ARTICLE 1 – SCOPE OF APPLICATION

The following general stipulations apply to physical and digital archives, as well as to transfer and handling operations carried out by the company in connection with physical archives.

ARTICLE 2 – INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED BY THE CUSTOMER

The following information must be provided by the customer prior to the operations referred to in Article 1:
For the transfer of physical archives

• Designation of loading and delivery sites.
• conditions of use and condition of access to the departure and arrival areas for personnel and vehicles (parking facilities, corridors, doors, stairways, elevators, work in progress and any other special features); the elevators or elevators indicated must be free and in good condition.
• The nature, number and size of the physical archive units to be handled by the customer, who is responsible for obtaining the necessary access authorizations from the relevant authorities and, if necessary, from the neighborhood. Any missing, inaccurate or incomplete information discharges the company’s responsibility.

The customer undertakes to take all necessary steps to ensure that the planning of operations does not change from the initial mutually agreed arrangements. The start and finish sites must be completely cleared of all materials and persons not involved in the work.

ARTICLE 3 – DECLARATION OF VALUE-DEEMED VALUE

In the case of archive transfers, the customer is informed that he/she must draw up a written declaration of value before the start of operations, which will enable the company’s liability to be determined in the event of loss or damage (material damage, missing items and theft) occurring to the archives entrusted during a transfer, and to determine the compensation to which he/she may be entitled, as specified in article 15 below. In the absence of such a declaration, the company’s liability may not exceed a maximum amount of €53,350 per vehicle or road unit.
In the context of the physical conservation of archives, the liability of Smartarchives, hereinafter referred to as the custodian, is exercised within the limit of the amount declared by the customer, hereinafter referred to as the depositor, and must therefore include the costs of reconstituting the archives.

ARTICLE 4 – DAMAGES FOR DELAY OR OTHER THAN LOSS OR DAMAGE

The customer is hereby informed that he/she must draw up a special declaration to extend the company’s liability to include loss due to delay, as well as loss other than loss of or damage to furniture and equipment for which the company is liable, up to the amount set out in the declaration. This declaration will only be taken into consideration if it is made in writing before the start of operations. In the absence of such a declaration, the justified loss is deemed to have been declared as not exceeding 5% of the total price of the quotation excluding VAT, up to a maximum of €762.

ARTICLE 5 – POSTPONEMENT OR CANCELLATION OF AN ORDER

Requests to postpone archive transfer operations must be received by the company no later than 3 working days before the start of operations, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, postmarked as proof. If this deadline is not met, the request for postponement will automatically give rise to an indemnity for the company, set at half the amount of the quotation including VAT. In the event of cancellation less than 3 days before the start of operations, the amount of the indemnity is increased to the full amount of the quotation, all taxes included.

ARTICLE 6 – NATURE AND SCOPE OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY

Services are defined and agreed with the customer prior to each operation. All services must be quoted. In the absence of an express written reservation by the customer, the commencement of performance of the service or partial payment thereof shall be deemed to constitute agreement.

ARTICLE 7 – EXCLUDED SERVICES

Services that do not concern the transfer of physical archives, their conservation or digitization are excluded. All other services must be the subject of a specific quotation, specifying the purpose and the terms of execution between the parties.

ARTICLE 8 – VALIDITY OF PRICES

Quotation prices are valid for 30 days. They can only be modified if unforeseeable expenses beyond the company’s control, linked to the execution methods, arise before the start of the work.
For physical archive storage or document dematerialization services, a price list listing the main physical and/or digital archiving services is appended to the quotation. Physical archive storage services are governed by an archive storage contract between the two parties.

ARTICLE 9 – SETTLEMENT-DELAY

Half of the customer’s payment is made when the order is placed, and the balance when the work is completed, unless otherwise agreed. In the event of non-payment on the due date, the outstanding amount will automatically bear interest at the legal rate plus 1.5 points. Costs and fees will be borne exclusively by the customer. The existence of disputes due to loss, damage or any other reason does not constitute a waiver of the agreed terms of payment. In particular, the customer may not withhold all or part of the price pending the compensation provided for in article 15. The customer acknowledges the company’s right to exercise its right of retention on part of the furniture and equipment in its possession until full payment.

