TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS
All work is undertaken by the laboratoryand its agents (hereinafter referred to as the Company) under the following terms and conditions. This applies to laboratory test work, surveys, sampling, site investigations, consultations, comments, interpretations, opinions, and any other type of work conducted whether in terms of a specified contract or not.
QUOTATIONS
Quotations that may be submitted by the Company to customers are based entirely on information supplied to the Company by the customer and will not under any circumstances be binding if such information supplied is found to be incorrect or incomplete.
INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions and / or orders for any sampling, testing, analysis, survey, inspection, or other work to be undertaken by the Company must be clearly and precisely set out in writing by the customer at the time of submitting such instruction and / or order. The Company will not be held responsible if the Company’s reasonable interpretation of a customers’ instruction proves to be incorrect. All samples / specimens submitted by the customer for test work of any nature must be clearly marked by the customer and be identifiable.
SAMPLES / SPECIMENS DELIVERED (SUBMITTED) / RECEIVED
In the case of samples / specimens submitted by the customer to the Company, all results and / or opinions expressed are representative only of the samples / specimens as received by the Company. Unless instructions and arrangements are received in writing to the contrary prior to testing, the Company will discard samples / specimens tested to destruction immediately after reporting and will retain all non-destructed samples / specimens after reporting, for a period of no longer than 1 month. When the customer requires the Company to dispatch any samples / specimens to the customer or a third party, all costs for dispatching such samples / specimens, including any associated costs, will be for the account of the customer.
LIABILITY
All work undertaken by the Company is subject to the express condition that total liability of the Company, its officers, servants, agents or subcontractors for loss or damage of any kind arising out of or caused by its work, or by the manner in which work is carried out, whether or not such loss or damage is caused by negligence on the part of the Company, shall not in any circumstances exceed the amount charged by the Company for the work undertaken.
The Company will manage and protect the confidentiality of all customer information obtained or created during the performance of laboratory activities.
The Company will not place customer information in the public domain or give customer information to third parties unless: – required to by Law or the Company is authorised by contractual arrangements, or the customer has already made the information publicly available, the customer and the Company have agreed, in writing, and the customer has given the Company written consent to release customer information to the public domain or third party.
The Company will notify the customer in advance, in writing, of information that it intends to place in the public domain or give to third parties. All other customer information is considered confidential and will be managed and protected as confidential.
The Company will not notify the customer or any third party of the customer’s confidential information it intends to release when the Company is prohibited to notify by law.
The Company will notify the customer in advance, in writing, of information that it intends to share with third parties authorised by contractual agreement.
The Company will keep information about the customer obtained from third parties confidential between the customer and the Company. The Company will keep the identity of the third party confidential to the Company and will not be shared with the customer, unless the third party agrees in writing.
PROCEDURES AND APPARENT ERRORS
In the absence of any specific agreement on a procedure to be used (in case where several procedures are available or applicable), the Company will at its sole discretion determine the procedure to be used. The Company will take the necessary precautions and actions to achieve acceptable precision and accuracy on work conducted within the limits imposed by the procedures used. Should the customer become aware of any inaccuracy in any results reported by the Company or opinions expressed by the Company, the customer shall immediately advise the Company accordingly, and allow the Company a reasonable opportunity to check such results or opinions, and / or to amend them if necessary.
All Test reports, whether handwritten or typed, may not be reproduced, except in full, without the written permission from the Company. Whilst every care is taken to ensure the correctness of all test reports, neither the Company nor its employees shall be liable in anyway whatsoever for any error made in the execution or reporting of tests or any erroneous conclusions drawn there from or any consequence thereof.
LAW OF SOUTH AFRICA
All contracts with the Company shall be governed by and construed according to, and all claims against the Company shall be determined according to the law of the Republic of South Africa by the appropriate Court of the Republic of South Africa, to the exclusion of the jurisdiction of the Courts of any other country.