Special Terms and Condition
Registration and Payment for BEQUALM whole organism component
Cefas Technology Ltd (CTL) is a wholly owned company of Cefas, and will manage registration and payment administration of the whole organism component of the BEQUALM QA/QC programme using the on-line ordering and payment system available on the CTL website.
The Special Terms and Conditions for the Products and Services provided by CTL, through Cefas, under the whole organism component of the BEQUALM Programme, should be read in conjunction with the CTL Standard Website Conditions of Sale.
In the event of any inconsistency between these Special Terms and Conditions and the Standard Website Conditions of Sale, these Special Terms and Conditions shall take precedence. Words defined in the Standard Website Conditions of Sale shall have the same meaning as those contained in these Special Conditions of Sale.
In order to register for the BEQUALM whole organism component each participating laboratory (“Buyer”) will be asked to confirm their agreement to these terms and conditions as provided by CTL (“The Seller”)
Special Terms and Conditions
1. Definitions
“Dispatch Date” shall mean the working day the Test Materials are dispatched to the Buyer as part of the Intercalibration Exercise. This Dispatch Date will be specified in the order form, as well as in the programme on the BEQUALM website at http://www.bequalm.org.
"Buyer” shall mean the person or organisation and its representatives whose order is accepted by the Seller in accordance with these Conditions.
“Seller” shall mean Cefas Technology Ltd.
“Products” shall mean the BEQUALM whole organism component programme Test Materials supplied or distributed by the Seller together with any documentation supplied with the Test Material and Test Reports as part of an Intercalibration Exercise and any additional Test Reports or additional Test Materials requested by the Buyer.
“Test Materials” shall mean substances suitable for conducting Intercalibration Exercises supplied by distribution on request to the Buyer for assay and “Test Material” shall be likewise construed accordingly.
“Test Report” shall mean the report prepared by the Seller that describes the outcome of the Intercalibration Exercise.
“Statement of Performance” shall mean a certificate which includes a summary of results for each of the Test Assays and details the resulting flags where appropriate, for the purpose of providing proof of scheme participation.
“Test Assay” shall mean a procedure performed to determine a biological effect.
“Instructions” shall mean the documentation supplied by the Seller accompanying the Test Materials which includes details of the Assay to be performed and the date by which results must be returned to the Seller.
“Intercalibration Exercise” shall mean the distribution of one or more Test Materials, by the Seller as part of the BEQUALM QA/QC programme, for assay by the Buyer who will return their analysis results to the Seller by the date specified in the Instructions accompanying the Test Material. The Seller will prepare and distribute by mail a Test Report containing an assessment of the performance of the Buyer within 6 weeks of the date specified for the return of the results.
“Programme Year” shall mean the BEQUALM QA/QC programme year which runs from 1 September 2004 to 31 March 2005 only and thereafter from 1 April to 31 March.
“Working Day" shall mean a day other than a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a Saturday or Sunday.
2. Order and delivery of Products
On receipt of order and payment of the price for taking part in one or more Test Assays of the Intercalibration Exercise the Buyer shall be entitled to participate in the Intercalibration Exercise relating to that order, and the Seller shall use its best endeavours to dispatch Test Materials to the Buyer on the Dispatch Date. Where exceptions to this response time are anticipated the Buyer will be informed of the delay and given an estimated time of delivery.
2.1 No order for Products shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Seller unless the Buyer accepts these Conditions and the Seller has received fulll payment for all ordered Test Assays in the Intercalibration Exercise.
2.2 Each Test Assay requires a minimum number of Buyers to ensure that the Intercalibration Exercise is statistically valid. If a minimum number of Buyers is not reached, then the Seller reserves the right to cancel a Test Assay. Any Buyer who has already ordered a Test Assay, which is subsequently cancelled for this reason, shall be entitled to a full refund, but in no event shall the Buyer be reimbursed by the Seller for any amount greater than the Buyer has paid for a cancelled Test Assay.
3 Lost, Delayed and Damaged Test Materials
3.1 Subject to Conditions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 below, any Test Materials arriving at the premises of the Buyer in an unusable condition shall, if such unusable condition arises as a result of negligence of the Seller, the postal system or the courier, be promptly replaced, free of charge, by the Seller.
3.2 The Seller shall make all reasonable endeavours to clearly label Test Materials, but shall in no event be liable for any costs or damages which may arise as a result of the Test Materials being delayed in customs and excise, for whatever reason. The Seller shall not be liable whether such costs or damages are direct, indirect, consequential or incidental, including, without limitation, any payment that has been made to the Seller, or any costs incurred by the Buyer if the Buyer cannot return the results of their analysis by the deadline specified in the Instructions.
3.3 The Seller shall not be liable for the replacement of Test Materials if the Buyer has not informed the Seller within 14 calendar days of the Dispatch Date that the Test Material has not arrived.
3.4 The Seller shall not be liable for replacement of Test Materials if the Buyer has not informed the Seller that they are in an unusable condition within 3 calendar days of receipt. The Buyer shall be deemed to have accepted the Test Materials in usable condition after such time.
4. Payment
4.1 Ordering and method of payment must be carried out using the Seller’s online ordering system.
4.2 Payment may be made by credit and debit card (Visa/ Mastercard/ Switch/ Solo/ Maestro), BACS or bank transfer. Card information must only be sent using the online ordering system. For Buyers ordering outside the UK, at the time the order is placed, the transaction will be converted into the currency of the Seller by the credit card company of the Buyer.
4.3 In the case of online payment by credit and debit card the Buyer will be charged for all items on receipt of order.
4.4 An order receipt will be generated automatically from the on-line ordering system. This will state all charges in UK pounds sterling.
4.5 No refunds will be given to any Buyer that withdraws from any Intercalibration Exercise during the course of the Programme Year.
5. Other Costs
5.1 The Buyer shall be responsible for paying any local customs duties or excise duties where applicable.
5.2 The costs of the Test Material delivery by courier will be borne by the Buyer in accordance with the price list given on the BEQUALM website.
5.3 The Seller will bear the costs of delivery of training materials.
5.4 Test Reports will be sent by email. An additional charge will be made to Buyers requiring hard copies of Test Reports, in accordance with the price list on the BEQUALM Website.
5.5 The cost of posting Test Material to any other Buyer, or to the Seller, as may be required in conducting an Intercalibration Exercise, shall be borne by the Buyer.
6. Obligations of the Buyer
The Buyer shall:
6.1 conduct all Intercalibration Exercises ordered from the Seller for the Programme Year; and
6.2 submit any additional material that may be requested for any particular Test Assay at the start of the Programme Year within the deadline and to the format specified in the Instructions accompanying the Test Material; and
6.3 return the results of the Test Assay to the Seller within the deadline and to the format specified in the Instructions accompanying the Test Material; and
6.4 send forward Test Material to another Buyer or returning to the Seller within the deadline as required and specified in the Instructions accompanying the Test Material.
6.5 For the avoidance of doubt any failure by the Buyer to fulfill any of its obligations under this condition 6 shall release the Seller from its obligations under Conditions 7.4 and 7.5.
6.6 The Buyer shall indemnify any other Buyers from all direct losses, damages or expenses that can be proved by appropriate evidence to have been incurred as result of any breach of its obligations under Condition 6.4. For the avoidance of doubt the Buyer shall not be responsible to any other Buyer in respect of loss of profit, loss of revenue or for indirect or consequential loss or damages.
7. Obligations of the Seller
The Seller shall:
7.1 provide the Buyer with a new laboratory code each year to ensure anonymity; and
7.2 establish a yearly timetable for provision of the Products and dates for reports and publish the programme on the BEQUALM website in the month preceding the start of the Programme Year; and
7.3 provide Test Materials; and
7.4 prepare and distribute by email a Test Report containing an assessment of the performance of the Buyer within 6 weeks of the date specified for the return of the results; and
7.5 Provide a Statement of Performance.
7.6 Subject to Condition 6.5 The Buyer shall notify the Seller if the Test Report has not been received in the time period specified in Condition 7.4. Upon receipt of such notification the Seller shall send the Test Report by email within 10 Working Days of such notification.
7.7 In the event that the Seller is unable to fulfill its obligations within the periods specified under this Condition 7 it may elect to give the Buyer a credit to be used within eighteen months of the delayed Intercalibration Exercise, which shall be equivalent to the cost of a later Intercalibration Exercise.
