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Terms & Conditions

General Terms and Conditions Sustainability & Security TIC GmbH

Revision: 001 TIC Terms and Conditions, Rev. 01, 04.04.2025

Validity and scope of application

These General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply to all services provided by Sustainability & Security TIC GmbH (hereinafter referred to as SSA TIC) within Austria and to all recipients of SSA TIC services outside Austria. Services are

  • Conformity assessment activities (certification of organisations’ management systems and verification and validation activities) and
    Services of the SSA TIC in the area of education and training.
  • SSA TIC concludes contracts with customers only under these ‘General Terms and Conditions’ (GTC). Once agreed, the General Terms and Conditions shall also apply to all future contracts until revoked by SSA TIC.

Offers from SSA TIC are subject to change and are not binding. A mutually binding contract is only concluded upon receipt of the writen order confirmation from SSA TIC by the customer. When placing an order, the specified order volume must be documented in writing. Any amendments or additions to the contract must also be made in writing. This requirement applies especially to any necessary changes or exceedances of the agreed order volume that may arise during the proper execution of the order.
These General Terms and Conditions are an integral part of the contract between SSA TIC and the commissioning organisation.

Prices, taxes and duties (for all services)

SSA TIC services are charged according to the SSA TIC prices valid at the time the service is provided. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are to be understood in € (Euro) excluding VAT.
Changes to SSA TIC prices and changes to SSA TIC services will be announced in writing by SSA TIC to all customers with an active contract at least four weeks before they come into force/apply.
Taxes and duties shall be calculated on the basis of the legal situation existing at the time the service is provided. If taxes and/or duties are imposed retroactively, these shall be borne by the client.

Terms of payment (for all services)

Unless otherwise agreed, SSA TIC services are invoiced in stages upon completion or at the end of the month. The fee for the right to use a certificate, verification statement, or conformity mark is invoiced annually in advance.
Invoices are due within fourteen days of invoicing without deduction and free of charges. SSA TIC is also authorised to send invoices to the client in electronic form. The client expressly agrees to the sending of invoices in electronic form by SSA TIC.
SSA TIC may demand advance payments of an appropriate amount. In these cases, compliance with the payment deadlines is an absolute prerequisite for SSA TIC’s timely performance.
If justified doubts arise regarding the customer’s creditworthiness, SSA TIC is obligated to provide services only upon advance payment.
In the event of late payment, SSA TIC is entitled to charge interest on arrears at a rate of 9.2 percentage points p.a. above the base interest rate of the Austrian National Bank. Furthermore, collection costs amounting to a lump sum of € 40.00 and all additional costs of necessary extrajudicial collection or recovery measures for which the customer is responsible can be charged, insofar as these are in reasonable proportion to the claim being pursued. Furthermore, in the event of late payment, SSA TIC is entitled to temporarily suspend services still to be provided and to cancel existing contracts atier unsuccessful reminders and the seting of a grace period of at least fourteen days.

Confidentiality, privacy and data protection (for all services)

SSA TIC has commited all employees and any other contractually bound persons, commitees, boards or external bodies that provide services on behalf of SSA TIC to maintain confidentiality. SSA TIC is responsible for ensuring that all information that it receives or creates in the context of conformity assessment activities is treated confidentially, unless otherwise agreed with the client. This does not apply to information which the client themselves makes publicly available and/or which SSA TIC is obliged or contractually authorised to publish or disclose by law or on the basis of applicable standard requirements.
If SSA TIC is required by law or authorised by contract to disclose confidential information, the client or person concerned will be informed of the information disclosed, unless prohibited by law.
Information about the client obtained from sources other than the client themselves (e.g. complainants, authorities) is treated confidentially between the client and SSA TIC. The supplier (source) of this information will be treated confidentially by SSA TIC and will not be disclosed to the client without the consent of the source.
The client acknowledges that information from conformity assessment activities of the SSA TIC will be made available to the accreditation, authorisation or any designation body at its request and that it may participate in audits/inspections on site.
SSA TIC ensures, through its processes and any other necessary (technical) resources, that the aforementioned confidentiality obligations are met.
Furthermore, SSA TIC undertakes to comply with the applicable statutory data protection regulations in connection with the processing of personal data.
SSA TIC collects personal data as part of its services and stores it electronically. The data is processed only to the extent necessary for contract fulfillment, required documentation in compliance with normative and legal requirements, bookkeeping and accounting, and client/customer administration, including the provision of offers for additional SSA TIC services. SSA TIC retains personal data for as long as necessary to achieve the above-mentioned purposes.
The master data of the client (including authorised representative bodies, contact persons at the client) and the order history are stored until the end of the business relationship and beyond that until the expiry of the warranty, limitation and statutory retention periods. Documents relating to conformity assessment activities are generally stored for 12 years, unless normative or legal requirements demand longer storage.
In accordance with the applicable data protection laws, data subjects have the right to request information about the personal data processed about them at any time. They may also request its correction, deletion, restriction of processing, or data portability. In the cases specified by law, in particular due to statutory retention obligations to which SSA TIC is subject, or due to overriding interests of SSA TIC, the right to deletion of data may be restricted. In addition, data subjects may object to the processing of their personal data in the cases specified by law and may object to the future use of their personal data for the purpose of direct marketing at any time, free of charge and without giving reasons. Data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority.
Data subjects can contact office@ssa-tic.com; office@ssaglobe.com  to exercise their data subject rights and if they have any questions about data protection on the part of SSA TIC.

