Ordinary clauses in business conventions

ORDINARY CLAUSES in BUSINESS CONVENTIONS

1 Quantity

Quantity and quality clause is present in any business contract according to its object and nature. The seller, hirer, franchisor, licensor, mandator, the silent partner, lessor, broker, insurer or the ship-owner will make reference to the quantity and the quality of the object of the contract in the quantity and quality clause. They are both established according to the type of contract, nature of assets/goods/services and international trade usage. Different measurement units are used to determine the different quantities.

Weight GB/US  Metric

Linear Measure

G&B  Metric

Square Measures

GB/US

Cubic Measure

GB/US

There are numerous standard measurement units used in international trade :

o      barrel for crude oil

o      bale for cotton, wool or paper

o      bag (70 kos)

o      sack (100 kos)

o      bushel for grains

o      drum, demijohn, carboy, can, for chemicals

o      sets for china, glass

Allowances are also used for fungible goods. The time, the place and the way of ascertaining the weight will also be mentioned in the quantity clause. The contract will always mention whether gross or net weight is understood.

The documents needed to ascertain the quantity are:

the B/L (Bill of Lading)  for the sea transportation

the Way Bill or Air Consignment Note for river transportation, land and air

the mail receipt for mail transportation

Mind also the ways various products are prepared and packed for sale:

A string of bretzels; a bar of soap; a tube of tooth paste; a sample of packet of hair conditioner; a loaf of bread; a cartoon of beer; a 400 g tin of baked peas; a packet of cornflakes; a bunch of grapes, a pack of different soup vegetables; a few sheets of paper; a pair of shoes.

Quality

Quality clause refers to the quality of the goods, services that make the object of the contract. It may involve detailed description from physical, chemical, biological point of view, or the goods state (solid, gaseous, liquid shape, colour, size, content, place of origin, crop year for wines. The technical specification is enclosed to the contract making detailed reference to the specific characteristics of the merchandise that makes the object of the contract.

material that the product is made of

power consumption

output per time unit

operation speed

operation /use instructions, etc

Before concluding the contract the content of the quality clause will be established according to samples, specimens, patterns that will represent references for the goods delivered. In certain situations the brand name /trade mark will be mentioned. Catalogues are also means of confronting the quality of the products offered to those ones delivered.

Roman trade rules and principles are mentioned till nowadays by the expressions: 'tale quale' or 'tel quel' when the product is taken delivery of and paid by the buyer as it is. He takes the risk of any subsequent damage. Products can also be qualified by specific expressions: Fine (F), finest (FF), super fine (FFF) or fair, good, extra, waste, rejects, f.o.q. (fair average quality), g.o.b. (good ordinary brand).

The quality checking will be confirmed by a specialized document: Works Test Certificate (WTC) which guarantees the quality of the goods for a limited period of time