Terms and Conditions

1. General
1.1 Unless otherwise specifically and expressly agreed in writing by Quasatek Standard Technical Services Co., Ltd (hereinafter called "Quasatek"), all services provided by Quasatek Standard Technical Services Co., Ltd are governed by the following general conditions of service, which prevail any purchase terms and conditions.
1.2 Services carried out by Quasatek, on behalf of an entity or individual from whom the instructions to act have originated (hereinafter called the "Principal") will be carried out by using techniques and processes that permit an independent, impartial and objective approach. The end result of the Service will consist in a certificate or document (hereinafter called the "Report") communicating the collection of information Quasatek has been requested to supply and will be delivered as a fax, a written document or an online report.
1.3 No other party than the Principal shall be entitled to give instructions to Quasatek, particularly on the scope of inspection or delivery of Report, unless so authorised by the Principal.
2. Provision of services
2.1 Quasatek in the capacity of an independent third party, supplies information in the form of ascertainment or recommendations for the special purpose of contributing to the prevention of the risks to which the beneficiaries of its services are exposed, and of helping them assure the quality of their products. Quasatek's services (hereinafter called the "Services") consist of work performed by Quasatek, including but not limited to :
• audit of factories ;
• pre-production inspections and quality control of the products ;
• pre-shipment inspections and quality control ;
• container loading inspections ;
• during production inspections.
3. Quasatek's obligations and undertakings
3.1 Quasatek expressly reserves the right to act at its own discretion in accepting or declining a request for service, and cannot be compelled to accept or be held liable for declining a request for services or for products :
• Falling out of its scope of activity or specialisation ;
• Presenting geographical accessibility problems, such as services to be rendered or products to be found in restricted or highly remote areas ;
• Requiring Quasatek to obtain special permissions to operate such as governmental permissions.
3.2 Quasatek undertakes to supply the Services it has accepted to carry out in a professional and timely manner, in accordance with proper professional practice and in compliance with :
• The Principal's special instructions when ordering the Service and as confirmed by Quasatek – the terms of reference should be duly signed by the Principal and Quasatek -, and in the absence of such instructions:
• Any relevant professional standard, trade custom, usage or practice ;
• Such methods as Quasatek shall consider appropriate on technical, operational and/or financial grounds.
3.3 Quasatek shall exercise due care and skill in the selection and assignment of its personnel.
4. Principal's obligations and undertakings
4.1 To take all reasonable steps to assure Quasatek has access to the site and materials on which Service will be based ;
4.2 To provide Quasatek with all information and samples, as well as the documents necessary to complete requested Service, in a timely manner (and in any event not later than 48 hours prior to the desired intervention), except for generally available documents such as codes and standards, either directly or through suppliers or agents of the Principal ;
4.3 To insure that adequate instructions and notice are given to Quasatek in due time to facilitate proper performance for the Service requested ;
4.4 To advise Quasatek of the date on which the Services are to commence, or to be resumed, and also of essential dates affecting the item(s) for which Services are being rendered ;
4.5 Generally to render all reasonable assistance to Quasatek in providing necessary instructions, information, documents, safety and security information in connection with the working conditions, required equipment and access (as the case may be).
4.6 Documents reflecting engagements between the Principal and third parties or third parties' documents - if received by Quasatek - are considered to be for information only and do not extend or restrict the scope of the services or obligations accepted by Quasatek.
5. Invoicing, fees and payment
5.1 Payment
Payment is expected online upon booking prior to the performance of the Service. Should payment occur after the performance of the Service (or more than 24 hours after booking for Testing), an extra 5% charge will be added to the order pricing.
All Inspections, Audits and Testing are billed together in one monthly invoice, issued at the month-end.
Quasatek offers 1 payment solutions
• Offline payment : Invoices can be settled offline by transfer (T/T) for an extra +5% handling fee. Monthly invoices are payable immediately upon receipt, each party bearing their own bank charges (including intermediary bank charges if client's bank doesn't process the transfer themselves). Late payment will incur an interest charge at 1.5% per month, or fraction thereof.
5.2 Cancellation charges : we accept cancellation until 4 pm (China Time) the day before the projected Inspection date. After this limit, the Services booked will be charged in full.
Quasatek advises its clients to then re-charge this cost to their factory when the factory is proved to be mistaken.
In the case of an Order paid online and cancelled, Quasatek will credit the buyer's Credit Card account with Paypal Refund solution.
For Laboratory Testing (LT) orders, cancellation is not possible once the Testing has been launched by the Laboratory.
5.3 In the event that Quasatek is being prevented from performing or completing in full requested Services, for any reason beyond its control, such as but not limited to, wrong information given by Client or Factory (e.g. goods not ready for Inspection despite information given by Factory,...), the Principal agrees to :
• 5.3.1 Reimburse any expenditure, and out of pocket expenses made or incurred in relation to this Service ;
• 5.3.2 Pay proportion of fees due for Services actually rendered and to release Quasatek from all responsibility for partial or non-performance of the Services.
