1 Scope
(1) These General Terms and Conditions apply to all consulting services provided by Sternberg Consulting ("Consultant") via sternberg-consulting.com or on the basis of individual offers.
(2) Deviating terms of the Client apply only if expressly agreed in writing.
(3) These terms are primarily intended for entrepreneurs, companies, organisations, and public-sector clients. Mandatory consumer protection rules remain unaffected where applicable.
2 Subject of the contract
(1) The Consultant provides consulting services, particularly in quality management, ISO certification, internal audits, external representative roles, and general business consulting. This may include gap analyses, documentation development, process workshops, management review, audit preparation, certification audit support, and ongoing system maintenance.
(2) The specific scope and details of the services are defined in the respective offer or agreement. Economic success is not guaranteed.
(3) Sternberg Consulting is not a certification body. Decisions on granting, maintaining, suspending, or withdrawing a certificate rest exclusively with the relevant certification body.
3 Provision of services
(1) The Consultant may use qualified employees or subcontractors for service delivery but remains responsible towards the Client.
(2) Change requests by the Client will be reviewed and may lead to adjustments in scope, timing, and remuneration.
(3) Services may be provided remotely, on site, or in hybrid form. Appointments, communication channels, and deliverables are agreed project by project.
(4) Where deliverables are drafts, the Client must review and approve them before using them internally as binding documents or submitting them externally.
4 Cooperation duties of the Client
The Client shall provide necessary information and documents promptly and ensure required cooperation from its employees.
Cooperation duties include naming competent contacts, providing relevant process information, access to existing documents and records, and timely feedback on drafts, actions, and audit findings.
Delays caused by missing or late cooperation may lead to schedule changes and additional effort.
5 Confidentiality and data protection
(1) The Consultant agrees to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information for three years after termination of the contractual relationship, unless longer statutory or contractual duties apply.
(2) Personal data is processed and deleted in accordance with applicable data protection rules, unless statutory retention periods apply.
(3) Confidential information may be disclosed to subcontractors or service providers where this is necessary for performance and appropriate confidentiality duties apply.
(4) The confidentiality duty does not apply to information that is publicly known, becomes known without breach of contract, or must be disclosed due to legal obligations.
6 Remuneration and payment terms
(1) Remuneration is based on the respective offer, either hourly or as a fixed fee. Invoices are due within ten days without deduction.
(2) In case of payment delay, statutory rules apply, especially § 288 BGB.
(3) Fixed fees cover only the expressly agreed scope. Additional services, audit or travel days, special appointments, and later scope extensions are charged separately unless otherwise agreed.
(4) The Consultant may request appropriate instalment payments where projects run over several weeks or months or where substantial preparatory work is provided.
7 Expenses and additional costs
Travel, accommodation, and other necessary expenses are invoiced separately unless otherwise agreed.
On-site appointments may involve travel costs, train or flight tickets, hotel costs, parking fees, subsistence expenses, and other project-related outlays. Third-party costs such as certification bodies, training platforms, translations, or software licences are not included in the consulting fee unless expressly stated.
8 Dates, deadlines, and project planning
Project dates are planned to the best of our knowledge. Deadlines are binding only where expressly agreed as binding. Delays caused by missing cooperation, changes in scope, unavailable contacts, or third-party decisions extend agreed deadlines appropriately.
The Client shall inform the Consultant without delay of circumstances that may affect dates, audits, approvals, or performance.
9 Ownership of work results
The Consultant retains copyrights to created materials and results. The Client receives simple usage rights exclusively for the agreed purpose.
Templates, methods, checklists, training materials, audit programmes, and other know-how may not be passed to third parties, published, or used outside the agreed purpose without prior consent.
After full payment, the Client receives a simple, perpetual right to use the individually created deliverables internally within its own organisation.
10 Liability
The Consultant is liable only for intent and gross negligence. Liability for slight negligence is limited to foreseeable, contract-typical damages.
This limitation does not apply to injury to life, body, or health, mandatory statutory liability, or expressly assumed guarantees. The Consultant is not liable for decisions by management, certification bodies, authorities, or other third parties.
Consulting results are based on information provided by the Client. The Consultant is not responsible for incomplete, incorrect, or delayed information provided by the Client.
11 Duration and termination
The duration of the contract is governed by the individual agreement. Extraordinary termination for cause remains unaffected.
In case of termination, services already provided, prepared appointments, non-cancellable expenses, and costs incurred up to that point must be remunerated.
12 References
Sternberg Consulting may publicly name the Client as a reference only if the Client has expressly consented or the cooperation is already public. Confidential project details remain protected.
13 Final provisions
(1) Amendments and additions to these terms require written form.
(2) Jurisdiction, where permissible, is Dresden. German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
(3) If any provision is invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected.