GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. CONTRACT CONCLUSION, CONTRACT CONTENT AND CANCELLATION

The contract is concluded when the order confirmation is issued by RELEVANT Managementberatung GmbH (“RELEVANT Management Consulting”). RELEVANT Management Consulting will provide the client with the services and if applicable the materials/documentation that are defined in the order confirmation. Insofar as scheduled dates are to be agreed upon, they are determined by agreement and confirmed in the order confirmation or in a separate e-mail as soon as the scheduled date has been agreed. Solely these GTC apply to the contract; any other conditions from the client will not become part of the contract, even if RELEVANT Management Consulting does not explicitly contradict these different conditions.
For services per section 3 a) and c) the right to ordinary termination is excluded; for services per section 3 b) cancellation is allowed under the conditions stated in section 3 b). This does not affect the mutual right to extraordinary termination for good cause. Terminations must be in writing.

2. COMPENSATION

The agreed fees are to be paid within 28 calendar days of the invoice date. The date of payment is the date the funds are received in RELEVANT Management Consulting’s account. All fees are to be understood as net amounts plus the applicable value added tax. If bank fees are incurred, they are borne by the client.
All (certification) workshops, training and seminars are invoiced after conclusion of the contract and are due in advance per section 2 paragraph 1.

3. CANCELLATION PERIODS

a) Access to online assessments (from Hogan Assessments among others)
Login credentials that are provided to clients or candidates are regarded as provided services. After RELEVANT Management Consulting sends the login credentials, cancellation is excluded, and the invoice will be sent. Login credentials to assessments are valid for 12 months. The period runs from the 1st of the month in which the accesses were made available.

b) Consulting assignments and candidate and program management
In the event of cancellation no later than 8 weeks before the scheduled date, the client will not incur any cancellation costs for the booked service. However, in this case the client undertakes to reimburse expenses already incurred upon being presented with appropriate evidence. This may include non-refundable travel and hotel costs as well as preparation time for documents, analyses or presentations.
Cancellations on shorter notice are invoiced as follows:

25% of the booked service for cancellations 4-8 weeks before the scheduled date;

50% of the booked service for cancellations 2-4 weeks before the scheduled date;

75% of the booked service for cancellations 1-2 weeks before the scheduled date;

100% of the booked service for cancellations less than one week before the scheduled date.

In each case this is plus expenses already incurred.
All cancellations must be in writing.
Invoicing occurs after the consulting has been performed.

C) (CERTIFICATION) WORKSHOPS, TRAININGS AND SEMINARS

These workshops, training and seminars are invoiced upon registration. No refund will be issued upon cancellation if a service has already been provided (e.g. a Hogan ID has already been used by the person participating). In cases where no service has been provided yet, participation can be cancelled until 3 months before the scheduled date for a cancellation fee of 400 Euros. If a person is prevented from attending a scheduled training, he/she has the one-time option, until six weeks before the scheduled date, of switching to another date within the next 6 months free of charge. If the rebooking occurs less than six weeks before the scheduled date, a rebooking fee of 400 Euros plus VAT will be charged, which will be used among other things for expenses in the context of the certifications. It can be rebooked to another date, which is scheduled max. six months after the original date. Another participant may participate free of charge so long as personalized preparation for the workshop has not yet occurred (e.g. sending / replying to the Hogan online questionnaire before the certification).

D) CLIENT EVENTS/ CONFERENCES

Cancellations (in writing by letter or e-mail) up to four weeks before the start of the event are free of charge. For cancellations four weeks or more before the start of the event, the full participation fee is due.
In the event of cancellations on the day of the event or non-appearance, we will charge the entire event fee. If a suitable replacement participant is named up to one week before the event, no additional costs will be incurred. In all cases, replacement is only possible for the entire event.

Deadline calculation and form of rebooking / cancellation
If the end of a scheduled cancellation period falls on a Saturday/Sunday or on a public holiday recognised by law at RELEVANT Managementberatung’s head office, the preceding working day shall take the place of this day. The day of the event shall not be counted in the calculation of the deadline.

4. CANCELLATION OF EVENTS

RELEVANT Management Consulting reserves the right to cancel/postpone the event due to a low number of participants, illness of the presenter/facilitator or other important reasons that are no fault of its own; participant fees will be refunded in the event of cancellation or when the offered alternative date is not possible for the customer. Additional costs (including travel costs) in appropriate amounts will only be reimbursed when a cancellation occurs less than four weeks before the scheduled date and appropriate supporting documents are presented.

5. SUBCONTRACTORS

RELEVANT Management Consulting reserves the right to commission a business partner to provide the services.

