Gerneral Terms and Conditions
for Management Consultants
June 2015
Professional Association of Management Consultancy, Accounting and Information Technology
Fachverband Unternehmensberatung,
Buchhaltung und Informationstechnologie
Wiedner Hauptstraße 63
A-1045 Vienna
T: +43-(0)590900-3540
F: +43-(0)590900-3178
e-mail: ubit@wko.at http://www.ubit.at 2
1. General Terms and Conditions / Scope
1.1 All legal transactions between the Principal and the Agent (Management Consultant) shall be subject to these General Terms and Conditions exclusively. The version valid at the time the Contract is concluded shall be applicable.
1.2 These General Terms and Conditions shall also apply to any future contractual relationships even if these General Terms and Conditions are not expressly referred to in collateral contracts.
1.3 Any conflicting General Terms and Conditions on the part of the Principal shall be invalid unless they have been explicitly accepted in writing by the Agent (Management Consultant).
1.4 If any provision of these General Terms and Conditions is or becomes invalid, the other provisions and any contracts concluded pursuant to these provisions shall not be affected thereby. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a provision which best corresponds to the intention and economic purpose of the invalid provision.
2. Scope of Consulting Assignments / Representation
2.1 The scope of each particular consulting assignment shall be individually agreed by contract.
2.2 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be entitled to subcontract, in whole or in
part, the services for which the Agent is responsible to third parties. Payment of said third
parties shall be effected exclusively by the Agent (Management Consultant). No contractual relationship of any kind shall exist between the Principal and said third party.
2.3 During the validity of this Contract and for a period of three years after termination
thereof, the Principal shall agree not to enter into any kind of business transactions with
persons or organisations the Agent (Management Consultant) employs to perform the
Agent’s contractual duties. In particular, the Principal shall not employ said persons or
organisations to render consulting services the same or similar to those offered by the
Agent (Management Consultant).
3. Principal’s Obligation to Provide Information / Declaration of Completeness
3.1 The Principal shall ensure that during the performance of the consulting
assignment, organisational conditions in the Principal’s place of business allow the
consulting process to proceed in a timely and undisturbed manner.
3.2 The Principal shall also inform the Agent (Management Consultant) in detail about
previously conducted and/or currently active consulting projects, including those in other
areas of competency.
3.3 The Principal shall, in a timely manner and without special request on the part of
the Agent, provide the Agent (Management Consultant) with all documents necessary to
fulfil and perform the consulting assignment and shall inform the Agent of all activities and
conditions pertinent to the performance of the consulting assignment. This includes all
documents, activities and conditions that become known or available during the performance of the consulting assignment.
3.4 The Principal shall ensure that all employees as well as any employee
representation (works council) provided by law, if established, are informed of the Agent’s
consulting activities prior to the commencement of the assignment.
4. Maintenance of Independence
4.1 The contracting parties shall be committed to mutual loyalty.
4.2 The contracting parties shall be obligated to take all necessary measures to ensure
that the independence of all persons working for the Agent (Management Consultant)
and/or of any third parties employed by the Agent is not jeopardized. This applies
particularly to any employment offers made by the Principal or the acceptance of
assignments on their own account.
5. Reporting / Obligation to Report
5.1 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be obligated to report to the Principal on
the progress of services performed by persons working for the Agent and/or any third
parties employed by the Agent.
5.2 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall deliver the final report in a timely
manner, i.e. depending on the type of assignment, two to four weeks after completion of
the assignment.
5.3 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall not be bound by directives while
performing the agreed service and shall be free to act at the Agent’s discretion and under
the Agent’s own responsibility. The Agent shall not be required to work in a particular
place or to keep particular working hours.
6. Protection of Intellectual Property
6.1 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall retain all copyrights to any work done by
the Agent and/or by persons working for the Agent and/or by third parties employed by
the Agent (including but not limited to tenders, reports, analyses, expert opinions,
organization charts, programmes, performance descriptions, drafts, calculations, drawings,
data media, etc.). During the contract period and after termination thereof, the Principal
may use these materials exclusively for the purposes described under the Contract.
Therefore, the Principal shall not be entitled to copy or distribute these materials without
the explicit consent of the Agent (Management Consultant).
6.2 Any violation of this provision by the Principal shall entitle the Agent (Management
Consultant) to prematurely terminate the Contract and to enforce other legal claims, in
particular for restraint and/or damages.
7. Warranties
7.1 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be entitled and obligated, regardless of
fault, to correct any errors and/or inaccuracies in the Agent’s work which have become
known subsequently. The Agent shall immediately inform the Principal thereof.
7.2 This right of the Principal expires six months after completion of the respective
Service.
