Terms and Conditions
for translation services in Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS) – German, English, and French
As of: [Monday, September 14, 2026]
Table of Contents
1. Scope
1.1. These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter “GTC”) apply to all translation and related services provided by Noah Holzgethan, Austria, noah@holzquantum.at, hereinafter “Contractor.”
1.2. The services include, in particular, translation or rendering from Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS) into written German, English, or French, as well as, if expressly agreed, related services such as transcription, subtitling, proofreading, linguistic editing, or other language-related services.
1.3. These Terms and Conditions apply to all current and future business relationships, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing.
1.4. Any deviating or conflicting terms and conditions of the Client shall apply only if the Contractor has expressly accepted them in writing.
2. Conclusion of the Contract
2.1. A contract is formed upon the written or electronic acceptance of an offer, an order confirmation, or the contractor’s express confirmation of the order.
2.2. A mere inquiry or a non-binding cost estimate does not constitute the conclusion of a contract.
2.3. The scope, target language, format, delivery deadline, compensation, and any special requirements shall be agreed upon, if possible, before services begin.
2.4. Any changes to or additions to the scope of the contract require a new agreement. Any additional costs and delays resulting therefrom may be billed to the client.
3. Scope of Services
3.1. The Contractor shall provide the agreed-upon translation services to the best of its professional and linguistic ability, taking into account the information and documents provided.
3.2. The translation of ÖGS into written language is a linguistic process in which the content, meaning, context, and linguistic characteristics of the source text are rendered as accurately as possible.
3.3. Due to the different structures of sign languages and spoken/written languages, a word-for-word translation is not always possible. The guiding principle is to provide a translation that conveys the intended meaning, is linguistically appropriate, and serves the agreed-upon purpose.
3.4. Unless otherwise expressly agreed, the engagement does not include professional, legal, medical, technical, or other substantive advice, nor does it include verification of the factual accuracy of the source material.
3.5. The Contractor is entitled to ask questions if the source materials are unclear, contradictory, or incomplete. Any delays resulting therefrom shall not be attributed to the Contractor, provided that the Contractor is not responsible for them.
4. Obligations of the Client to Cooperate
4.1. The Client shall provide all information, files, videos, texts, technical terms, names, abbreviations, and other documents necessary for the proper execution of the order in a timely and complete manner.
4.2. The Client must ensure that it has the necessary rights to distribute the materials provided.
4.3. The Client shall inform the Contractor of any specific technical, terminological, formal, or content-related requirements before the Contractor begins providing services.
4.4. If the Client fails to provide the necessary cooperation or delays in providing the required documents, the agreed delivery period shall be extended accordingly.
4.5. If additional work is required due to late, incorrect, or incomplete information provided by the client, such work may be billed separately.
5. Raw Materials and Quality
5.1. The quality of the translation depends largely on the quality and clarity of the source material provided in ÖGS.
5.2. In particular, in cases of poor video quality, missing subtitles, incomplete recordings, obscured sign language, heavy video noise, missing contextual information, or other limitations, it is not possible to guarantee that the content will be fully and accurately captured.
5.3. The Contractor shall, whenever possible, bring any apparent difficulties in understanding to the attention of the Client.
5.4. Liability for errors attributable solely to unidentifiable, incomplete, or defective source materials is excluded—to the extent permitted by law.
6. Delivery Times
6.1. Agreed delivery dates will be met whenever possible.
6.2. Delivery periods generally do not begin until all documents required for processing have been received in full and any agreed-upon advance payments have been made.
6.3. Events beyond the Contractor’s control, including but not limited to technical malfunctions, failures of communication or IT systems, illness, force majeure, governmental actions, or similar unforeseeable events, may result in a reasonable extension of the delivery period.
6.4. For urgent orders or those with particularly short lead times, an express or rush surcharge may be agreed upon.
7. Compensation
7.1. Compensation is based on the individually agreed-upon quote or order confirmation.
7.2. Unless otherwise agreed, translation services may be billed based on, among other factors, the time required, the volume of the source material, the length of the recording, the word count of the target text, the scope of the project, or a flat rate.
7.3. Additional services not included in the original order will be billed separately.
7.4. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the prices listed are exclusive ofstatutory sales tax.
7.5. Separate surcharges may be agreed upon for orders with particularly short notice, work performed outside normal business hours, or orders placed on weekends or holidays.
8. Terms of Payment
8.1. Invoices are due for payment without deduction within [14] days of the invoice date, unless a different payment term has been agreed upon.
8.2. In the event of late payment, the Contractor is entitled to charge the legally permissible interest on late payments as well as any necessary and reasonable costs associated with legal action.
8.3. If there is reasonable doubt regarding the client’s ability to pay, the contractor may make further services contingent upon receipt of a reasonable advance payment or security deposit.
8.4. Until full payment has been made, all rights of use to the deliverables that have not yet been transferred shall remain with the Contractor, to the extent permitted by law.
8. Terms of Payment
8.1. Invoices are due for payment without deduction within [14] days of the invoice date, unless a different payment term has been agreed upon.
8.2. In the event of late payment, the Contractor is entitled to charge the legally permissible interest on late payments as well as any necessary and reasonable costs associated with legal action.
8.3. If there is reasonable doubt regarding the client’s ability to pay, the contractor may make further services contingent upon receipt of a reasonable advance payment or security deposit.
8.4. Until full payment has been made, all rights of use to the deliverables that have not yet been transferred shall remain with the Contractor, to the extent permitted by law.
9. Corrections and Complaints
9.1. The client must review the delivered translation for obvious errors upon receipt.
9.2. Complaints must be submitted in writing as soon as possible, and no later than
[7] days after receipt of the service, specifying the exact areas of concern.