6. GUARANTEE

Insofar as the services to be provided by RELEVANT Management Consulting are of a service contractual nature (see section 3 b) and c)), RELEVANT Management Consulting will perform its obligations with due diligence.
Insofar as the services to be provided by RELEVANT Management Consulting are of a work and labor contractual nature (see section 3 a)), the client has the right, after immediate notification of a failed access attempt – at the discretion of RELEVANT Management Consulting – to demand rectification or replacement. Reduction or rescission cannot be demanded or declared until after unsuccessfully setting a period for rectification or replacement of at least two weeks, or after RELEVANT Management Consulting’s attempts at rectification or replacement have failed at least three times. In the event of rescission, the client must have linked the above-mentioned deadline with a threat of refusal.

7. LIABILITY

RELEVANT Management Consulting is liable in accordance with the statutory provisions in the case of intent and gross negligence, culpable injury to life, limb or health, and in cases of mandatory liability pursuant to the German Product Liability Act (“Produkthaftungsgesetzt”). However, RELEVANT Management Consulting’s liability in the case of a simple negligent breach of an essential contractual obligation is limited to typically occurring, foreseeable damages or losses. An essential contractual obligation is an obligation which the contractual partner routinely trusts will be fulfilled and that may be relied upon to be so when the contract is duly fulfilled. The parties agree that typically occurring, foreseeable damage usually does not exceed the amount of the net fee that was agreed with the client for the relevant order, and therefore a possible claim for damages is limited to the net fee for each order. Any additional liability (including liability for consequential harm caused by a defect or lost profit) is excluded.

8. TRAVEL COSTS, TRAVEL TIMES, EXPENSES AND HOTEL COSTS

Unless otherwise agreed in writing (e.g. for open workshop formats such as public certifications), the client is obligated to reimburse RELEVANT Management Consulting for travel costs as follows (the fastest possible connection applies):

Per kilometer travel to and from the site of the event / the consulting work at 0.50 Euro / km;

Flight costs (intercontinental: business class, otherwise: economy class) according to the actual cost;

Deutsche Bahn (German Rail): Costs for a 2nd class ticket (alternatively: 1st class when using the 1st class rail card 50%) according to the actual cost;

reasonable hotel costs according to the actual cost

reasonable travel expenses / meals according to the actual cost in accordance with voucher.

9. SCOPE OF RIGHTS OF USE

RELEVANT Management Consulting hereby grants the client a non-exclusive, time-unlimited, non-sublicensable right of use to the provided materials for the client’s internal business purposes. Otherwise, RELEVANT Management Consulting continues to hold all rights to intellectual property regarding the materials used, the documentation, and the methodology used. Likewise, all rights to work products that are based on or derived from RELEVANT Management Consulting’s methodology, as well as all rights associated with these work products or resulting from them later, remain the sole property of RELEVANT Management Consulting. This applies in particular but not exclusively to materials or consulting services that were generated by RELEVANT Management Consulting in the context of or in connection with its services for the client, and that may only be shared with persons outside the client’s organization with the prior written agreement of RELEVANT Management Consulting.

10. CONFIDENTIALITY

Both parties are obligated to treat all information as confidential regarding the other party or its business that became known to them in connection with performing the contract and was either identified as “confidential” or would be regarded as confidential in the common business context. The party receiving the confidential information must use the same degree of care as it would with its own confidential information of comparable significance, but at least the customary degree. The confidentiality obligation does not apply insofar as the disclosing party has released the receiving party from its confidentiality obligation in writing, the information was demonstrably known to the receiving party before it was disclosed, the information was publicly known or known to the receiving party through no fault of its own, the receiving party demonstrably worked out the information on its own, or one party is obligated to disclose the information for statutory reasons or due to a judicial decree. The obligation of confidentiality pursuant to this section 10 remains in force for a period of 5 years after the order has been completed.

11. ADVERTISING

RELEVANT Management Consulting may use the client’s name and logo (including brands) in advertising documents including press releases, presentations and customer references, worldwide, free of charge, and in all media. For advertising materials that contain statements or quotes from the client, RELEVANT Management Consulting will obtain the client’s agreement in advance, it being understood that the client may only refuse its agreement for an important reason.

12. APPLICABLE LAW AND JURISDICTION

The contract and its interpretation are subject to German law, excluding German private international law and the United Nations’ Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). All disputes arising from or in connection with this contract are subject to the sole jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of Düsseldorf, Germany.

13. MISCELLANEOUS

When fulfilling the contract and performing the task it has undertaken, unless specified by the nature of the order, RELEVANT Management Consulting is not subject to any instructions from the client regarding timing and the organization of the daily routine.
If any provision of these GTC should be or become invalid or unfeasible, the remaining provisions shall remain in force and the invalid or unfeasible provision shall be replaced by a valid provision that most closely reflects the aims of the parties at the time of signature. The same applies for an unintended loophole.

Version: February 2018