Terms Of Service

Unless otherwise agreed in writing by Soats, the “Appointment Confirmation Advice” and these standard terms and conditions shall constitute the entire “Service Agreement” between the Client and Soats, inclusive of its directors, employees, network offices, representatives and sub-contractors. All instructions from the Client are accepted by Soats solely on these standard terms and conditions contained herein, which override other standard terms and conditions and/or guidelines of the Client (if any), whether incorporated or otherwise. No variation or addition to the standard terms and conditions contained herein shall be binding on Soats unless such variation or addition are expressly agreed by Soats in writing.

When instructed by the Client or his insurer to appoint a surveyor, Soats will proceed in accordance with those instructions. All appointments of surveyors / other service providers by Soats is made for and on behalf of the Client and in making such appointment and giving any instructions, Soats is acting in its capacity merely as an agent of the Client. The Client shall be the party ultimately responsible and liable for paying all fees, disbursements, taxes and any other payments due to the appointed surveyors / other service providers. Under no circumstances whatsoever shall Soats be responsible or liable for paying such fees, disbursements, taxes and any other payments.

By instructing and continuing to deal with Soats in connection with any matter where Soats is acting on the Client’s behalf and as its agent only, the Client is deemed to have read, understood and agreed to clause 1.b above and all these standard terms and conditions contained herein. If you are an intermediary or agent instructing Soats on behalf of Principals, you undertake to bring these conditions to the attention of your Principals and procure their acknowledgment and agreement to these conditions, in the absence of which you will be responsible for payment of any charges incurred.

All fees quoted by surveyors / other service providers to Soats are subject to agreement by the Client. However, under urgent circumstances whereby appointment of surveyors / other service providers is made by Soats upon the instructions of the Client but without the opportunity of agreeing or finalising fees with the surveyors / other service providers in advance, the Client shall be deemed by its instructions and/or conduct to have agreed to pay all fees, disbursements, taxes and any other payments due to the appointed surveyors / other service providers. In the event of any fee disputes arising out of an appointment, the Client will remain responsible for settlement of the fees claimed. Soats will use its best endeavours to resolve such disputes amicably and subject to the approval of any compromise by the Client.

Soats will provide the Services required in accordance with the Client’s instructions as confirmed in the “Appointment Confirmation Advice”.

Soats will not vary the scope of the Services unless either instructed to do so by the Client or the circumstances of the attendance require an immediate variation to meet the required objective. Where a variation in the scope of work is either requested or required, Soats will advise the Client in writing as to the effect this variation will have on the cost and completion date of the Services.

Soats will provide the agreed Services and will exercise reasonable care and skill at all times.

All technical reports will be produced and transmitted to the Client by Soats or a Soats network office.

Soats shall be entitled to engage any sub-contractors as may be considered necessary and without prior reference to the Client.

The Client will procure all necessary access for Soats’s inspection of goods, premises, vessels, installations etc. and will ensure that all appropriate measures are taken to provide safe and secure working conditions during such inspection, inclusive of gas freeing and safe entry testing.

Soats will not be responsible for the consequences of the Client’s late, incomplete, inadequate, inaccurate or ambiguous instructions or the unavailability of any vessel or inaccessibility to any part of a vessel or survey site, howsoever occurring, and the Client shall be responsible for any additional attendance charges so incurred.

Charges (Fees and Disbursements) and Payment Terms

Attendance, both on site and for work conducted at Soats’s offices, will be charged according to the current hourly or daily rate. Disbursements will be invoiced at cost plus 15% to cover administration and service charges. Office disbursements will be charged at 10% of Soats’s fees subject to a cap of US$250 or SG$250, whichever the currency of the invoice is.

Soats is entitled to charge 1.5 times the applicable hourly or daily rate for work done out of our normal office hours (i.e. weekdays’ evening/night, weekends and public holidays) when circumstances require our urgent / immediate actions and/or as required by Clients.

Soats will provide an itemized breakdown of fees and disbursements except in circumstances where a fixed fee has been agreed in advance.Soats reserves the right to request payment on account prior to attendance by presentation of a pro-forma invoice.

All invoices are due for payment within 14 days of the date of issue, unless otherwise pre-agreed by Soats in writing.

All remittances to Soats shall be net of all bank charges failing which any deductions in respect of bank charges will be carried forward to a subsequent invoice.

Soats reserves the right to withhold all reports until payment in full has been received into its nominated account and copyright of all such reports and associated correspondence will remain with Soats until payment is received.

Destruction of documents:

At the conclusion of a matter Soats will review the case file and discard any unnecessary additional copies of documents, then send the balance of the file to an off-site facility for storage at their expense, unless the Client requests that the file be delivered to their offices. To minimise the storage expenses, Soats reserves the right, subject to the Clients written contrary direction, to retain files for only six years from the completion of the matter and to destroy older files to the extent practical. If the Client wishes the disposition of files to be handled in a different manner, Soats must be informed in writing.