Business Maintenance – Terms & Conditions
Corrective Maintenance
1.1 Under this Agreement, NECS shall provide Corrective and Preventive Maintenance on the equipment detailed in Schedule A. No other equipment is covered.
1.2 Corrective Maintenance shall be provided for the repair of faults that from time to time causes the equipment to malfunction.
1.3 When a call to the Service Centre is received, a support engineer will attempt to resolve the issue either over the phone or by accessing the system remotely. If the problem persists and is on a critical business system, an engineer from NECS will visit the premises of the customer within the agreed response time.
1.4 NECS will maintain the equipment, repairing or replacing defective parts if feasible but not including printer repairs. The client is responsible for the cost of any parts used.
1.5 This Agreement provides that upon 90 days written notice, after it has been established that an item can no longer be maintained due to excessive wear and tear or the lack of available spare parts, NECS will remove any such item within this category.
Preventive Maintenance
2.1 Preventive Maintenance shall provide for routine care and attention necessary to maintain efficiently operating equipment.
2.1 Routine maintenance will be provided between the hours of 0900 to 1700 Monday to Friday excluding Public and Bank Holidays. Where the Customer chooses, routine maintenance can be provided outside these hours, subject to a charge of £75.00 per hour for the period in which the maintenance is performed.
2.3 From time to time, ‘Field Change Orders’ may be issued by the manufacturer. When such changes are introduced in order to keep the equipment operating at the original specification, any replacement parts will be provided free of charge. When the ‘Field Change Order’ enhances the original specification the customer has the option to agree to the installation at their own expense.
Other Services
3.1 When requests are made which fall outside the provisions of this Agreement, NECS will endeavor to provide such a service subject to additional charges and with the customer’s approval.
Additional Equipment
4.1 Additional equipment may be added to Schedule A of this Agreement at the Customer’s request provided that such equipment is deemed acceptable by NECS for inclusion in this Agreement. There will be an additional charge for adding any new equipment to the inventory.
Customer Obligations
The customer shall…
5.1 Report faults immediately to NECS. In the event of the fault existing for more than 48 hours and the client not informing the Service Centre, the problem may be deemed as a non-emergency and will not be attended as such.
5.2 Provide the engineer with full and free access to the equipment for the purpose of performing the Service. NECS are not responsible for moving customer furniture or fixtures and fittings.
5.3 Items of consumable material requested by the engineer in order to perform diagnostic tests must be made available.
5.4 Not relocate or reposition any business PC’s or Servers or any networking equipment without advising NECS in writing prior to such an event happening. If requested, NECS will undertake the supervision of such work and a charge will be applied for any time on-site. Contracted service will be suspended during the provision of this work until its completion. In the event of downtime caused by client negligence NECS will charge an additional premium at the hourly rate to correct such faults.
5.5 Ensure the equipment is maintained and operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations.
5.6 At all times take the necessary precautions needed to protect the removable backup media used on their system.
5.7 Inform NECS of any electrical work scheduled at the client’s premises. This includes PAT Testing, as many electrical contractors do not possess the training required to manage business network environments. Any faults caused through incorrect shutdown of systems will be regarded as outside of the maintenance provision and will be charged separately.
Charges
6.1 The Annual Charge as detailed in Schedule A of this Agreement shall be paid monthly in advance and will be due for payment on the first day of each month.
6.2 The Annual Charge shall be subject to the addition of VAT and/or any other tax that
Government legislation may include.
6.3 The Annual Charge for the Service is fixed for 12 months from the date of commencement of this Agreement unless additional equipment or users are added.
6.4 If monthly payments are not received within 14 days, NECS will be entitled to suspend the service. NECS will only then reinstate the Service upon the receipt of the full outstanding balance for the Maintenance Service Agreement period.
6.5 The Annual Charge for Additional Equipment added or removed during the term of this Agreement will be invoiced or credited pro-rata up to the end of the current invoice period.
6.6 After the initial 12 months of this Agreement, NECS shall be entitled at its discretion to increase the annual charge for the service.