5.4 In the event when the Inspection must be cancelled on the projected Inspection day, because of wrong information given by Client or Factory (e.g. goods not ready for Inspection despite information given by Factory,...), the man-day will be considered spent, and Quasatek will charge full fee to Client as a 'missed Inspection' fee. Quasatek advises its clients to then re-charge this cost to their factory when the factory is proved to be mistaken.
5.5 Principal provided inspection sample(s) : If an inspection sample is provided by the Principal and shipped to an Quasatek office, and then must be re-forwarded by Quasatek to the Principal's factory, and the shipping charge exceeds $10 USD, then the shipping fee will be automatically added to the final invoice amount.
5.6 For Laboratory Testing (LT) orders:
5.6.1. Should the quotation given online upon Order booking vary once the Product Samples are received and checked by Quasatek, it is agreed that :
- if the Test price increase is less than 25% or US$ 100, Quasatek will inform the Client and launch the Test immediately for quicker processing
- if the Test price increase is more than 25% and US$100, Quasatek will seek Client's confirmation before launching the Test
5.6.2. The minimum charge for any Lab Test order is US$88 for standard delivery and US$108 for express.
6. Liability and indemnification
6.1 Limitation of liability
6.1.1 Quasatek is neither an insurer nor a guarantor and disclaims such capacity. Clients seeking a guarantee against loss or damage should obtain appropriate insurance.
6.1.2 Subject to the Principal's instructions as accepted by Quasatek (as specified in the terms of reference), Quasatek will issue the Report relating to the facts as recorded by it within the limits of the instructions received and on the basis of the documents and information provided by the Principal (refer to #4 above), but Quasatek is under no obligation to report upon any facts or circumstances which are outside the specific scope of its assignment.
6.1.3 Quasatek advice is given only in relation to documents and information provided by the Principal, and Quasatek cannot be held liable if it has received incomplete or erroneous information.
6.1.4 In the event of false information being given to Quasatek by a third party, Quasatek accepts no liability.
6.1.5 Quasatek undertakes to use its best efforts and to exercise due care and skill in the performance of its Services, and accepts liability only in case of negligence proven by the Principal.
6.2 Indemnification
6.2.1 In the event of Quasatek being held liable in respect to any claim of loss, damage or expense of whatsoever nature and however arising, its liability to the Principal shall in no circumstances exceed five times the total aggregate sum of fees paid for the specific single service for which a claim is made if no approved reference sample was provided by the Principal, and ten times if an approved reference sample was provided and available for the inspector at the factory on the day of inspection, or an approved Quasatek office two days prior to the scheduled inspection date subject to the inspection having been performed to an AQL minimum general inspection level II per product reference. See our AQL chart for details.
6.2.2 In addition, in case of the Service of pre-shipment inspections :
• Where less than 100% of the production is complete, our responsability will only extend to those items completed at the time of inspection ;
• The Report does not evidence shipment.
6.2.3 The Principal shall guarantee and indemnify Quasatek and its servants, agents or subcontractors against all claims made by third parties for loss, damage or expense of whatsoever nature arising, relating to the performance or non-performance of any service, to the extent that the total sum of such claims exceed the limitation of liability mentioned in Article 6.2.1.
7. Termination of services
Quasatek shall be entitled to automatically either terminate and/or suspend provision of services in the event that :
7.1 The Principal commits any material breach of its obligations under these terms and conditions and/or the terms of reference and (if such breach shall be capable of remedy) fails to make good such breach within ten (10) days of receipt of notice served by the Non-Defaulting Party (Quasatek) requiring it so to do. Material breaches include, without limitation any wilful and deliberate breach by the Principal of its obligations under clause 4 hereabove ;
7.2 The principal is insolvent or unable to pay its debts, in suspension of payments, or convenes a meeting of or compounds with its creditors or has a receiving order made against it or (other than for the purposes of bona fide amalgamation or reconstruction) has an order made or a resolution passed for its winding up or for the appointment of an administrator to manage its affairs, business and property or has a receiver or administrative receiver appointed over any of its assets or undertaking or if Quasatek takes or suffers any similar or analogous action in consequence of debt.
8. Miscellaneous
8.1 The Report will reflect findings of the Service at the time and place of Service. This Report does not discharge sellers and suppliers from their legal and/or commercial obligations towards the principle.
9. Applicable and Governing law, Jurisdiction and settlement of dispute
9.1 Unless otherwise provided, these terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Hong Kong Law.
9.2 All disputes or differences of any kind whatsoever between the parties in connection with or arising out of the services shall be submitted to the non exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong.
10. Language
These terms and conditions have been drafted in English. In case of discrepancy, the English version shall be controlling for all purposes.