Impartiality, independence (for all services)

SSA TIC carries out all services offered impartially. SSA TIC’s decisions are not subject to any financial or economic pressure from third parties and are therefore made independently. In order to maintain impartiality, SSA TIC does not provide advice that is the subject of a commissioned certification with subsequent issue of a certificate or a commissioned verification/validation activity. Clients/customers must take all necessary measures to avoid any actions that could compromise the impartiality and independence of individuals providing services on behalf of SSA TIC. This applies in particular to offers for consulting activities or employment, as well as orders taken on own account.

Disclaimer (for all services)

SSA TIC is only liable to the client for financial losses caused by it within the scope of its service provision if these were demonstrably caused wilfully or through gross negligence. Liability for slight and/or grossly negligent behaviour is expressly excluded.
Any liability on the part of SSA TIC is limited to typically foreseeable damage to the customer and is limited in amount to the contractually agreed remuneration paid to SSA TIC for the underlying services on the due date. Under no circumstances shall SSA TIC be liable for loss of profit, consequential damages, indirect damages or purely financial losses of any kind.
Any claim for damages can only be asserted in court within six months of the claimant becoming aware of the damage, but at the latest within three years of the event giving rise to the claim, otherwise the claim is time-barred.
The client guarantees that the services of SSA TIC, insofar as legally permissible and unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing with SSA TIC, will be used exclusively for the purposes of the client and not for third parties. If SSA TIC’s services are nevertheless passed on to third parties or used for third parties, SSA TIC shall not be liable to the third party as a result.

Rights of contracting entities for conformity assessment activities

SSA TIC provides its services as efficiently and smoothly as possible during the client’s regular business operations on site, if necessary also during shift work or at any of the client’s business locations.
When fulfilling an order, SSA TIC is free to choose the persons carrying out the work, unless otherwise specified by national and/or international regulations (requirements of the accreditation body or legal requirements). SSA TIC undertakes to inform the client in advance of the persons intended to carry out a service. To this end, the names, roles and, if necessary, background information on each person will be made available. The client has the right to reject specific individuals, provided they give a reasonable explanation, such as concerns regarding impartiality. In such cases, SSA TIC will submit an alternative proposal as soon as possible. In the event that a person appointed by SSA TIC is unavailable immediately before or during the service (e.g. due to illness), another person will be appointed in consultation with the client, or a new appointment will be scheduled.

Obligations of contracting entities for conformity assessment activities

The client expressly agrees that SSA TIC will subject the client to a due diligence check before accepting the order. The client is required to provide SSA TIC with all documents, data, and other relevant information necessary for the due diligence review and the execution of the commissioned service—or that may be of importance—without the need for a specific request. Additionally, the client must grant SSA TIC access to relevant premises, facilities, and service locations. Furthermore, the client is obliged to allow observers from the accreditation body and/or SSA TIC, e.g. auditors in training, to participate in services on site.
It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that the responsible employees are present in the company and are available for discussions and for the practical provision of evidence.
Furthermore, the client ensures that the employees interviewed by SSA TIC provide open and truthful information about all internal company maters that are relevant to the conformity assessment activity.
Customers/clients acknowledge that SSA TIC reserves the right to carry out audits of management systems or reviews of assertions in the context of verification/validation at short notice or without prior notice in justified cases. Possible reasons or occasions for this are, for example

  • to investigate complaints
  • results from due diligence audits of existing customers of SSA TIC
  • changes to the management system or accounting
  • as a consequence of the suspension of a certificate
  • if new facts or information are discovered atier the date of issue that could materially affect the validation/verification statement;

SSA TIC also reserves the right to disclose to other interested parties the fact that the reliability of the original statement may be affected in light of the new facts or information.
In such cases, SSA TIC will exercise particular care in the selection of the persons commissioned with the audit or review, as customers or clients may have only limited or no possibility of rejecting commissioned persons. SSA TIC will inform customers or clients of the reasons for the audit or review and the specific scope of the audit or review.
Additional obligations for clients of the SSA TIC as verification and validation body:
Customers

  • are responsible for the declaration of environmental information and for the preparation of the greenhouse gas report or greenhouse gas plan,
  • must provide SSA TIC with opinions or reports of factual findings in their entirety,
  • provide SSA TIC with sufficient and appropriate evidence,
  • inform SSA TIC about possible uncertainties and/or restrictions,
  • must inform SSA TIC of any facts that could affect the validity of a submited report,
  • inform SSA TIC immediately of any significant changes in the accounting as a basis for SSA TIC to decide whether a verification/validation needs to be updated.

