirements of the applied scheme to refuse to grant certification.
1.5. FCI LTD shall maintain the certifications issued, during the period of the specific contract with the client, provided that the certification scheme requires it, by carrying out surveillance of the client's products and activities.
2. MAIN OBLIGATIONS OF THE PARTIES
2.1.The CLIENT is obliged:
2.1.1. Always to comply with the certification requirements set out in FCI LTD 's regulated schemes and procedures, including the implementation of appropriate amendments to them, as declared in writing in the certification applications submitted.
2.1.2. To ensure that certified products or factory production controls continue to meet the requirements specified in the schemes throughout the validity period of the granted certification.
2.1.3. Provide, within its working hours, the necessary working conditions for FCI LTD personnel to carry out product assessment and surveillance or production control, including ensuring the review of documentation and records, and access to relevant equipment, locations, area(s) and personnel.
These conditions include:
-provide free access, if necessary, without prior information, to all premises and documents concerning the development, production, storage and marketing of products, including the subcontractors used and the reports of the internal audits of its quality system;
- determination and designation of an employee/s who has the authority to provide the necessary information and resolve current issues regarding the organization and conduct of the process of providing and maintaining certification;
-ensuring the selection of the necessary test specimens to carry out the activities specified in the specific contract.
2.1.4. To inform in case of changes affecting product certification or factory production control involving ownership, management structure, organisation of the production process or other information indicating that they do not comply with the requirements of the selected certification scheme.
2.1.5. Notify immediately of any planned modification to the products, factory production control, manufacturing process or quality control system that may affect the conformity of the products or factory production control to the standard and not implement the same as certified until FCI LTD has carried out the necessary inspections and given permission.
2.1.6. To comply with the FCI LTD procedure for supervision of certified products or production control in accordance with the applicable certification scheme. The timing and conditions of the surveillance of the certified product or factory production control shall be determined by FCI LTD and agreed with the client for each calendar year of the validity of the certificate issued.
2.1.7. To maintain a register and keep records of all complaints known to it which relate to its compliance with the requirements for certification and to make these records available to FCI LTD on request.
2.1.8. To document and take the necessary actions in relation to these complaints, or any defect found in the product or factory production control that concern compliance with the certification requirements.
2.1.9. To submit complaints and objections regarding the certification following the practice announced in the FCI LTD's procedures.
2.1.10. To raise objections to FCI LTD with respect to the certification of the requested products or production control only within its scope.
2.1.11. To observe the rules of the CONTRACTOR specifying how to use the provided certificates, as follows:
- shall not use the certification in a manner that undermines the reputation of FCI LTD by making misleading or unlawful statements regarding the certification;
- when providing copies of certification documents to other parties, that they be reproduced in their entirety in accordance with the regulated certification scheme;
- does not give the right to refer to the certification scheme applied and the certificates of other persons and bodies, as well as its own subdivisions, beyond those that have been assessed during the certification process;
- use the certification only to demonstrate that the certified products or factory production controls meet the specified standards, ensuring that the certificates, their annexes and any part of the documentation are not used in an improper manner;
- represent the certified products or production control in the means of communication, for example in documents, brochures or advertisements, in accordance with the requirements of FCI LTD;
- upon making a decision to suspend or revoke the certificates, cease use of the promotional materials containing information about the certification and return to FCI LTD all officially issued copies of the certificates and their annexes.
2.1.12. Upon notification by FCI LTD of any changes concerning product certification or factory production control, notify FCI LTD in writing within 7 (seven) days of the readiness or refusal to accept them.
2.1.13. In case of monitoring and assessment of the activities of FCI LTD by the Notifying Authority - Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, to provide access to its production facilities, documentation and products, both to FCI LTD and the representatives of the Notifying Authority.
2.2. FCI LTD is obliged:
2.2.1. To ensure that product certification or factory production control is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the procedures of the accepted certification scheme, which the client has familiarised itself with in advance of contracting.