8. Liability / Damages
8.1 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be liable to the Principal for damages -
with the exception of personal injury – only to the extent that these are the result of
serious fault (intention or gross negligence). Correspondingly, this also applies to damages
resulting from third parties employed by the Agent.
8.2 Any claim for damages on the part of the Principal may only be enforced by law
within six months after those entitled to assert a claim have gained knowledge of the
damage and the liable party, but not later than three years after the incident upon which
the claim is based.
8.3 The Principal shall furnish evidence of the Agent’s fault.
8.4 If the Agent (Management Consultant) performs the required services with the help
of third parties, any warranty claims and claims for damages which arise against the third
party shall be passed on to the Principal. In this case, the Principal shall primarily refer to
the third party.
9. Confidentiality / Data Protection
9.1 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be obligated to maintain complete
confidentiality concerning all business matters made known to the Agent in the course of
services performed, especially trade and company secrets and any other information
concerning type and/or scope of business and/or practical activities of the Principal.
9.2 Furthermore, the Agent (Management Consultant) shall be obligated to maintain
complete confidentiality towards third parties concerning the content of the work
completed, as well as any information and conditions that contributed to the completion
of the work, particularly concerning data on the Principal’s clients.
9.3 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall not be obligated to maintain
confidentiality towards any person working for the Agent or representatives of the Agent.
The Agent is required to obligate such persons to maintain complete confidentiality and
shall be liable for any violation of confidentiality on their part in the same way as if the
Agent had breached confidentiality.
9.4 The obligation to maintain confidentiality shall persist indefinitely even after
termination of this Contract - with the exception of any duty to give evidence.
9.5 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be entitled to use any personal data
entrusted to the Agent for the purposes of the services performed. The Agent
(Management Consultant) shall guarantee the Principal that all necessary measures will be
taken, especially those regarding data protection laws, e.g. that declarations of consent
are obtained from the persons involved.
10. Remuneration
10.1 After completion of the services agreed upon, the Agent (Management Consultant)
shall receive remuneration agreed upon in advance between the Agent (Management
Consultant) and the Principal. The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be entitled to
render intermediate accounts and to demand payment on account as required by the 5
progress of the work. Remuneration shall be due and payable immediately after Rendering
accounts by the Agent.
10.2 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall render accounts which entitle to deduct
input tax and contain all elements required by law.
10.3 Any cash expenditures, expenses, travel expenses, etc. shall be reimbursed to the
Agent (Management Consultant) by the Principal separately, upon submission of the
appropriate receipts.
10.4 In the event that the work agreed upon is not completed due to reasons on the part
of the Principal, or due to a premature termination of contract by the Agent (Management
Consultant) for cause, the Agent (Management Consultant) shall be entitled to claim
payment in full of the remuneration agreed upon in advance, less expenses not incurred. In
the event that an hourly fee had been agreed upon, the Principal shall pay for the number
of hours expected to be required for the entire contracted assignment, less expenses not
incurred. Expenses not incurred shall be calculated as a lump sum consisting of 30% of the
fee required for those services that the Agent did not perform by the date of termination
of the agreement.
10.5 In the event that intermediate invoices are not paid, the Agent (Management
Consultant) shall be released from the Agent’s commitment to provide further Services.
This shall not apply to any further claims resulting from default of payment.
11. Electronic Invoicing
11.1 The Agent (Management Consultant) shall be entitled to transmit invoices
electronically. The Principal agrees explicitly to accept invoices transmitted electronically
by the Agent (Management Consultant).
12. Duration of the Agreement
12.1 This Contract terminates with the completion of the project.
12.2 Apart from this, this Contract may be terminated for good cause by either party at
any time without notice. Grounds for premature termination include the following:
- one party breaches major provisions of the Contract
- one party is in delay with the payments after the beginning of insolvency proceedings
- legitimate concerns exist regarding the Principal's credit standing, even though insolvency proceedings have not been opened, the Principal fails to make an advance payment or to furnish suitable security at the Agent's (Management Consultant’s) request and the Agent (Management Consultant) didn’t know about the Principal’s bad financial situation when the contract was concluded.
13. Final Provisions
13.1 The contracting parties declare that all information contained herein is accurate
and made in good conscience. They shall be mutually obligated to immediately inform the
other party of any changes.
13.2 Modifications of and amendments to this Contract or these General Terms and
Conditions shall be made in writing. This shall also apply to a waiver of this requirement in
written form. 13.3 This Contract is governed by the substantive law of the Republic of Austria
excluding the conflict-of-law rules of international private law. Place of fulfilment is the
registered business establishment of the Agent (Management Consultant). Jurisdiction in
all disputes is the court in the place where the Agent (Management Consultant) is based.