Access to services

This document sets out the general terms and conditions applicable to the commercial relationship between SDLABCOMO S.r.l. (hereinafter also “SDLAB” or “the laboratory”) and its customers.

This document is available for consultation at SDLAB's premises; all customers are invited to review it as it is the reference document governing the management of the relationship with the customer and applies whenever the customer delivers material to SDLAB for analysis.

The submission of materials for analysis under the terms indicated below constitutes a contract between the parties and implicit acceptance of these conditions. SDLABCOMO reserves the right to modify these Terms and Conditions from time to time. In the event of changes, the version in force is deemed to be the one valid at the time samples are submitted.

Samples must be delivered to SDLAB together with the “Intake form” MD08.2 available at the laboratory's premises or on request from customer service. MD08.2 must be delivered completed in the relevant sections and must clearly show all information required for proper handling and analysis by the laboratory; should the material be submitted without the aforementioned MD08.2, a substitute sheet completed and signed by the company and containing the minimum necessary information will also be accepted, including but not limited to:

• Details of the requester and the party named on the test report (if different from the requester);
• Unique identifier of the submitted sample;
• Type of analyses requested, including the applicable standards;
• Any request for return of residual materials;
• Indication of the side to be tested if not evident and/or of any specific areas to be tested.

In case of unclear requests, doubts about the applicability of methods to the delivered sample, inadequacy/insufficiency of the sample, or requests for obsolete methods, SDLABCOMO will contact the customer before performing the test(s) to agree on the actions to be taken.

If the laboratory deems materials unsuitable for testing, the customer may still request their execution, assuming responsibility for the unreliability of the test results.

Submission of materials constitutes implicit authorisation to cut them unless otherwise indicated in MD08.2.

The Customer is responsible for correct delivery of material to SDLABCOMO and, in any case, SDLABCOMO accepts no liability for any loss or damage to material occurring during transport. The Customer is at all times responsible for the safety, packaging and adequate insurance coverage of the material during transport.

Except in specific cases, sampling of materials to be tested is the customer's responsibility. Material delivered to the laboratory will be subjected to analyses that are representative solely of the properties of that delivered material. In no case are the analyses performed on delivered materials to be considered representative of the entire lot to which the submitted reference relates.

The environmental conditions applied by the laboratory for tests requiring conditioning are the standard ones set out in ISO 139:2011 [(20±2)°C; (65±4)% R.H.]. Any alternative conditions must be requested from the laboratory before the testing activity begins.

Most commissioned tests are destructive; destructive test specimens (e.g. tensile or tear specimens) are not retained but disposed of at the time the test is performed. Requests for their return must be made at the time samples are submitted. Witness specimens from performance tests are delivered to the customer together with the test report.

Unless otherwise requested by the customer, residual materials from tests will be retained for 30 days from the issue of the test report; after this period the materials will be disposed of.

All records relating to test reports, including certified copies of the reports themselves, will be retained, unless otherwise indicated or subject to specific legal requirements, for a minimum period of 48 months.

Original test reports will be retained for a period of 3 months from issue; after this period SDLAB will dispatch them with shipping costs charged to the customer based on the shipping rates in force at the time. Courier shipments requested by the customer will be entirely at their expense, including any additional packaging costs.

Where SDLAB is unable to perform tests as requested by the customer, it reserves the right to subcontract them to suitably qualified third-party laboratories that are, where possible, accredited for the tests concerned. Subcontracting of accredited tests normally performed by SDLAB is however excluded except in cases of force majeure.

In all cases the laboratory informs the customer of the need to subcontract and proceeds only upon the customer's formal approval, reporting the details of the subcontracted laboratory in the test report.

For subcontracted activities SDLAB remains responsible to the customer, except where the customer itself indicates the third-party laboratory to which the analyses should be entrusted.

SDLAB has a regularly updated price list and may offer the customer specific quotations in the form of individual offers, framework agreements, subscriptions or other forms of contract agreed between the parties. When entrusting analyses covered by specific offers, the customer must indicate them when submitting samples for the analyses covered by such offers.

Offers for specific analyses may not be combined in any way.