2.2.2. To complete the procedure for issuing/extending/re-issuing product or factory production control certification within 4 (four) months from the date of submission of the product or factory production control documentation by the CLIENT and receipt of the test reports and product classification by the testing laboratory.
In case of non-conformities recorded during the product assessment or production control, this period shall be extended by the time necessary for the CLIENT to take corrective action and to assess it.
2.2.3. To maintain issued certificates, if required by the certification scheme, for a period of three years, by conducting product and production surveillance or CLIENT production control as required by the relevant procedures.
2.2.4. At all times during the performance of the contract, provide the client with complete information about the certification process as reflected in the procedures and work rules used by the client.
2.2.5. Not to disclose the facts and circumstances that have become known to him in connection with the certification of products or production control in the performance of the contract, except in the cases provided for in the regulations or upon written agreement with the CLIENT.
2.2.6. To inform the client in writing of any changes in the certification requirements, indicating the date of their entry into force and the need for additional activities affecting the client.
2.2.7. To carry out the necessary work to assess the client's ability to meet the new certification requirements and to notify the client of the results. If additional activities are required during this assessment, the specific prices and timeframes for the activity shall be agreed.
3. PROFESSIONAL, BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL SECRECY
3.1. Any information made known to FCI LTD and the CLIENT in the performance of the Services shall be considered confidential and shall be provided and processed by FCI LTD and the CLIENT only for the purposes of the Services provided under the relevant Contract.
3.2. The personal data provided by the client or made known to FCI LTD shall be processed in accordance with the Privacy Statement of FCI LTD based on Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).
3.3. FCI LTD's privacy statement is an integral part of the service contract and is provided to the organisation prior to the conclusion of the relevant contract.
3.4. Consent from the client for the processing of personal data concerning the preparation of an offer by FCI LTD is given with the request for offer and is a mandatory condition for the preparation of specific offers, conclusion of contracts and provision of services by FCI LTD.
4. NOTIFICATION OF NEW CIRCUMSTANCES AND OBSTACLES
4.1. FCI LTD shall, within 7 (seven) days of becoming aware of any new circumstances or obstacles, notify the client in writing, proposing further amendments to the contract where:
- insurmountable difficulties arise which may prevent the performance of the contract;
- significant changes occur in the certification scheme leading to additional activities to be carried out;
- the need arises to carry out further tests on samples of the product;
- the technical condition of the product samples obtained does not permit further testing.
4.2 The CLIENT shall take a position on the notification and notify FCI LTD in writing of its decision within 7 (seven) days of receipt of the notification.
4.3 The CLIENT is obliged to send a written application to FCI LTD at:
- a desire to terminate the certification granted and the validity of the contract;
- request for suspension of certificates issued.
5. PRICES AND PAYMENTS
5.1. The monetary values of the remuneration for the activities covered by the contract, including the provision of the certification for the product(s) or production control and the annual fee for its maintenance are specified in the specific contract.
5.2. For each subsequent product or factory production control requested by the CLIENT for the provision/ extension/ continuation and maintenance of certification, the value of the service shall be specified in the additional annexes to the contract to be concluded by the parties. Additional annexes to the contract shall also be concluded in the event of changes in the certification requirements, which changes require additional activities in the certification process to be performed by FCI LTD and paid for by the client.
5.3. The price shall be negotiable and shall be inclusive of VAT, except where the annual inflation rate is updated in accordance with clause 5.6.
5.4. The initial certification fee is payable in two installments. The first is 80 % of the total agreed amount. The second is in the amount of 20 %. It is due upon a positive certification decision.
5.5 The annual maintenance fee for the product certificate shall be paid at least ten (10) days prior to the annual audit.
5.6 The annual fee for the maintenance of the product certificate shall be updated each year by the annual inflation rate from the date of the last payment (National Institute of Statistics).
