1. Shipping and handling conditions
- Delivery is Ex Works (EXW), Basel, Switzerland, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
- Prices exclude VAT, customs duties and import taxes.
- Average delivery time for Switzerland is one (1) business day.
- Where the Customer’s carrier account is used, only the applicable handling fee will be charged. The carrier account number, shipping instructions and all other required information must be stated in the Purchase Order.
- Lead times will be confirmed upon receipt of a firm Purchase Order and will commence only after receipt of all required raw materials, information and documentation.
Standard shipping fees
- Switzerland: CHF 100 per shipment
- European Union: CHF 150 per shipment
- Rest of the World: CHF 250 per shipment
Dry ice shipments
- Switzerland: CHF 250 per shipment
- European Union: CHF 350 per shipment
- Rest of the World: CHF 500 per shipment
The above fees cover standard packaging, shipment preparation, handling, documentation and logistics coordination performed by SpiroChem.
Courier charges, customs duties, taxes, import fees, brokerage fees and other third-party logistics expenses may be charged separately at cost.
Special packaging, hazardous-goods documentation, temperature-controlled transport, expedited delivery or Customer-specific shipping requirements may result in additional charges.
2. Storage
Storage services may be charged as follows:
- Room temperature storage: CHF 50 per bin per month
- Refrigerated storage (2-6 °C): CHF 80 per bin per month
- Frozen storage (-80 °C): CHF 120 per bin per month
Storage charges shall continue until the material is shipped, destroyed or otherwise disposed of upon the Customer's written instruction.
3. Payment conditions
- Payments apply on a per-project, milestone or per-compound basis as defined in the applicable quotation.
- Unless otherwise specified in the quotation, 50% of the quoted project value shall become due upon receipt of the Purchase Order and before commencement of work as a non-refundable Project Setup & Resource Reservation Fee.
- The remaining 50% shall be invoiced according to the agreed milestone schedule, monthly invoicing schedule or upon completion of the relevant services.
- The Project Setup & Resource Reservation Fee compensates SpiroChem for scientific evaluation, project onboarding, planning activities, personnel allocation, laboratory capacity reservation and administrative setup activities.
- Once project initiation activities have commenced, the Project Setup & Resource Reservation Fee shall not be refundable.
- All invoices will be sent electronically in PDF format. A paper copy can be sent to a postal address upon request.
- All bank fees and currency conversion charges shall be borne by the Customer.
- In the event of late payment, SpiroChem AG reserves the right to suspend deliveries and/or project activities, cancel outstanding obligations and charge penalty interest of 9% per annum on all unpaid invoices.
4. Pass-through costs
All third-party costs incurred on behalf of the Customer, including but not limited to reagents, starting materials, external analytical services, subcontractors, shipping, customs duties, taxes, storage, software licences and other project-specific expenses, shall be re-invoiced to the Customer.
A Procurement, Administration and Logistics Fee of 15% shall apply to all pass-through costs, subject to a minimum fee of CHF 250 per invoice.
Project-specific reagents, consumables and materials shall be invoiced separately unless explicitly included in the quotation.
Where agreed with the Customer, SpiroChem scientists may purchase project-related reagents up to CHF 1,000 per order without prior Customer approval. Purchases exceeding CHF 1,000 require prior Customer approval unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Project-specific reagents from existing inventory
Where materials, intermediates, reagents or compounds already available within SpiroChem's inventory are allocated for use in a Customer project, SpiroChem reserves the right to charge such materials to the project based on the quantity consumed. Charges shall be determined using the then-current market value of equivalent commercially available materials or, where no directly comparable commercial product exists, a reasonable value reflecting the complexity, availability and replacement cost of the material. Supporting information regarding such charges shall be made available upon reasonable request.
SpiroChem shall not be required to provide such materials at no cost solely because they are already available in its inventory.
5. Scientific quotations
The first two (2) hours of quotation preparation are included free of charge.
Where scientific evaluation, route design, feasibility assessment, project planning or quotation preparation exceeds two (2) hours, SpiroChem reserves the right to charge such services separately at SpiroChem's then-current consulting rates.
Any quotation fees paid by the Customer may be credited against the first project invoice at SpiroChem's discretion.
6. Project management and administrative services
Unless explicitly included in the quotation, project management, reporting, administrative support, project coordination, vendor coordination and related services may be invoiced separately.
7. Scope changes
The pricing presented in the quotation is based on the agreed scope of work, assumptions and deliverables.
Any modification to project objectives, quantities, deliverables, analytical requirements, timelines, reporting requirements, scientific strategy or other project parameters may require additional resources and may result in additional charges.
SpiroChem reserves the right to revise pricing, timelines and deliverables accordingly. Additional work outside the agreed scope may be quoted and invoiced separately.
8. Exchange rate fluctuation clause
- SpiroChem AG reserves the right to adjust prices on the date the invoice is issued if the USD/CHF or EUR/CHF exchange rate, as applicable, differs by more than 2% from the exchange rate applied on the date of the order confirmation.
- SpiroChem AG reserves the right to adjust prices on overdue invoices if the exchange rate differs by more than 2% from the exchange rate applied on the date of invoicing.
9. Claims
- Goods must be opened and inspected immediately upon receipt.
- Returns will not be accepted without prior written authorization.
- Claims must be submitted in writing within ten (10) days after receipt of the goods.
10. Documentation and origin
MSDS and CoA are sent at the time of shipment. Partial shipments are possible upon request. Country of Origin: Switzerland.