Any modifications requested to offers in force require a review of the conditions and the issue of a new document that cancels and replaces the previous one. Modifications are submitted to the customer for approval before they can be considered valid.

Unless otherwise indicated, offers show prices excluding VAT and any other tax or ancillary charge.

Payment for the tests performed must be made within thirty (30) days of the invoice date, unless otherwise agreed in writing between the Parties. Any dispute of the invoice must be communicated to SDLABCOMO within ten (10) days of its issue.

SDLABCOMO reserves the right to cease performing tests at any time, or to cease any activity performed for the Customer, where the Customer is more than 15 (fifteen) days late in paying an invoice, regardless of whether it relates to that Order or not.

For certain types of test (e.g. determination of carcinogenic aromatic amines from azo dyes and determination of total fluorine content) the quoted price covers up to a maximum of 3 colours. For samples containing more colours, one or more additional tests must be considered.

For colour fastness tests, unless otherwise agreed, the quoted price refers to a single sampled area. For tests requiring multiple areas, the price will cover all the areas analysed.

The Customer is responsible for the conformity of the Samples with the legislation in force in Italy on hazardous waste. The customer is obliged to inform SDLABCOMO of any health and safety risks associated with the delivered material.

The Customer undertakes to indemnify and hold SDLABCOMO fully harmless from all damages and third-party liabilities that SDLABCOMO or its personnel may incur as a result of the delivered material.

Any expenses and costs relating to the disposal of hazardous waste arising from the aforementioned material are entirely borne by the Customer.

The Customer must communicate to SDLABCOMO the exact chemical composition of the material and, in any case, must inform SDLABCOMO in writing prior to shipment where the samples sent are hazardous and/or toxic.

The service commissioned to the laboratory concludes with the issue of the test report, which sets out, in addition to test results, information provided by the customer for which the customer takes responsibility. Reissue of test reports is admissible only for:

• errors made by the laboratory in transcribing the data provided;
• inaccuracies in the information relating to the tests;
• customer request to add new tests or to include statements of conformity.

Reissue of test reports is not admissible for:

• requests to modify the data relating to the sample;
• requests to modify the customer's data;
• removal of tests erroneously commissioned by the customer.

Reissued test reports carry a statement making it clear that they cancel and replace the previous test reports to which they refer. The reissued report indicates the reason that led to reissue.

Results in test reports do not indicate, unless requested by the customer, measurement uncertainties. Where stated, measurement uncertainties are expressed as expanded uncertainties (denoted “U”) calculated with a confidence level of 95% and coverage factor k=2.

Where a statement of conformity is requested, the laboratory agrees with the customer the reference document on which conformity is to be based. Where the reference document does not indicate criteria linked to uncertainty, the laboratory provides the statement without taking measurement uncertainty into account. According to ILAC G8:2019, this corresponds to a level of risk of false acceptance/false rejection of the test results equal to or lower than 50%.

Where statements of conformity are applied to specific laws, regulations or customer-defined requirements that indicate the criterion for declaring conformity, the laboratory refers to that criterion to define the associated risk.

The laboratory issues test reports in English. Should the customer require the report in other languages, the request must be made when the sample is received and issuance may involve administrative costs to be quantified on a case-by-case basis. Any requests to issue test reports in other languages received after the original test report has been issued will result in the issue of an erratum report.

SDLABCOMO shall be liable to the Customer only for direct and immediate damages caused with wilful misconduct or gross negligence.

In no event shall SDLABCOMO be liable to the Customer, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, for damages caused by slight negligence and/or for indirect damages, damages arising from loss of use or downtime of machinery, loss of profit, reputational damage, loss of chance, etc.

In any case, any liability for fault of SDLABCOMO shall be limited to the lower of: (i) the direct and immediate damage caused by SDLABCOMO during the execution of an Order and (ii) an amount equal to 10 (ten) times the value of the test or tests concerned, net of VAT and other taxes.

Any disputes concerning the results of the analyses must be made in writing to SDLABCOMO within ten (10) days of receipt of the test report.