Identified misstatements in the Environmental Information Statement, Greenhouse Gas Report or Greenhouse Gas Plan shall be corrected within an agreed upon timeframe and submited to SSA TIC for review/approval.
Identified non-conformities must be rectified within the agreed timeframe through appropriate corrections and/or corrective actions. A clear root cause analysis must be provided and submited to SSA TIC for effectiveness evaluation.
Rights and obligations of customers with a valid management system certification:
Certified customers shall inform SSA TIC without delay of maters that may affect the ability of the management system to continue to fulfil the requirements of the standard used for certification. Such maters include, for example, changes to:

  • the legal, economic or organisational status or ownership
  • organisation and management (e.g. key personnel in management positions, decision-making or specialist personnel)
  • contact address and locations
  • the scope covered by the certified management system
  • significant changes to the management system and processes

SSA TIC will initiate appropriate measures on the basis of the reports.
SSA TIC customers with a valid management system certification may use the SSA TIC logo (‘SSA TIC mark’), for example in communication media such as the Internet, on brochures, advertising materials or other documents. Any use of the mark must be agreed with SSA TIC in advance. Rules of fair competition must be strictly adhered to so that the reputation of SSA TIC is not jeopardised. The right to use the mark is not transferable to third parties. The SSA TIC logo may not be changed graphically and may only be used in the context intended for it. It must be clearly recognisable for which management systems and for which areas of the organisation (entire organisation or organisational units) the certification applies. Under no circumstances may the SSA TIC mark be used on products, type plates, identification plates, product packaging or in any other way that could be interpreted as labelling for product conformity. Any information accompanying products may include references to certification if at least the following information is provided:

  • the designation (e.g. brand or name) of the certified customer
  • the type of management system (e.g. quality, environment) and the standard applied;
  • the certification body that issued the certificate
  • The exact wording from the certificate must be reproduced to indicate the scope of application.

The use of the SSA TIC mark on laboratory test reports, calibration certificates, inspection reports or certificates is prohibited.
In the event of suspension, withdrawal or termination of certification, the use of the SSA TIC mark and the certificate itself must be discontinued immediately. In the event of a change in the scope of the certification, customers are obliged to adapt all references to the certification immediately.
Additional provisions for customers in the area of verification/validation:
Clients or customers undertake not to use the environmental information statement, the expert opinion, the report, the SSA TIC mark or labelling in a misleading manner that could damage the reputation of the SSA TIC. The SSA TIC mark and any references may only be used in direct connection with the verified/validated claim and in particular must not be misleading with regard to product certification.
Clients or customers may only use the SSA TIC mark in connection with a verified/validated claim. In no way may the impression be created that statements have been validated or verified that are not subject to validation or verification. It is not permited to use the SSA TIC mark for environmental information that contains information that has not been validated or verified.
When referring to validated or verified environmental information, clients or customers should distinguish between ‘shortened’ references and those ‘in long form’. Whenever a shortened reference is used, clients should also refer to the long form (see also Annex B ÖNORM EN 14065:2022).

Conditions for granting, maintaining, suspending or withdrawing certification

SSA TIC certificates have an initial issue date, a validity date and an issue date. In addition, each SSA TIC certificate has a registration number, which is only issued once by the SSA TIC and is therefore clearly traceable.
The initial issue date remains unchanged for the entire service life, i.e. for the uninterrupted validity of an SSA TIC certificate, and documents the date of initial issue.
The validity date determines the validity of the certificate. For the duration of the respective validity, the client is obliged to commission the SSA TIC with annual surveillance services. Unless otherwise agreed or specified by the accreditation, authorisation or
or designation body, a validity period of three years applies to an SSA TIC certificate and a period of twelve months applies to the annual surveillance audits. With writen justification, surveillance audits can generally be postponed by a maximum of +/- three months (with the exception of the first surveillance audit and unless the applicable standards stipulate otherwise).
The date of issue documents the date of the last change to the certificate, e.g. the scope of a certificate was extended, the validity was prolonged.
Unless otherwise specified in the certification scheme, the scope generally applies to the entire organisation.
If a restriction to certain business or product areas, divisions, locations or subsidiaries is required, this is stated in the certificate.
Sub-certificates can be issued for an organisation with several independent scopes/management systems. The joint right to independent use is acquired by paying the respective usage fees per organisation for all scopes.
For a certificate to be renewed, the re-certification activities (renewal audit) must be successfully completed before the existing certification expires.
Deviations identified by the SSA TIC must be effectively rectified within a maximum of six months in order to maintain the certificate, whereby shorter deadlines in national and international regulations such as IAF/EA guidelines, requirements of the accreditation body or laws/regulations (EMAS regulation etc.) must be observed. Proof of the improvement measures is provided by SSA TIC decision in a follow-up audit and/or by documentary means. If the correction is not made within the agreed period, the certification can be restricted or temporarily or permanently withdrawn.
Certificates remain the property of SSA TIC and must be returned to SSA TIC by registered mail within six months of the expiry date, except in the case of restriction or withdrawal.
In the event of restriction or withdrawal, the certificates must be returned immediately.
SSA TIC reserves the right to carry out announced or unannounced audits at short notice for a given reason, such as in the event of third-party complaints about the management system of the client organisation or other complaints or as a consequence of changes or as a consequence of suspended customer certifications.
These SSA TIC services are also subject to a fee.

