ested Parties with respect to the services rendered by the Society
are described in the Rules applicable to the specific Service ren-
dered.
Article 4
4.1. – Any request for the Society's Services shall be submitted in
writing and signed by or on behalf of the Interested Party. Such a
request will be considered irrevocable as soon as received by the
Society and shall entail acceptance by the applicant of all relevant
requirements of the Rules, including these General Conditions.
Upon acceptance of the written request by the Society, a contract
between the Society and the Interested Party is entered into, which
is regulated by the present General Conditions.
4.2. – In consideration of the Services rendered by the Society, the
Interested Party and the person requesting the service shall be
jointly liable for the payment of the relevant fees and costs, even if
the service is not concluded for any cause not pertaining to the
Society. In the latter case, the Society shall not be held liable for
non-fulfilment or partial fulfilment of the Services requested. In the
event of late payment, interest at the legal current rate increased
by 2% shall be paid.
4.3. - The contract for the classification of a Ship or for other Ser-
vices may be terminated and any certificates revoked at the
request of one of the parties, subject to at least 30 days' notice to
be given in writing. Failure to pay, even in part, the fees due for
Services carried out by the Society will entitle the Society to imme-
diately terminate the contract and suspend the Services.
The Society may withhold, suspend or withdraw any certificate,
report or service in the event of non-payment of fees due to any
member of the RINA Group by the Client in relation to the entire
business relationship between any member of the RINA Group
and the Client or by any other companies belonging to the same
group as the Client. This also applies when the obligation to pay
rests with a builder or with the Ship's previous Owner.
For every case of termination or suspension of the contract, the
fees for the activities performed until the time of the termination or
of the suspension shall be owed to the Society as well as the
expenses incurred in view of activities already programmed; this is
without prejudice to the right to compensation due to the Society
as a consequence of the termination or of the suspension.
With particular reference to Ship classification and certification,
unless decided otherwise by the Society, termination of the con-
tract implies that the assignment of class to a Ship is withheld or, if
already assigned, that it is suspended or withdrawn; any statutory
certificates issued by the Society will be withdrawn in those cases
where provided for by agreements between the Society and the
flag State.
Article 5
5.1. - In providing the Services, as well as other correlated infor-
mation or advice, the Society, its Surveyors, servants or agents
operate with due diligence for the proper execution of the activity.
However, considering the nature of the activities performed (see
art. 2.4), it is not possible to guarantee absolute accuracy, correct-
ness and completeness of any information or advice supplied.
Express and implied warranties are specifically disclaimed.
Therefore, subject to what provided for in paragraph 5.2 below,
and also in the case of activities carried out by delegation of Gov-
ernments, neither the Society nor any of its Surveyors will be liable
for any loss, damage or expense of whatever nature sustained by
any person, in tort or in contract, derived from carrying out the
Services.
5.2. – Notwithstanding the provisions in paragraph 5.1 above,
should any user of the Society's Services prove that he has suffered
a loss or damage due to any negligent act or omission of the Soci-
ety, its Surveyors, servants or agents, then the Society will pay
compensation to such person for his proved loss, up to, but not
exceeding, five times the amount of the fees charged for the spe-
cific services, information or opinions from which the loss or dam-
age derives or, if no fee has been charged, a maximum of one
hundred thousand Euro. Where the fees charged are related to a
number of Services, the amount of the fees will be apportioned for
the purpose of the calculation of the maximum compensation, by
reference to the estimated time involved in the performance of the
Service from which the damage or loss derives. Any liability for
indirect or consequential loss, damage or expense is specifically
excluded. In any case, irrespective of the amount of the fees
charged, the maximum damages payable by the Society will not
be more than 1 million Euro. Payment of compensation under this
paragraph will not entail any admission of responsibility and/or
liability by the Society and will be made without prejudice to the
disclaimer clause contained in paragraph 5.1 above.
