GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
for Technical Assistance and Warranty Service in the Repair, Installation and Commissioning of Equipment, Machinery and Technological Processes
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. Apronecs Ltd. (Апронекс ООД), UIC 817085220, with registered office at 87 Treti Mart Blvd., Gabrovo, Bulgaria (hereinafter "the Contractor"), designs, manufactures and supplies industrial process equipment, control systems and power electronics, as well as the supporting frames, steel structures and mechanical assemblies forming part of them. The Contractor provides technical assistance and warranty service for the equipment it has supplied.
2. The Client is the party requesting technical assistance or warranty service. In these Terms and Conditions, "equipment" or "installation" means the entire product supplied, including its electronic and electrical parts, control systems and software, as well as the supporting frames, steel structures, enclosures, and pneumatic, hydraulic and mechanical assemblies.
3. These Terms and Conditions form an integral part of every offer, contract and order between the parties. They apply unless expressly agreed otherwise in the individual contract. The Client's general terms and conditions shall not apply unless accepted by the Contractor in writing.
4. All activities shall be agreed in advance in writing. An exchange of electronic messages (e-mail) shall also be deemed to constitute written form.
II. PRICES AND PAYMENT FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
5. Consultation and technical assistance for which the Contractor does not bring measuring, recording or computing equipment is charged at EUR 40.00 (forty euros) per man-hour.
6. Technical assistance for which the Contractor brings measuring, recording or computing equipment is charged at EUR 50.00 (fifty euros) per man-hour. The minimum charge is EUR 400.00 (four hundred euros) per specialist for the first day.
7. Work on weekends and public holidays is charged at EUR 100.00 (one hundred euros) per man-hour.
8. Travel costs are charged at EUR 0.86 (eighty-six euro cents) per kilometre for the distance from Gabrovo to the work site and back.
9. Travel time of the team to the work site and back is charged at 50% of the man-hour rate for the respective type of assistance.
10. Where the work lasts more than one day, the Client shall pay for accommodation in a hotel of at least three-star category. If no hotel of this category is available in the town, the Client may either:
– pay the specialists the price difference, if they agree to stay in a lower-category hotel; or
– arrange and pay for their transport to the nearest town with a hotel of the required category.
11. The normal working day is 8 hours. Work exceeding 8 hours per day is charged at a 100% surcharge, whether required by the technological process or requested by the Client. The working day may not exceed 12 hours.
12. Retention of the specialists beyond the agreed time is charged at a 100% surcharge, unless otherwise agreed.
13. The agreed assistance shall be paid in advance by bank transfer to the Contractor's account, unless otherwise agreed. The Contractor may postpone performance until payment has been received.
14. All prices in these Terms and Conditions are exclusive of VAT.
III. ORGANISATION OF WORK
15. The Client shall agree with the Contractor in advance on the time required from the specialists, as well as the place and time at which they are to report.
16. The Client shall provide:
– free and safe access to the equipment and, where necessary, lifting equipment for heavy frames and structures;
– power supply with the required parameters, and adjacent installations shut down or made safe;
– a safety briefing;
– the presence of a competent member of its staff.
Any downtime of the team caused by failure to meet these obligations shall be charged as working time.
17. If, during the work, the Contractor determines that new conditions (repair, replacement or modification of equipment, etc.) are necessary to achieve a satisfactory result, the parties shall agree on new deadlines and prices. Any work paid for but not performed shall be deducted from the price under the new agreement.
18. If the Client unilaterally withdraws from agreed and paid assistance before the Contractor has started work, the Contractor shall refund 80% of the amount received. The Contractor may also retain costs already incurred (parts purchased, tickets and accommodation booked) where these exceed the said 20%.
IV. WARRANTY TERMS
19. Warranty period. The warranty period of each installation is specified in the offer, the contract or the warranty card. The period runs from the date of signing of the acceptance protocol or of commissioning or, if no protocol has been signed, from the date of delivery. Repair or replacement of a part during the warranty period does not extend the warranty period.
20. Condition of warranty. The warranty is valid only upon full and timely payment of the price of the equipment. As long as any amounts remain outstanding to the Contractor, the Contractor shall not be obliged to provide warranty service.
