General Terms and Conditions of Payment and Delivery

Issue date: March 2015

1 General Conditions

1.1 Place of Performance, Court of Jurisdiction and Applicable Law

Place of performance and court of jurisdiction for all services, deliveries and payments is the location of the contractor. The contract is subject to German law. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), dated 11.04.1980 is excluded.

1.2 Terms of Contract

Offers made by the contractor are subject to change. All incoming commissions are subject to the following terms and conditions unless otherwise agreed in writing. The client’s conditions of purchase shall not be acknowledged, even if these are not expressly objected. Oral subsidiary agreements require written confirmation by the contractor in order to be effective.

1.3 Pricing Terms

The prices are quoted in Euro ex works, excluding VAT and expenses for packaging. Should contract-related expenses change significantly following completion of contract, the contracting parties should agree on an adjustment.

1.4 Payment

If no special agreements exist, invoices should be paid upon receipt without any deductions. If payment does not occur within 14 days after receipt of the invoice interest of 8% above the current base interest rate of the European Central Bank shall be charged. The client’s right to retention or off-setting is excluded, unless counter-claims should be uncontested or determined without further legal recourse.

2 Terms of Performance and Delivery

2.1 Client’s Information

2.1.1 Heat Treatment

All work pieces that are provided for heat treatment should include an order or delivery note, which should feature the following information:

a ) Description of part, quantity of items, net weight and type of packaging.

b ) Material quality (standard description or steel type).

c ) The desired heat treatment, particularly

c.a ) For case-hardened steel either the required carburisation depth with surface hardness (e.g. a carburisation width of 0.8+0.2 mm, 58+4 HRC),or alternatively the required case hardness depth with the hardness limit and surface hardness (e.g. CHD 550 HV1 = 0.2 + 0.2 mm, surface hardness at least 700 HV 10),

c.b ) For heat-treated steels the required tensile strength. For determining the tensile strength, if not otherwise agreed, the hardness test of the surface – as per Brinell or Vickers – is determinative, where conversion of the tensile strength occurs in accordance with DIN EN ISO 18265.

c.c ) For tools and high speed steel, the desired hardness according to Rockwell or Vickers

c.d ) For nitrided steel, the desired nitriding hardness depth (NHD), the thickness of the compound layer thickness (CLT) and surface hardness.

c.e ) For induction hardening, the desired  hardening depth with  the hardness limit and surface hardness,

c.f ) For nitrocarburising treatment, either the treatment duration or the desired compound layer thickness.

d ) Information on the desired testing procedure, testing centre and test force (see DIN testing standards).

e ) Additional details or requirements necessary for successful treatment (see DIN ISO 15787, 17014, 17021, 17022 17023). In the case of requested partial hardening, drawings should be provided, from which it can be seen, which sections should be hardened and which sections should remain soft. If similar work pieces should be produced from different molten steel, this should be indicated. Likewise, special requirements regarding dimensional stability or surface conditions should be indicated on the delivery documents. The client should indicate if work pieces are welded or soldered, or if they have tubular parts.

2.1.2 Assembly

a ) Description of parts, quantity of items and type of packaging.

b ) Material quality (standard description or steel type).

c ) Parts lists, drawings and specifications.

2.2 Delivery Time

The delivery time commences as soon as the contractual parties have determined all services to be performed and the client has fulfilled all requirements. The delivery time is only an approximate period and may be extended appropriately – also within a delayed delivery in the case of unforeseeable hindrances, which the contractor could not prevent, despite adequate due care. With this in mind, unforeseeable hindrances include severe disruptions of operations through no fault of the operator, which were caused for example, by strikes, lock-out, accidents, transportation difficulties, lack of supplies, energy supply issues, as well as by disruptions of operations caused by the supplier. The contractor should provide evidence of this.

2.3 Transfer of Risk

Goods, provided for heat treatment and assembly are delivered to and collected from the contractor upon completion at the risk and expense of the client. If requested, the contractor can undertake the complete logistics for a fee.