ARTICLE 10 – ADDITIONAL WORK

Any additional service not provided for in the initial quotation will be subject to a price supplement, unless otherwise stipulated. The same applies to any request for landfill.

ARTICLE 11 – MANDATORY CUSTOMER PRESENCE

For the transfer of physical archives, the customer or his representative undertakes to be present on both departure and arrival, and to check that nothing has been left behind at the loading site. The company’s employee has the right to demand that the customer provide written confirmation of any deterioration that may have occurred prior to collection. If the customer or his representative is absent during unloading, operations will be carried out normally in accordance with the furniture and equipment layout plan, without any subsequent request for repositioning involving additional handling. In the absence of a layout plan, the company will not proceed with any installation.

ARTICLE 12 – LEAD TIMES

Deadlines are only imposed on the company if they are stipulated in writing and accepted prior to operations. However, the company is not liable for delays caused by the customer’s fault, the execution of new quotations, the actions of a third party, or an event of force majeure.

ARTICLE 13 – SUBCONTRACTING

The company remains free to subcontract all or part of the operation to the company of its choice, but remains the customer’s sole contact.

ARTICLE 14 – LIABILITY OF THE COMPANY-PRINCIPLE

With regard to the transfer of physical archives or their preservation, the company is responsible for the physical archives entrusted to it within the limits of these general conditions and the special clauses resulting from the declaration of value and the special declaration, as defined in articles 3 and 4. It declines all responsibility for operations that are not carried out by its agents or subcontractors.

ARTICLE 15 – COMPENSATION FOR LOSS AND DAMAGE

Depending on the nature and extent of the proven damage, loss or damage will be repaired, replaced or compensated. Compensation is paid on the basis of the number and value of the physical archives as defined in article 3, and is subject to the conditions and limits set out below, without however being able to exceed the actual value of the material loss suffered by the beneficiary, or the amount of the guarantee per vehicle or road unit fixed by the parties. In the event of total loss, partial loss or damage, compensation is calculated on the basis of the declared value or, failing that, the deemed declared value.

ARTICLE 16 – EXCLUDED RISKS

The company is not liable for damage and harmful consequences resulting from: alteration or deterioration of the containers and contents of the physical archives during transfer; the actions of third parties, even if they are employees or service providers of the customer; the customer’s fault; or the occurrence of events presenting the characteristics of force majeure. In the event that the overall declared value or, failing that, the deemed declared value proves to be insufficient in relation to the actual overall value, the indemnity will be reduced in proportion to the shortfall.

ARTICLE 17 – CLOSING FORMALITIES

On completion of the work, the customer must check the condition of the physical archive containers and discharge them as soon as the installation is complete. In the event of the customer’s absence from the delivery addresses indicated by him, or if delivery is physically impossible, the archives are automatically stored on our archiving platforms at the company’s discretion and at the customer’s expense and risk. Delivery for archiving and storage on our storage platforms terminates the removal contract.

ARTICLE 18 – INCIDENTS/ISSUES

The customer undertakes to inform the company without delay of any incident occurring during the performance of the contract. In the event of loss or damage, the customer must express precise and detailed reservations in the presence of the company’s representatives. In any event, the customer must send the company a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt within three working days of delivery, describing the nature of the damage, the goods concerned and their value, and the cost of any repairs. In the absence of a declaration within this period, the postmark will be taken as proof, and the customer will be barred from making any claims against the company.

ARTICLE 19 – LIMITATION PERIOD

By express agreement between the parties, any legal action for damage, loss or delay to which this contract may give rise must be brought within one year of completion of the work.

ARTICLE 20 – JURISDICTION

Any disputes arising from this contract shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Paris Commercial Court, even in the event of warranty claims or multiple defendants.