Limitations of the Service
The following exclusions apply to the performance of the Service…
7.1 Corrective Maintenance repairs are not covered as a direct result of neglect by the Customer, or as a consequence of accident, failure of air conditioning, failure of electrical supply, lightning strike, sabotage, fire, flood or any causes other than reasonable wear and tear.
7.2 The repair of any equipment, where such repair is required due to damage directly attributable to the Customer or third party.
7.3 Corrective Maintenance repairs as a consequence of unauthorised attempts by persons other than NECS personnel to repair, maintain, modify or replace and/or remove the equipment.
7.4 Supply of consumables (including, Print Heads, Laser Printer Drums and Fuser Units, Data Heads for Exabyte and DAT Tape Drives, LCD Screens and Batteries for Laptop and Notebook Systems) or any cosmetic finishing of the equipment.
Limitation of Liability
8.1 NECS will provide indemnity for the Customer in respect of claims for direct damage to Customer property arising as a consequence of the actions of its employees in the execution of this Agreement. This liability shall be limited to £250,000 for any single event.
8.2 NECS shall not be liable for any loss of data however caused.
8.3 NECS shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential damages arising out of its performance in the execution of this Agreement.
Personnel
9.1 All personnel required under this Agreement will be provided by NECS and all work will be facilitated by the use of our own engineers or approved sub-contractors.
9.2 The Customer will take reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety of all personnel provided under this Agreement including ensuring the presence of a representative of the Customer in the area where the equipment is operating during the performance of the Service. This includes providing NECS engineers with any protective clothing required by the Customer under the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
9.3 Personnel provided under this Agreement will remain under the management and conditions of NECS.
9.4 NECS shall take all reasonable precautions to ensure that its employees shall maintain complete confidentiality with regard to any information or trade secrets of the Customer under this Agreement.
Term
10.1 After the minimum term of 12 month, the contract shall continue in effect annually thereafter until terminated by either party giving 90 days’ notice in writing.
10.2 This Agreement may also be cancelled under the conditions specified in clause 11 herein.
Breach
11.1 If either party shall be in material default of its obligations under this Agreement, then such material default will be considered by the other party to be a Breach of Agreement. Thirty days written notice will then be given and failure to remedy the material default within this period will entitle the other party to terminate this Agreement. Any outstanding sums due under the Agreement will become immediately payable.
Emergency Computing Facilities
12.1 In the event of the Customer’s equipment becoming inoperative for a prolonged period of time, NECS may be able to supply alternative equipment (Subject to availability) A charge will be applicable for any reconfiguration of the equipment. NECS reserve the right to remove their equipment at any time.
Loss of Internet
13.1. NECS will not be held responsible for the loss of Internet connectivity to any of the client’s sites. Any communication with the clients ISP is the responsibility of the client. If NECS liaise with the clients ISP on their behalf an additional hourly rate may be chargeable based on NECS current rates (Available on request)
Loss of Email Facilities
Where applicable NECS will attempt to restore the clients email facility based on the following:
14.1 If NECS provide the hosting and email facilities; in the event of server downtime at our Data Centre NECS will immediately upon knowledge of such disruption, contact our support engineers to investigate the issue. Unless an email continuity service has been subscribe to then the downtime of the email provision will be out of NECS control and will only be restored when the problem has been resolved at the Data Centre. If the problem resides at one of the BT exchanges or underground cabling, then this is also deemed out of the control of NECS.
14.2 Where the Client is using Microsoft Exchange, fully hosted at their own location: In the event of server failure, NECS will endeavor to repair the server if parts are available or contact the supplier of the equipment if covered by warranty, to repair the system. The repair time of the server cannot be guaranteed. Unless the Client has subscribed to an email continuity service then there is no guarantee that the email service can be resumed within a specific time scale. Where an email continuity service is available there will be a transition period from when the service becomes active to the time when the Client starts receiving email. The times vary and cannot be guaranteed within the same 24 hours. If the problem resides at one of the BT exchanges or underground cabling, then this is also deemed out of the control of NECS.