Quality of SSA TIC services, dealing with deficiencies

On-site services provided by SSA TIC that are found to be defective will not be invoiced if the client notifies SSA TIC of the defect in writing before the next SSA TIC service is used, but no later than five working days after the on-site service in question. The service will not be charged if the complaint is justified and the defect was significant. Alternatively, SSA TIC may choose to rectify the defect. The service not invoiced by SSA TIC is deemed not to have been provided and is therefore not recognised as a service for maintaining the SSA TIC certificate. Further warranty claims are excluded.

Complaints/appeals

The client may submit a writen objection to certification decisions or file a complaint regarding actions or omissions by SSA TIC with the management of the certification body.
In this case, the certification body shall provide the client with a meaningful justification for its certification decision, action or omission.
If no satisfactory solution can be found or if the head of the certification body is directly affected by the objection or complaint (conflict of interest), the objection or complaint will be forwarded to a separate commitee – in compliance with the rules on confidentiality – for a decision.

Deadlines and dates/delay

The contractually agreed deadlines and dates are based on estimates of the scope of work derived from the information provided by the client. These time specifications shall only become binding if they have been expressly defined as ‘binding’ in writing by SSA TIC. Delays do not entitle the client to assert claims, regardless of the legal basis.
Binding deadlines begin with the complete agreement in all parts of the contract and on all conditions of the service and end with the provision of the service by SSA TIC. They lose their binding character if the client, for whatever reason, is in default of their obligations under the provisions of these GTC.
If the fulfilment of the order is delayed due to circumstances beyond the control of SSA TIC (e.g. operational disruptions, strikes, force majeure, transportation issues, etc.), SSA TIC shall be entitled, to the exclusion of warranties, avoidance on account of mistake and/or claims for damages, to either withdraw from the contract or to extend the deadline appropriately. This shall also apply if the events occur at a time when SSA TIC is already in default.
SSA TIC shall notify the customer of this in good time. In the event of withdrawal, SSA TIC shall be entitled to invoice the customer for partial services provided up to that point at the prices agreed for them.

Copyright

All copyrights in the reports, certificates, expert opinions, calculations and the like prepared by SSA TIC remain with SSA TIC. The transfer, utilisation and/or publication of the service beyond the contractually agreed purpose requires the prior writen consent of SSA TIC. In the event of transfer, utilisation and/or publication of the service, the client is responsible for compliance with the legal provisions.
In this respect, the client shall indemnify SSA TIC against any third-party claims.

Cancellation

The contract can be terminated by either party with a notice period of one month to the end of each month without stating reasons.
The contract can be terminated with immediate effect for good cause (extraordinary termination).
Good cause for SSA TIC is given in particular if

  • the client breaches their obligations under this contract or
  • breaches other essential aspects of this contract or
  • an event of force majeure lasts longer than six months or
  • in the case of the withdrawal of the certification or if
  • the continuation of the contractual relationship is no longer reasonable for SSA TIC for other reasons.

Terminations must be made in writing.
In the event of termination, the client shall pay for the services already provided by SSA TIC.

Applicable Law, Jurisdiction

This agreement and the entire legal relationship between the contracting parties shall be governed exclusively by Austrian law, excluding its conflict of law rules. The application of the UN Sales Convention is excluded by mutual agreement. For all disputes arising from the contract, the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent court in Vienna is agreed, whereby SSA TIC is also entitled to bring actions before other courts for which a statutory place of jurisdiction of the contractual partner exists.

Severability clause

Should any of the provisions of this agreement be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. In the event of the invalidity of any clause of this agreement, the parties to the agreement agree to replace it with a valid one that comes as close as possible to the meaning and purpose of the invalid provision. The GTCs shall only apply to consumers (within the meaning of the KSchG) insofar as they do not conflict with mandatory provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, Federal Law Gazete No. 140/1979.

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