1. Definitions
1.1 In these General Terms and Conditions, the following terms are taken to mean as follows, unless explicitly indicated otherwise. Qkeur: the user of the General Terms and Conditions. Customer: the other party of the user Agreement: the assignment agreement
2. Application
2.1 These Terms and Conditions apply to every offer, quotation, and agreement between Qkeur and the Customer to which the user has declared these Terms and Conditions applicable, insofar as the parties have not expressly deviated from these Terms and Conditions in writing.
2.2 These Terms and Conditions shall also be applicable to all contracts with Qkeur, the performance of which entails involving third parties.
2.3 The applicability of any Customer Terms and Conditions is expressly excluded.
3. Acceptance/conclusion of the agreement
3.1 All offers are without obligation unless expressly stated otherwise in the offer. All offers remain valid for 6 months.
3.2 An agreement has been formed if Qkeur has confirmed in writing what has been agreed, or if the customer has confirmed in writing the acceptance of a written offer by Qkeur.
3.3 This is without prejudice to the parties’ authority to prove the existence of the agreement by other means.
3.4 An offer is also accepted by the Customer if Qkeur has performed an offer entirely or partially.
4. Content of the Agreement
4.1 This concerns the drawing up of architectural reports and/or recommendations with the aim of providing the client with insight into the structural condition of a registered property/building.
4.2 The work to be performed by Qkeur is performed solely on the basis of visual observation.
4.3 Parts that are not or that are difficult to reach are not examined and therefore not assessed. Finishes etc. are not removed or loosened by Qkeur. Inaccessible parts of the building will not be made accessible. Technical installations are not dismantled. Due to the nature of the examination, sampling will be used, so that it cannot be guaranteed that all visually detectable defects or deficiencies will be found and reported in the report.
4.4 Qkeur can never be held liable for defects or damage that manifest themselves after completion of the work and which could not have been detected based on visual observation.
4.5 Measurements are not performed.
4.6 During the building inspection, no research is done into environmentally harmful materials, or materials that may pose a health risk, such as (but not limited to): asbestos suspect or asbestos-containing materials/applications, oil tanks, and/or other contaminations. The inspection cannot, therefore, exclude the presence of these materials, substances, or applications. Qkeur’s liability for not having noticed, or not having noticed to a sufficient extent, the aforementioned materials, substances, or applications is excluded. If the Customer wishes to have certainty in this regard, further specialist research must always be carried out by third parties.
5. Performance of the Agreement
5.1 Qkeur will perform the Agreement to the best of its knowledge and ability, in accordance with the requirements of good craftsmanship.
5.2 The Customer is obliged to provide Qkeur with all data that Qkeur indicates as necessary or which the Customer should reasonably understand to be necessary for the performance of the Agreement.
5.3 Qkeur has the right to make use of third parties in the performance of the Agreement and/or to request advice from them after the necessity or desirability thereof has been determined in the report.
5.4 Qkeur shall not be liable for damage of any kind whatsoever arising from the fact that Qkeur has relied on incorrect and/or incomplete information provided by the Customer unless Qkeur should have been aware of this incorrectness or incompleteness.
6. Reporting
6.1 The purpose of Qkeur’s report is to provide a general insight into the state of maintenance of the inspected registered property/building and of any existing defects under the circumstances or restrictions present during the inspection. This is therefore a snapshot.
6.2 The validity period of the report is a maximum of six months; no rights can be derived from it after this period. After the validity period has expired, a new or updated report must be drawn up, the costs of which are never for Qkeur.
6.3 Any repair and improvement recommendations included in the report are not a work description on the basis of which the work can be performed.
6.4 Any repair and improvement amounts mentioned in the report are always indicative only (estimation of the expected costs).
7. Alteration to the Agreement
7.1 Alterations to agreements, containing a limitation or addition to work that has already been agreed, will come into effect as soon as Qkeur has confirmed these changes in writing.
8. Payments
8.1 Qkeur’s agreed fee is inclusive of VAT.
8.2 Payment for architectural inspections is made by bank transfer, preferably via iDeal. When the architectural report is ready, you will receive an email from us with a request for payment. After payment, you can download the report immediately. Payment of consultancy activities other than building examinations must be made by the Customer to Qkeur within 14 days after the invoice date unless explicitly agreed otherwise in writing.
8.3 If the Customer does not pay within the aforementioned term, it will be deemed to be in default by operation of law without any notice of default being required.
8.4 If the Customer is a consumer in such cases, it owes the statutory interest pursuant to Article 6:119 Dutch Civil Code plus 2%. If the Customer is a company in such cases, it owes the statutory commercial interest pursuant to Article 6:119a Dutch Civil Code plus 2%.
9. Collection costs
9.1 If the Customer is in default or breach of contract in the (timely) fulfilment of its obligations, all reasonable costs incurred in obtaining satisfaction out of court shall be borne by the Customer. In any case, the Customer owes collection costs in the event of a legal claim. The collection costs are calculated in accordance with the collection rate as advised by the Dutch Bar Association in collection cases, with a minimum of €40 excl. VAT.
9.2 If Qkeur has incurred higher costs, and these costs were reasonably necessary, these are also eligible for reimbursement.
9.3. The reasonable judicial and executory costs that may have been incurred are also for the Customer’s account.
10. Early termination/dissolution
10.1 In the event of early termination of the Agreement by the Customer, the same is obliged to compensate Qkeur; this concerns the payment of invoices for work performed up to that point, a reimbursement of the costs incurred, and the costs arising from obligations entered into by Qkeur with third parties for the performance of the Agreement. If the Agreement is cancelled less than 24 hours before the intended inspection date and time, Qkeur will charge the Customer for the full agreed fee.
10.2 In addition, Qkeur is authorised to dissolve the Agreement or have it terminated if circumstances occur that are of such a nature that fulfilment of the same is impossible or, within the bounds of reasonableness and fairness it can no longer be demanded, or if some other circumstances arise that are of such a nature that unaltered continuation of the Agreement cannot reasonably be expected.
11. Liability
11.1 If Qkeur is liable, then this liability is limited to what is determined in this provision.
11.2 Qkeur is never liable for indirect damage, including consequential damage, lost profit, lost savings, and damage due to (business) stagnation.
11.3 Qkeur is never liable for damage smaller than €1,200, or damage as a result of force majeure.
11.4 The damage to be compensated by Qkeur is limited to 12x the consultancy costs with a maximum of €10,000.
11.5 Qkeur is entitled to remedy and/or replace the consequences of a shortcoming in a service delivered at its own discretion and free of charge, whereby the Customer’s entitlement to claim compensation lapses.
11.6 Qkeur shall only be liable for the damage suffered by the Customer as a result of an attributable failure in the performance of its obligations, if and insofar as this liability is covered by its insurance policy, up to the amount of the payment made by the insurance company.
12. Force majeure
12.1 The parties are not bound to comply with any obligation if they are prevented from doing so as a result of a circumstance that is not due to fault, and for which they cannot be held accountable by virtue of the law, a juristic act, or generally accepted practice.
13. Applicable law and disputes
13.1 Dutch law shall apply to all agreements between the Customer and Qkeur.
13.2 All disputes that may arise between Qkeur and the Customer in the context of (the performance of) the Agreement(s) or that are the result thereof, will be adjudicated exclusively by the Court in Qkeur’s place of business.
Version 06-2023