5.3. - Any claim for loss or damage of whatever nature by virtue of
the provisions set forth herein shall be made to the Society in writ-
ing, within the shorter of the following periods: THREE MONTHS
from the date on which the Services were performed or THREE
MONTHS from the date on which the damage was discovered.
Failure to comply with the above deadline will constitute an abso-
lute bar to the pursuit of such a claim against the Society.Article 6
6.1. - Any dispute arising from or in connection with the Rules or
with the Services of the Society, including any issues concerning
responsibility, liability or limitations of liability of the Society, will
be determined in accordance with Italian Law and settled through
arbitration assigned to a board of three arbitrators who will pro-
ceed in compliance with the Rules of the Chamber of National
and International Arbitration of Milan. Arbitration will take place
in Genoa, Italy.
6.2. - However, for disputes concerning non-payment of the fees
and/or expenses due to the Society for Services, the Society shall
have the right to submit any claim to the jurisdiction of the Courts
of the place where the registered or operating office of the Inter-
ested Party or of the applicant who requested the Service is
located.
In the case of actions taken against the Society by a third party
before a judicial Court, the Society shall also have the right to
summon the Interested Party or the subject who requested the Ser-
vice before that Court, in order to be relieved and held harmless
according to art. 3.5 above.
Article 7
7.1. - All plans, specifications, documents and information pro-
vided by, issued by, or made known to the Society, in connection
with the performance of its Services, will be treated as confidential
and will not be made available to any other party other than the
Owner without authorisation of the Interested Party, except as pro-
vided for or required by any applicable international, European or
domestic legislation, Charter or other IACS resolutions, or order
from a competent authority. Information about the status and
validity of class and statutory certificates, including transfers,
changes, suspensions, withdrawals of class, conditions of class,
operating conditions or restrictions issued against classed ships
and other related information, as may be required, may be pub-
lished on the website or released by other means, without the prior
consent of the Interested Party.
Information about the status and validity of other certificates and
statements may also be published on the website or released by
other means, without the prior consent of the Interested Party.
7.2. - Notwithstanding the general duty of confidentiality owed by
the Society to its clients in clause 7.1 above, the Society's clients
accept that the Society will participate in the IACS Early Warning
System which requires each Classification Society to provide other
involved Classification Societies with relevant technical informa-
tion on serious hull structural and engineering systems failures, as
defined in the IACS Early Warning System (but not including any
drawings relating to the ship which may be the specific property of
another party), to enable such useful information to be shared and
used to facilitate the proper working of the IACS Early Warning
System. The Society will provide its clients with written details of
such information sent to the involved Classification Societies.
7.3. - In the event of transfer of class, addition of a second class or
withdrawal from a double/dual class, the Interested Party under-
takes to provide or to permit the Society to provide the other Clas-
sification Society with all building plans and drawings, certificates,
documents and information relevant to the classed unit, including
its history file, as the other Classification Society may require for
the purpose of classification in compliance with the applicable
legislation and relative IACS Procedure. It is the Owner's duty to
ensure that, whenever required, the consent of the builder is
obtained with regard to the provision of plans and drawings to the
new Society, either by way of appropriate stipulation in the build-
ing contract or by other agreement.
In the event that the ownership of the ship, product or system sub-
ject to certification is transferred to a new subject, the latter shall
have the right to access all pertinent drawings, specifications, doc-
uments or information issued by the Society or which have come
to the knowledge of the Society while carrying out its Services,
even if related to a period prior to transfer of ownership.
Article 8
8.1. – RINA shall not be obliged to perform any obligation towards
the Client (including, without limitation, obligation to (a) perform,
deliver, accept, sell, purchase, pay or receive money to, from or
through a person or entity, or (b) engage in any other act) if this
would be in violation of, inconsistent with or expose RINA to
punitive measures under any United Nations resolutions and/or
under any laws, regulations, decrees, ordinances, orders,
demands, requests, rules or requirements of EU, United Kingdom,
and/or United States of America and which relate to foreign trade
controls, export controls, embargoes or international boycotts