If there are doubts about the test results provided, the customer may request repetition of the analyses; in any case, except where the results of the repeated analyses differ significantly from the original results, the Customer shall bear the costs of the repeated analyses or of any additional verification work required. Furthermore, an analysis may be repeated only provided that SDLABCOMO has sufficient quantities of the original Sample available when the Customer's dispute is received. Otherwise, the customer shall bear all additional costs, including sampling, transport, analysis and disposal of the Samples, necessary to carry out the repeated analyses.

The law applicable to the Contract is Italian law. Any dispute relating to the application, execution, interpretation or breach of the Contract shall be subject to Italian jurisdiction and to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Como.

SDLABCOMO shall not be liable for delays, errors, damages or other inconveniences caused by events or circumstances unforeseeable or beyond SDLABCOMO's reasonable control, or imposed by laws, regulations or government orders.

Personal data voluntarily provided by the Customer will be processed by SDLABCOMO through manual and electronic systems for administrative, tax, commercial and legal purposes, adopting the appropriate measures to ensure security and confidentiality, in compliance with EU Regulation 679/2016 (“GDPR” or “General Data Protection Regulation”).

SDLABCOMO declares that it has complied with all legal requirements concerning privacy legislation under Legislative Decree no. 196/03 and subsequent amendments, that it has fulfilled the notification to the Italian Data Protection Authority, and that it has put in place effective systems for processing, storing, protecting and destroying the data in its possession.

The Customer enjoys all rights under the aforementioned Legislative Decree and the legislation in force in Italy upon acceptance of our services and may at any time access their personal data and object to its use (art. 7 and 8 of the Code) by contacting the details indicated.

The data controller is SDLABCOMO S.R.L., registered office at Via Recchi, 2 – 22100 Como (CO).

SDLAB does not disclose outside its own organisation the non-public information provided by the customer, except in cases of force majeure identified as an obligation to disclose information, including confidential information, to law enforcement or competent authorities that request it in connection with the ascertainment of specific obligations.

Test Reports are prepared and transmitted for the exclusive use of the Customer or of another entity expressly indicated in writing by the customer and are not disclosed, subject to the circumstances referred to in point 9 above, to third parties for any reason.

Partial, incomplete or in any way modified transcriptions of test reports are not permitted without the prior written agreement of SDLABCOMO. Even where SDLABCOMO has given its written consent, the customer remains in any case responsible for any consequences of the disclosure of the Test Reports and for any reliance placed on them by third parties.

The customer may lodge a complaint about any activity forming part of the service received from the laboratory. In order to be handled, the complaint must be addressed to the laboratory in writing using the customer's preferred means of communication.

The laboratory is required to handle the complaint promptly, assessing its merit and defining any causes and corrective actions.

The outcome of the investigation and of the handling of the complaint is transmitted by the laboratory to the customer in writing, where necessary, within the time allowed by the management process.

Particularly serious or high-impact complaints affecting accreditation may be lodged by the customer directly with Accredia through the body's institutional channels. In this case, the time for handling the complaint will also include the times envisaged for the body to take charge of it.

Test reports issued bearing the accreditation logo contain at least 1 of the tests for which the laboratory holds accreditation. Tests, or individual species within them, not covered by accreditation are marked with the symbol “*”.

Test reports that do not contain any of the accredited tests are issued without the accreditation logo or reference to accreditation.

The accreditation logo is not to be understood as approval by Accredia of the quality of the tested material, of the laboratory's performance in respect of non-accredited tests, nor as a certification of the entire production associated with the tested goods.

The presence of the accreditation logo is to be understood as a third-party assessment, carried out by audit by the accreditation body, of the laboratory's competence solely in respect of the accredited tests.

The list of accredited tests can be found on the Accredia website (Databases – Accredia – Testing laboratories).

Concerning the quantity of material required for tests, the following table applies:

Regarding sampling rules, the following points are important:

Submissions to the laboratory of samples unsuitable for the requested tests will be flagged on receipt. The same applies to tests requested under conditions not aligned with the method requirements (e.g. physical-mechanical tests without prior conditioning of the specimens).

Authorisation to proceed with the tests despite unsuitability will result in unreliability of the results, for which the laboratory accepts no responsibility.

Unsuitability will in any case be reported on the issued test report.