21. Place of warranty repair. All warranty repairs are carried out at the Contractor's service workshop in Gabrovo. The Client shall deliver the equipment or the defective assembly to the workshop and collect it at its own expense and risk, in suitable packaging, unless otherwise agreed. Where the frame, structure or installation cannot be dismantled and transported, the repair is carried out on site under the conditions of clause 22.
22. Repair on the Client's site. Where the repair cannot be carried out at the Contractor's workshop, or the Client requests that it be carried out on site, the Client shall bear all costs of travel and stay of the team in accordance with clauses 8, 9 and 10, including travel time. The warranty repair itself (labour and parts) is free of charge.
23. Claims. The Client shall submit a written claim immediately upon discovery of the defect. The claim must include:
– type and serial number of the equipment;
– description of the defect and the conditions under which it occurred;
– error messages, photographs and records, if any.
The Client shall stop using the defective equipment if continued operation could aggravate the damage. The Contractor shall not be liable for damage resulting from continued operation after the defect has occurred.
24. Diagnostics. Before dispatching a team, the Contractor may carry out remote diagnostics (by telephone, e-mail or remote access). The Client shall provide the necessary assistance for this.
25. Method of remedy. The Contractor decides whether the defect is remedied by repair, by replacement of a part or by replacement of the entire installation. Replaced parts become the property of the Contractor.
26. Exclusions from warranty. The warranty does not cover damage caused by:
– failure to follow the installation, operation and maintenance instructions;
– operation outside the permissible parameters (load, duty cycle, temperature, humidity, dust);
– power supply with unsuitable parameters, overvoltage, lightning and mains disturbances;
– cooling water that does not meet the Contractor's requirements (quality, temperature, pressure, flow rate), or freezing of the cooling system;
– mechanical impact, improper transport and storage, ingress of liquids and foreign bodies;
– loading of frames and structures beyond their design load, installation on an unsuitable or uneven base, improper anchoring and levelling;
– welding, drilling, cutting or other modification of frames and structures without the Contractor's written consent, as well as mounting additional equipment on them;
– corrosion caused by an aggressive environment, chemicals, condensation or lack of maintenance, as well as mechanical damage to paint and protective coatings;
– rust, darkening, discolouration and change in appearance of frames and structures due to weather conditions (rain, snow, humidity, frost, sunlight and UV radiation, temperature fluctuations);
– loosening of bolted joints due to failure to carry out the periodic maintenance prescribed by the Contractor;
– intervention, repair, modification or changes to settings and software by persons not authorised by the Contractor;
– use of parts, consumables or tools not supplied or approved by the Contractor;
– natural disasters, fire and other force majeure events.
27. Wear parts and consumables. The warranty does not cover normal wear and tear or consumables, such as inductors, sonotrodes, electrodes, tips, seals, hoses, filters, fuses, lamps, batteries, bearings, linear guides, belts, chains, wheels, rollers, gripping elements and other similar parts.
28. Loss of warranty. The warranty becomes void if:
– seals or factory nameplates have been broken or removed;
– the equipment has been opened, repaired or modified without the Contractor's written consent;
– the installation has been relocated, dismantled or reinstalled without the Contractor's participation or written consent.
29. Unjustified claims. If it is established that the defect is not covered by the warranty or that the equipment is in working order, the Client shall pay for:
– the diagnostics;
– the labour performed, transport, travel time and accommodation at the rates in Section II;
– the parts used.
The Contractor shall proceed with the repair of a non-warranty defect only after approval by the Client.
30. Data and software. The Client is solely responsible for backing up the programs, recipes and data in its systems. The Contractor shall not be liable for their loss during repair.
V. LIABILITY
31. The Contractor is liable only for direct and foreseeable damage caused through its fault. It shall not be liable for loss of profit, production downtime, scrap, penalties payable to third parties or other indirect damage.
32. The total liability of the Contractor under any contract shall not exceed the value of the respective service or installation, excluding VAT. The Contractor shall not be liable for building structures, foundations and bases on which the equipment is installed, unless they were constructed by the Contractor.
33. The limitations under clauses 31 and 32 do not apply in cases of intent or gross negligence.
VI. FINAL PROVISIONS
34. The Contractor may amend these Terms and Conditions. Amendments shall not affect contracts already concluded.
35. Matters not regulated herein shall be governed by Bulgarian law. Disputes shall be settled by mutual agreement or, failing agreement, referred to the competent court at the Contractor's registered office.
36. These Terms and Conditions are effective from 01.09.2024.