Terms and Conditions
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS – 2022
F4M represents F4M with an address related to the site of repairs. The Client is the company that orders the services from F4M.
All communication is between F4M and the Client, irrespective of tank ownership. English is the corporate language of F4M. Documents important for quality and safety must be delivered in English or Dutch. When a document can be clearly interpreted by F4M in its technical context, the document can be supplied in any European language. Daily verbal communication is accepted on most European languages.
For repairs related to Clients outside the EU, import-, export-, custom- or tax related fees must be communicated by the Client to F4M upon ordering the repairs and must be paid by the Client before the delivery of repaired goods. If such unexpected fees become due for payment by F4M after delivery of repaired goods and at same time become in conflict with the ordered scope and cost of repairs, the Client must pay F4M the fees without delay on reception of additional invoice.
For repairs related to Clients outside the EU, a letter of credit can be requested by F4M before starting repairs. Payment of repairs before delivery of goods can be requested in certain cases.
Repaired goods are delivered ex works from the F4M workshop carrying out the repairs. Unless otherwise mentioned in quotations, the Client pays for transports and cranes, before and after repairs.
Functional guarantee will be given for 12 months on repairs and interventions clearly not related to insufficient original manufacturing quality, design weaknesses, hidden physical tank imperfections or incorrect/inadequate tank information received before starting repairs. If a tank needs investigation after delivery and within the 12 months period, the Client should return the tank to F4M on his expense. If repairs have been manipulated by any 3rd party during this period, the guarantee is not valid. In case the Client asks for an additional investigation, F4M will only work with her own trusted inspection bodies.
Repairs at F4M are made traceable. Should 3rd party manipulation be detected of a system originally repaired by F4M, no guarantee will be valid on behalf of the original F4M repairs.
Upon request from F4M and for the security and quality of repairs, the Client must send necessary parts of his original pressure vessel documentation to F4M. If the Client is not the owner of the pressure vessel, he is responsible of collecting the information from the owner. For this reason, the owner of the tank should keep his proper documented pressure vessel file accessible. In case of an incomplete pressure vessel file at the Clients archive, F4M will help the Client improve or fully re-establish a pressure vessel file status by requesting authorisation from an inspection body, if necessary contacting the original tank manufacturer and by involving required additional destructive or not-destructive testing.
If destructive- or non-destructive testing during repairs should disqualify a tank from future operation, or if the repairs are for the same reason cancelled by the Client due to increased repair costs, the Client must pay for all work-in-progress and inspection body costs at F4M up to the point of cancelling.
F4M gives no repair guarantee for carried out services on tanks with problems originating from insufficient original manufacturing quality in its widest sense. F4M carries out strictly the adequate repairs for taking tanks safely back into operation. The Client is bound to carry-back any commercial or contractual responsibility to the manufacturer, insurance company, tank owner or any such related party. Unless agreed before order, F4M is not liable for additional repair time or claims in above context. F4M is neither responsible for additional repair time due to reasons explained under the above functional guarantee clause.
If F4M highlights before repairs of risks concerning not meeting a technical specification, or part of it, the Client must accept and pay the repairs if he prefers to carry through with it.
F4M invoices should be paid without deduction of transfer fees or other banking costs within 30 days from invoice date. In case of late payment interest 15% will be charged counted from date when invoice is over-due.
Reclamations must be done within 7 days after reception of goods or reception of invoice. If the Client takes the tank immediately in operation, he is accepting the repairs and waiving his right to reclamations.
Disputes should be treated by the Court of Liege. F4M claims additionally the single right of deciding at anytime, even if the Client is not residing in the country of repairs, the location where disputes should be treated.
Interpretation of General Terms and Conditions as per above, into any other language, is under responsibility of the Client.