2.3.1 Packaging

The packaging (provided by the customer) should be selected to safely allow for the separation of hard and soft materials and to prevent damage during transit. Gruppe HEAT does not accept any liability for mixing or damage as a result of unsuitable packaging.

2.4 Testing

Prior to leaving our company, the work pieces are spot checked. More extensive testing is available only upon special agreement. The outgoing inspection by the contractor does not release the client from their duty to perform an incoming inspection.

2.5 Product Safety

Our contribution to product safety is a quality management system certified according to ISO/TS 16949, which is geared to report errors and is subject to continuous improvement processes. In order to identify potential product risks, customer’s requirements are checked for plausibility and feasibility. Upon request, we would be more than happy to send further explanation of this subject. Parts that require documentation, parts with special characteristics and parts with documents requiring special archiving should be appropriately distinguished by the customers.

2.6 Guarantee

Goods for heat treatment and assembly shall be handled with the necessary care and produced using suitable means.

No guarantee is given for the success of the heat treatment, for example against warping and cracking, for surface hardening, sufficient hardness, full hardening, electroplating capabilities or similar, as a result of varying hardness of the material used, hidden faults, unfavourable shaping or possible modifications in the preceding progress of work. Should the heat treatment or assembly be unsuccessful because

a ) the information requested in point 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 provided by the client was incomplete or incorrect,

b ) prior to completing the heat treatment or assembly, hidden faults in the semi-finished product and work pieces were not known or could not have been known to the contractor, or

c ) the properties of the material used, the shaping or condition of the delivered work pieces rendered successful heat treatment impossible, which was not known or could not have been known to the contractor,

The services provided must nevertheless be remunerated. Necessary follow-up treatment shall be charged separately under the named conditions. Any discrepancies should be communicated to the contractor in writing immediately, or at the latest 3 weeks following transfer of risk. Should hidden faults be established, these should be objected in writing immediately, or at the latest within 6 months following transfer of risk. For each complaint, the contractor should be given the opportunity to test and provide follow-up treatment. In the case of deficiency losses, for which the contractor is responsible, the contractor shall pay compensation for heat treatment not exceeding the amount paid for treatment. At the choice of the client, in such a case the contractor can either refund the amount or treat the relevant work pieces for free. The warranty period and restrictions are also valid for any follow-up treatment. If defective work pieces are processed or reprocessed without the written agreement of the contractor, the warranty is no longer valid. For customary, process-related scrappage that may occur during the heat treatment process of mass-produced items and small parts, damages may not be claimed. Should the contractor perform straightening at the request of the client, the contractor is not liable for potential fractures that may occur whilst doing so. If insulating material is used against carburising or nitriding, success cannot be guaranteed.

2.7 Liability

Regarding the heat treatment and/or assembly to be carried out, the client is responsible for production or pre-processing of the work pieces or provided materials in compliance with the rules of engineering, for the accuracy and completeness of the necessary information according to points 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 for later reference-adjusted specifications, heat treatment or production regulations and information for other order documentation. The contractor is not liable – provided no mutual written agreement was made – for damages as a result of heat treatment suggested and approved by the client.

When completing contractual quality and outgoing checks especially undertaken, the contractor is not simultaneously liable for resulting damages. The contractor shall assume that the client shall perform the necessary tests on his part for the fulfilment of the duty to maintain safety.
Indirect claims, particularly those to objects damages, that are not identical to the work piece shall not be acknowledged by the contractor.

More extensive claims than mentioned in the conditions are excluded, provided that they are not due to intent or gross negligence of legal representatives, directors or management of the contractor.

In the case of bulk goods in heat treatment, particularly for continuous flow systems, statistically a small amount of mixing of parts, foreign parts and/or deviations in hardness is always to be expected (in ppm => general state of the art, see e.g. DIN EN ISO 16426), thus presents no reason for objection; ppm agreements may be made.