General Terms and Conditions: MC2020 / Efficient Eco Projects
Last updated: March 2026
The following terms and conditions apply to all freelance services I perform for clients, including but not limited to technical documentation, structured writing, multilingual stakeholder communication, and remote project and operations support.
1. Definitions
For the sake of clarity and simplicity, the client is referred to throughout this document as “You” or “the Client”. MC2020 / Efficient Eco Projects is one organisation and is referred to as “I” or “Me”.
2. Independent Contractor Status
I operate as an independent contractor and not as an employee, agent, partner, or representative of the Client. Nothing in our agreement creates an employment relationship, joint venture, or any form of agency between us. I retain full control over the manner and means by which I carry out the agreed work, and I am responsible for my own tax obligations, social contributions, and professional insurance.
I may be engaged by other clients during the period of our work together, provided this does not result in a conflict of interest or a breach of the confidentiality obligations set out below.
3. Competencies and Mutual Obligations
You confirm that: you have the authority to enter into this agreement on behalf of yourself, your company, or your organisation. You will provide me with everything I need to complete the agreed work on time and in the format required. You will review my work, provide feedback, and give approvals in a timely manner. Deadlines apply to both parties, and you will be bound by any dates we agree upon together.
I confirm that: I have the experience and ability to perform everything we have agreed, and I will do so in a professional and timely manner. I will strive to meet every agreed deadline and will maintain the confidentiality of all information you provide to me, in accordance with Section 5 below.
4. The Agreement
Our agreement is considered valid and binding as soon as both parties have signed a contract, or as soon as I have sent you a written order confirmation by e-mail and you have not objected to its terms within two (2) working days of receipt.
Where a Client’s own contract or terms and conditions are also in force for a given engagement, the Client’s contract shall govern for that specific engagement in the event of direct conflict with these terms. Any matters not addressed by the Client’s contract shall be governed by these terms.
5. Confidentiality
I treat all information you share with me in connection with our work as confidential. This includes, but is not limited to: business strategies, processes, systems, personnel data, client lists, technical specifications, financial information, and any other non-public information you designate as confidential or which a reasonable person would understand to be confidential given its nature.
I will not disclose your confidential information to any third party without your prior written consent, and will not use it for any purpose other than performing the agreed work.
These confidentiality obligations do not apply to information that: (a) is or becomes publicly available through no fault of mine; (b) I already possessed before our engagement; (c) I receive independently from a third party with no confidentiality obligation; or (d) I am required to disclose by law or a competent authority, in which case I will notify you promptly where permitted.
These obligations survive the termination or completion of our agreement for a period of three (3) years.
6. Subcontracting
I do not currently subcontract work to third parties. Should a future engagement require specialist input beyond my own capacity, I will inform you in advance and obtain your written consent before involving any third party. Any such third party would be bound by equivalent confidentiality obligations before receiving any information relating to your project.
7. Changes, Revisions, and Scope
The price agreed at the start of our engagement is based on the scope of work as described at that time. I am happy to accommodate reasonable changes, but any request to expand or materially alter the agreed scope will be treated as additional work and quoted separately before execution.
For text production and research: once work is underway, I expect the original input and reference materials not to be modified before the agreed delivery date. If you wish to change direction or add new elements while work is in progress, I will provide a revised estimate for the additional scope.
After final delivery, you agree to review my work — or have it reviewed by a suitably qualified person — and communicate any corrections within ten (10) working days of the delivery date. The delivery date is defined as the date on which I send the completed work to the email address you have specified for this purpose. Within that window, I will carry out one (1) round of corrections at no additional cost. Requests received after the ten-day period may be subject to additional charges.
For ongoing or multi-phase engagements (project support, documentation auditing, operations assistance), formal acceptance is considered to have occurred when you confirm approval in writing — including via e-mail — or when the ten-day correction window lapses without substantive objection, whichever comes first.
Following final delivery and acceptance, I accept no responsibility for any changes made to my work by parties other than myself.
During longer projects, I will provide regular opportunities — typically two or more per week — for you to review progress and give feedback. If at any stage you are not satisfied with the direction of the work, Section 8 below governs cancellation.
8. Cancellation
Either party may terminate our agreement by giving at least ten (10) working days’ written notice. In the event of early termination, you agree to pay in full for all work completed up to the termination date, calculated on a pro-rata basis according to the agreed fee. Where a project has been substantially underway, a cancellation fee equivalent to twenty percent (20%) of the remaining outstanding fees may also apply, to account for opportunity cost and work already scheduled.
I reserve the right to suspend or terminate work immediately in cases of non-payment, breach of these terms, or conduct that makes continued collaboration untenable. In such cases, payment for all work completed remains due.
9. Liability
I will always carry out my work with care, professionalism, and attention to detail. However, I cannot guarantee that all deliverables will be entirely free of errors in every circumstance. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, my total liability to you in connection with any engagement — whether in contract, tort, or otherwise — shall not exceed the total fees paid by you to me under that specific engagement during the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
I am not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages, including but not limited to lost profits, lost data, or business interruption, even if I have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Nothing in this section limits liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or any other matter that cannot be excluded under applicable Dutch law.
10. Intellectual Property and Copyright
You confirm that all source material you provide to me — whether text, data, images, audio, or other media — is either owned by you or used with appropriate permission. You accept full responsibility for any third-party intellectual property rights in materials you supply.
Upon receipt of your final payment in full, all intellectual property rights in the deliverables I have created specifically for your project will be assigned to you. This assignment covers the specific work product only, and does not include any pre-existing tools, methodologies, templates, or background knowledge I used in producing it, which remain my property.
I will provide you with the final files — including editable source files where applicable — upon final payment. I do not undertake to retain copies of your project files after delivery, and I recommend you store them securely.
AI training restriction: I do not, at any time, consent to my work being used to train, fine-tune, or otherwise develop any artificial intelligence or machine learning system, by you or by any third party, without my prior written consent. This restriction applies to all deliverables produced by me, as well as to the content of this website.
Portfolio rights: Unless you explicitly object in writing, I reserve the right to reference our engagement, display relevant deliverables, and describe the nature of the work in my professional portfolio, on my website, and in articles or other publications. I will not disclose confidential information in doing so.
11. Payments
For engagements involving work over an extended period or delivered in multiple stages, a payment schedule will be agreed between us in advance.
Unless a separate payment schedule has been agreed, invoices are due within fourteen (14) Dutch working days of the date of issue. For a precise definition of Dutch working days, see netherlands.workingdays.org.
Any objection to an invoice amount must be communicated to me in writing (e-mail is acceptable) within fourteen (14) working days of the invoice date. After that period, the invoice is considered accepted and the full amount is due.
In the event of late payment, I reserve the right to suspend work on any active or pending engagement until outstanding amounts are settled. Statutory interest may be applied on overdue amounts in accordance with Dutch law.
Unless otherwise specified, all amounts are in Euros (€).
12. Reservation of Title
All deliverables remain my property until full payment has been received. Until that point, you are not entitled to sell, sublicense, or use my work as consideration in any transaction.
13. Severability
If any provision of these terms is found to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions.
14. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These terms constitute a legally binding document. Although written in plain language, the intentions are serious. This agreement is governed exclusively by Dutch law. Any disputes arising from or in connection with these terms shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of the Netherlands. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna Convention) is explicitly excluded.
MC2020 / Efficient Eco Projects · Harlingen, The Netherlands · melecoronato.com