9.3. Justified defects shall be corrected by the Contractor within a reasonable period of time.
9.4. Corrections are not permitted if they consist solely of a subsequent change to the desired style, intended use, or original specifications. Such changes may be billed as an additional service.
9.5. The Client’s statutory warranty rights remain unaffected, to the extent that they are mandatory.
10. Liability
10.1. The Contractor shall be liable for damages only to the extent provided by law.
10.2. To the extent permitted by law, the Contractor shall not be liable for damages resulting from incorrect, incomplete, or misleading source materials provided by the Client.
10.3. Liability for indirect damages, consequential damages, lost profits, or other financial losses is excluded to the extent permitted by law.
10.4. With respect to business entities, liability is limited, to the extent permitted by law, to cases of willful misconduct and gross negligence. Liability for personal injury and other mandatory statutory liability provisions remain unaffected.
10.5. The translation does not constitute professional advice. In particular, with regard to legal, medical, regulatory, technical, or financial content, the client must independently arrange for the necessary professional review by appropriately qualified entities.
11. Confidentiality
11.1. The Contractor agrees to treat as confidential all confidential information and documents that come to its knowledge in the course of the collaboration.
11.2. This obligation shall remain in effect even after the contractual relationship has ended.
11.3. The Contractor may engage auxiliary personnel or service providers necessary for the performance of the contract, provided that their involvement is necessary and they are appropriately bound by confidentiality obligations.
11.4. Statutory disclosure requirements remain unaffected.
12. Data Protection
12.1. Personal data is processed exclusively in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
12.2. Further information regarding the processing of personal data is provided in a separate privacy policy.
12.3. The Client agrees to transmit personal or particularly confidential information only if the necessary legal requirements are met.
12.4. If digital platforms, cloud services, video conferencing systems, or other technical service providers are used to provide services, it may be necessary for these providers to process data. The applicable privacy policies must be observed.
13. Copyright and Rights of Use
13.1. The translations and other work products produced by the Contractor may be protected by copyright.
13.2. Upon full payment of the agreed-upon fee, the client shall, unless otherwise agreed, have the right to use the translation for the purpose specified in the order.
13.3. Any further processing, publication, reproduction, disclosure, or other use may be subject to a separate agreement or additional compensation, to the extent permitted by law.
13.4. The translation service does not affect any third-party rights to the source materials provided by the Client.
14. Use of Translations in Sensitive Areas
14.1. If a translation is intended for government agencies, courts, medical institutions, legal matters, scientific publications, or other particularly sensitive purposes, the client must expressly state this before placing the order.
14.1a. As a general rule, however, please consult state-certified interpreters.
14.1b. Lip-reading is not a language. Therefore, I cannot provide a translation.
14.2. Certifications, certified translations, court interpreting services, or other services subject to specific legal regulations are only required if this has been expressly agreed upon and the contractor is duly authorized to provide them.
14.3. A translation provided by the Contractor does not constitute a certification or legal confirmation of the accuracy of the source material's content.
15. Use of Third Parties
15.1. The Contractor is entitled to engage suitable, qualified third parties to perform individual parts of the contract, provided that this is reasonable for the Client.
15.2. When disclosing confidential information, the statutory data protection and confidentiality requirements must be observed.
15.3. The dual-review principle is absolutely essential for translations.
16. Withdrawal and Cancellation
16.1. As a general rule, an order that has already been placed may be canceled only by mutual agreement.
16.2. In the event of a cancellation, services already rendered, as well as costs already incurred and that can no longer be avoided, may be charged.
16.3. Separate cancellation terms may be agreed upon for individually reserved capacity, express orders, or orders placed on particularly short notice.
16.4. Mandatory statutory rights of consumers to rescind or cancel a contract remain unaffected.
17. Consumers
17.1. If the Client is a consumer as defined by law, all mandatory consumer protection provisions shall also apply.
17.2. In particular, statutory provisions regarding distance sales contracts, rights of withdrawal or cancellation, and warranties apply to the extent that they are applicable to the respective order.
17.3. If a service begins before the expiration of a statutory withdrawal period at the consumer’s express request, the information and disclosures required by law in this regard will be obtained separately.
18. Retention and Destruction of Documents
18.1. The Contractor may retain documents received and work products created for a reasonable period of time after the completion of the contract, provided that this is necessary for documentation, billing, rectification, or compliance with legal obligations.
18.2. Once the retention period has expired, documents may be deleted or destroyed.
18.3. The client must back up important source and final files permanently on its own.
19. Electronic Communication
19.1. Unless otherwise agreed, communication and the transmission of documents may take place electronically via email, a cloud service, an upload platform, or other digital communication channels.
19.2. The Client is aware that, despite appropriate security measures, electronic communication may involve technical risks.
19.3. Where possible, particularly sensitive or confidential data is transmitted via appropriate and agreed-upon transmission channels.
20. Final Provisions
20.1. Any amendments or additions to these General Terms and Conditions, as well as any individual agreements, must generally be made in writing, unless a more stringent form is required by law.
20.2. Should any provision of these General Terms and Conditions be or become invalid or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. To the extent permitted by law, the invalid provision shall be replaced by a valid provision that most closely approximates the economic purpose of the original provision.
20.3. The laws of the Republic of Austria shall apply, unless otherwise required by mandatory statutory provisions.
20.4. With respect to consumers, the statutory provisions governing the venue of litigation apply. An agreement on the venue of litigation with consumers shall be entered into only to the extent permitted by law.
20.5. For contracts with businesses, the place of jurisdiction shall be, to the extent permitted by law, the court with subject-matter jurisdiction at the Contractor’s place of business.