5.7. The CLIENT shall make the payments stipulated and specified in the Contract (Annex(es)) and the additional Annexes thereto within 30 (thirty) days of receipt of the relevant invoice by FCI LTD. The amount may also include travel expenses incurred by the assessment teams in accordance with clause 5.9.
5.8.A production control audit is being carried out after payment the issued invoice.
5.9. When performing the activities specified in the contract/additional agreements, outside the territory of the Sofia City District, the client shall pay the costs including travel, daily and accommodation allowances for each member of the team of evaluators of FCI LTD, which are specified in the specific contract.
5.10. Any unforeseen costs incurred during the certification of the product concerning the performance of additional activities shall be specified and agreed between the parties on a case-by-case basis. Before they are incurred, either upon approval by the CLIENT or upon a legally permissible alternative proposed by the CLIENT, certification shall proceed.
5.11. The cost of unscheduled surveillance shall be determined on a case-by-case basis.
5.12. In the event that the unscheduled surveillance on a signal is unfounded, the same shall be deemed to be scheduled surveillance. All costs of an unscheduled alert surveillance resulting in findings of non-compliance in maintaining certification shall be paid by the client.
5.13. In the event of unjustified objections by the CLIENT to the results of the certification process, the costs of the arbitration tests and re-assessment shall be borne by the CLIENT.
5.14. The payments of the issued invoices are made to the bank account of FCI LTD: IBAN BG55PRCB 92301051295201, BIC code PRCBBGSF at the bank ProCredit Bank (Bulgaria) EAD, city Sofia. Bank charges for translation and currency conversion are borne by the CLIENT.
6. IMPLEMENTATION CONTROL
6.1. FCI LTD is obliged to provide the client with the necessary explanations, reports, estimates, statements and other materials reflecting the performance of the contract and the work under it at the time of the client's request.
6.2. FCI LTD, in order to fulfil its obligations to maintain certification, may at any time and place, without prior notice, supervise the client and the certified product or factory production control.
7. TERM OF THE CONTRACT AND TERMINATION
7.1. Unless otherwise agreed, the term of a FCI LTD contract shall be 3 (three) years. It shall be determined from the date of the last certificate issued. If no written request for termination is received three months before the expiration of this term, the contract is automatically extended by one year each year.
7.2. The Contract shall be deemed terminated in its entirety upon expiration or upon termination/revocation of certification of all products or production controls reflected therein, or shall be deemed terminated in part, for the product(s) or factory production control(s) involved, where the basis for termination applies only to the product(s) or production control(s) involved.
7.3. Either party to the contract may, upon written notice, unilaterally terminate the contract for the relevant product(s) or production control(s) in the event of a material breach of its provisions by the other party concerning the relevant product(s) or production control(s).
7.4. The Contract shall be terminated in whole or in part for the relevant product(s) or production control(s) in the event that its performance becomes impossible due to the occurrence of an unforeseeable and/or unavoidable circumstance, or in the event of termination of the activities of one of the parties for reasons beyond its control (force majeure).
7.5. In the event that the client does not provide the conditions for the procedure for the relevant product(s) or production control(s), does not provide FCI LTD with test samples of the product for certification and its technical documentation within the agreed period from the date of conclusion of the specific contract or of additional annexes, FCI LTD may unilaterally terminate the contract /additional agreement for the relevant product(s) with written notice.
7.6. FCI LTD may unilaterally terminate the contract/supplementary agreement for the relevant product(s) or production control(s), by written notice, in the course of the certification procedure in the presence of apparent discrepancies in the CLIENT's production process indicating the CLIENT's inability to produce the relevant product(s) with the required quality.
7.7. In the cases referred to in clause 7.6, the financial relations shall be settled by the client paying the actual costs incurred by FCI LTD under the contract, according to the submitted cost documents.
7.8. The CLIENT may unilaterally terminate the contract/supplementary agreement for the relevant product(s) or production control(s), in the absence of any default by FCI LTD in the performance of the provisions of this contract, by giving written notice, and shall be liable for liquidated damages in an amount corresponding to the balance due.
