CalQlata is able to provide specialist services to its customers in the form of custom calculators and related engineering and scientific assistance. However, there are a few rules that CalQlata will necessarily impose on such products and services.
See Rules of Operation below.
CalQlata is a philanthropic organisation fortunate enough to attract the services of expert contributor(s) free of charge (to CalQlata) for the creation of off-the-shelf calculators along with the generation and maintenance of this website.
This, however, represents the limit of their philanthropy and they will charge for specialist assistance to individuals and companies. We, at CalQlata, are well aware of the potential for consultancy services to spiral out of control, and for those wishing to take advantage of this service, CalQlata shall act as intermediary between its contributors and its clients.
CalQlata shall therefore enforce certain controls and limitations on its contributors in order to avoid excessive costs. All requests for assistance shall be directed to CalQlata, whose office staff will manage such requests as follows:
1) Responses requiring less than 15 minutes shall be provided free of charge
2) Unless directed otherwise by the client and where possible, technical advice will be provided by the office staff at £35/hour
3) Technical questions that require input from an expert contributor will be whittled down by the office staff and agreed with the client prior to submission to the expert. This whittling will be performed to minimise the time required for expert response. CalQlata will charge its clients 7.5% of the expert's fee for this service
4) The fee for expert assistance is limited to £50 per hour for normal services. If original⁽¹⁾ work is required, the expert(s) will charge between £75 and £100 per hour at their discretion, but CalQlata shall limit such charges to a maximum of 8 hours per contract unless prior written agreement instructing otherwise has been received by CalQlata from its client
For information purposes the following provides a clue as to what can be expected in terms of cost for a Custom calculator dependent upon complexity and the level of expert input
a. £750 and £1500: information and formulas provided by CalQlata
b. £350 and £750: information and formulas provided by the client
c. £500 and £1000: a combination of a & b
CalQlata shall not charge for day-to-day communication unless it becomes excessive. Clients will always be informed prior to incurring charges.
Prior to the commencement of any work, the client is required to issue a Specialist Service Contract
The following constitutes the rules that shall be followed by both CalQlata and its clients in the performance of specialist services according to the service type; Custom Calculators or Specilaist Services.
Custom calculators are those that provide output data (results) based upon input data, both of which are according to client specific requirements and limited to the client's own use.
The rules for their creation and use are as listed below:
1) Custom calculators are owned by CalQlata.
2) Without prior written agreement between CalQlata and the client, Custom calculators may not be: used by, sold or transferred to, any third party. I.e. Custom calculators are licensed only to the client identified in the contract concerned
3) 5 user licences are automatically granted to the client for each calculator (see License Agreement)⁽²⁾
4) An additional 10% of the full cost of the creation of the custom calculator shall be charged for each additional 5 licences issued by CalQlata unless prior written agreement otherwise is provided by CalQlata⁽³⁾
5) CalQlata reserves the right to terminate a contract if it is asked to produce a calculator that is either incorrect or misleading. Any and all milestone payments made up to that point (see 7) below) shall not be refundable.
6) Custom calculators shall have the appearance and operational characteristics similar to CalQlata's off-the-shelf range of products unless prior written agreement otherwise has been issued by CalQlata.
7) Each calculator shall be subject to the following milestones and associated payments:
a. Completion of a dummy calculator (including; input data, output data, initial diagrams and initial help text - no formulas) - 25% of contract price to be paid to CalQlata before continuation to 7) b.
b. Completion of calculator including formulas - 50% of contract price to be paid to CalQlata before delivery
c. 5 working days after [client] receipt of calculator - 25% of contract price to be paid to CalQlata (see 10) below)
8) CalQlata shall correct all errors prior to receipt of the final payment (see 7) c. above). No charges shall be made to the client for the correction of errors
9) All client modifications shall be made by CalQlata subject to prior written agreement and payment of associated costs
10) The Custom calculator issued to the client under 7) c. shall automatically fail to operate after 5 days. The client shall receive an unrestricted copy of the Custom calculator immediately after CalQlata's receipt of final payment (see 7) c. above)
11) Custom calculators shall be based upon the following:
a. Formulas, text and diagrams provided by CalQlata based on input and output criteria defined by the client
b. Formulas, input and output criteria, diagrams and text provided by the client
c. A combination of 11) a. and 11) b. above
12) All diagrams shall be static unless previously agreed by CalQlata
13) All definitions, abbreviations, symbols and units shall be according to CalQlata's normal practice unless previously agreed between CalQlata and the client
14) The client shall agree the price, input and output data, diagrams and help text before Custom calculators are started⁽⁴⁾
15) The client shall agree all aspects of a dummy version of the calculator (see 7) a. above) prior to project continuation
16) CalQlata shall always inform its client of potential costs prior to becoming obligatory
17) Independent verification shall be the responsibility of the client unless alternative arrangements have been previously agreed with CalQlata
Unless previously agreed by CalQlata, professional and specialist services shall be limited to calculations and materials specifications along with their recommended limitations and use.
1) CalQlata reserves the right to terminate a contract if it is asked to make statements that are either incorrect or misleading. Any and all milestone payments made up to that point (see 2) below) shall not be refundable.
2) CalQlata's services shall be subject to the following milestones and associated payments ...
a. Agreement of contract price and workscope - 25% of contract price to be paid to CalQlata before services commence
and
b. Payment of anticipated costs for each following month, modified according to costs lost or gained during the previous month
or
c. Payment identified with specific milestone in item 11 of the Specialist Service Contract which must be paid prior to issue of the associated documentation
... dependent upon prior written agreement between CalQlata and its client.
3) CalQlata will only call upon item 2) c. above after the workscope milestone is complete. The client will receive a copy of the associated documentation immediately after payment has been received by CalQlata
4) All client modifications shall be made by CalQlata subject to prior written agreement
5) CalQlata shall correct all errors on discovery. No charges shall be made to the client for the correction of errors
6) All definitions, abbreviations, symbols and units shall be according to CalQlata's normal practice unless previously agreed by the client
7) CalQlata shall always inform its client of potential costs prior to becoming obligatory
8) Independent verification shall be the responsibility of the client unless alternative arrangements have been previously agreed with CalQlata