14.3 Where the Client is using Microsoft Exchange through an ISP connector: In the event of server failure, NECS will endeavor to repair the server if parts are available or contact the supplier of the equipment if covered by warranty to repair the system. The repair time of the server cannot be guaranteed. Unless the Client has subscribed to an email continuity service then there is no guarantee that the email service can be resumed within a specific time scale. Where an email continuity service is available there will be a transition period from when the service becomes active to the time when the Client starts receiving email. The times vary and cannot be guaranteed within the same 24 hours. If the problem resides at one of the BT exchanges or underground cabling, then this is also deemed out of the control of NECS. If the problem resides at the IPS server end then this is also deemed out of the control of NECS however, our engineers will liaise with the ISP to assist in resolving the issue.
Loss of Web Hosing Facility
This condition is only applicable if NECS provide the hosting facilities.
15.1 In the event of server downtime at our Data Centre NECS will immediately upon knowledge of such disruption contact our support engineers to investigate the issue. If the problem resides at one of the BT exchanges or underground cabling, then this is deemed out of the control of NECS. No Guarantee is provided to resume the service within a specific time scale however our engineers will endeavor to resolve the issue as fast as possible.
15.2 Website deletion, corruption, hacking, virus or any activity causing the site to become unavailable: NECS will not be held responsible for backing up the Clients website or any databases. In the event of such failure the Client is responsible for backup and reinstatement of the website and any database.
Data Backup Facility
16.1 The Client is responsible for the integrity of their data at all times. NECS will provide off-site data backup facilities if subscribed to. The data will be backed up daily (Monday to Friday); this facility does not provide versioning. NECS can provide the software interface for the Client to manage, but NECS will not be held responsible for data loss. NECS provide a managed service if subscribed to and will manage the process on behalf of the client. In most cases the data integrity will be guaranteed to 99.99%. Any data the client would like to backup must be listed and presented to NECS. In the event of data corruption: this is often caused when file paths are too long. Creating multiple nested folder structures is not recommended and it remains the client’s responsibility to ensure that their folder structure allows the files within to be accessible.
Software Maintenance
The Software Maintenance service comprises and is limited to the following:
17.1 Assistance via the telephone from the Support Centre including fault diagnosis and where possible correction subject to the limitations by contractual restrictions imposed by any third party. Serious faults preventing computer processing will be given priority. If necessary an engineer will visit the client premises on a scheduled visit or as an emergency call out if requested. NECS will be not held responsible for the maintenance or support of any third party client software. This includes Sage or other accounting software, any CRM or business management software. It remains the clients responsibility to ensure they have adequate support provided from the software vendor.
17.2 Where possible, recommendations relevant to the course of action necessary to recover from any faults or failures emanating from the Software. Performance of any remedial work, re-running of programs etc. is excluded from this Agreement. Any such work performed by NECS personnel will incur additional charges at the rates then in force.
17.3 Unscheduled Software Maintenance work will usually be performed at NECS headquarters. In the event that it becomes necessary to undertake all or part of the service on the Customer’s own premises, the work will be chargeable if it is deemed the software has become unstable due the Customer’s negligence.
Miscellaneous
18.1 This Agreement shall be governed by the Laws of England and both parties shall agree to accept the jurisdiction of the English Law Courts.
18.2 The terms and conditions of this Agreement shall prevail in the event that there is any variance with the terms and conditions of any order submitted by the Customer for the Service of the equipment.
18.3 The conditions of this Agreement shall prevail in the event that the Customer shall re-commence use of equipment within the Minimum Term of this Agreement, having previously given notice under clause 11 herein.
18.4 NECS or the Customer shall not be liable for any delays in meeting any of their obligations under this Agreement where such is due to causes beyond their control.
18.5 Either party may only assign or transfer this Agreement to a third party upon prior written agreement between the parties.
Unnecessary Callout
19.1 In the event of a callout being made at the request of the client, which is deemed unnecessary by NECS will result in a £75 charge. For example a printer requiring paper.