8. FORCE MAJEURE
8.1. In the event of force majeure, such as wars, states of calamity, governmental and/or general accreditation bans, local riots, epidemics and natural disasters, the parties shall be deemed released from their obligations under this contract for as long as the force majeure lasts.
8.2. The existence of force majeure circumstances shall be declared within seven (7) days of their occurrence and shall be evidenced at a later stage by the relevant documents specified by the applicable legislation.
8.3. If the force majeure continues for more than 3 (three) months, the parties shall be entitled to terminate the contract on general grounds with 30 (thirty) days' written notice.
9. PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS
9.1. The Client, in case of non-fulfilment of the monetary obligations specified in clause 5 of this Agreement, shall pay to FCI LTD a penalty of 0.2% of their value for each day of delay, but not more than 15% of their value.
9.2. FCI LTD shall pay to the client a penalty of 0.2% of the contract value for each day of delay caused by the client in the event of failure to meet the deadline under clause 2.2.2 of this contract, but not more than 15% of the quoted price for product certification or factory production control.
9.3. In the event of a single failure to comply with the requirements set out in clauses 2.1.4 and 2.1.11 of the contract, for which it has been duly established that there is no intent in the actions of the client, FCI LTD shall issue a formal warning to suspend/revoke the certificate for the product or factory production control concerned.
9.4. In case of non-compliance with the requirements specified in clause 2.1.5 and clause 2.1.14 and repeated violations of clause 2.1.4 and clause 2.1.11 of the contract, FCI LTD shall suspend or revoke the certification granted.
9.5. In case of systematic violations by the client regarding the use of the certificate, after official warnings and/or suspension of the certification by FCI LTD, the latter shall, in addition to the revocation of the issued certificate, require the payment of a penalty of 5 000 euros.
9.6. The CLIENT shall indemnify FCI LTD against any claim made against it by third parties as a result of any unlawful, misleading use of the certificate for products other than those which have been assessed as required.
9.7. The requirements of the CLIENT concerning the use of an issued certificate or the name of FCI LTD. for advertising purposes shall remain in force after the termination/revocation of product certification or factory production control and the suspension of the contract.
10. OTHER CONDITIONS
10.1. All statements concerning non-performance or termination of a contract shall be made in writing.
10.2. Communication between the parties is in Bulgarian, unless otherwise agreed in the specific contract.
10.3. In the event of technical and/or regulatory changes in the certification requirements leading to the need for changes in this contract, FCI LTD shall propose to the client an annex to amend the contract and/or the annexes attached hereto. In the event that the client refuses to enter into the proposed annex with FCI LTD, FCI LTD shall be entitled to unilaterally terminate the contract.
10.4. All issues arising in connection with the performance of the contract, which are not regulated by the latter, shall be resolved on the basis of mutual written agreements or in accordance with the legislation in force in the Republic of Bulgaria.
10.5. In the event of a proven failure or default by FCI LTD due to organisational and/or personnel errors of FCI LTD, the liability of FCI LTD shall be limited to two times the amount of the contract with the client.
10.7. All communications, notices and applications between the parties hereto shall be in writing in Bulgarian for validity. Any correspondence between the parties will be deemed valid if sent to the parties' registered office addresses as set out at the beginning of this contract, in the specific contract or in the Commercial Register of the Republic of Bulgaria or the relevant country in which the client is registered.
10.8. In the event of a change of address and failure to record the change in the Commercial Register of the Republic of Bulgaria or in the relevant country in which the client is registered, the party to whom this applies shall immediately notify the other party. In the event of failure to comply with this obligation, any correspondence or communication between the parties shall be deemed to have been validly served and made at the registered office address specified in the contract.
BOYAN NIKOLOV
MANAGER OF FCI LTD
13.12.2024 г.
