All business relationships shall be conducted exclusively on the basis of these General Terms and Conditions. They form part of all contracts concluded by the German Chemical Society e.V. (hereinafter GDCh) with contractual partners. They shall also apply to all future contracts, even if they are not separately agreed again.
The contractual partner’s or third parties’ terms and conditions shall not apply, even if the GDCh does not expressly object to their validity in an individual case. Even if the contractual partner refers to a letter containing or referring to terms and conditions, this shall not constitute consent to the validity of those terms and conditions.
An order constitutes an offer to the GDCh to conclude a purchase contract. If the goods are not in stock, the contractual partner (purchaser) shall be bound by the order for three weeks. The contract shall come into existence upon expiry of this period unless the GDCh has rejected the contractual offer in writing, including by email, before then.
The contract shall come into existence before expiry of the period if, before its expiry, the GDCh delivers the goods, countersigns the offer, confirms acceptance of the offer in writing or accepts advance payments.
The contractual declaration may be cancelled within two weeks without stating reasons, in text form, for example by letter or email, or by returning the goods. The GDCh reserves the right to deliver after expiry of the cancellation period. The period begins upon receipt of the cancellation instructions. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient to dispatch the cancellation or the goods in good time. Bookings for events are excluded from this. They are subject to a separate cancellation right; see §13.
Cancellation by returning the goods or by letter shall be sent to:
German Chemical Society e.V.
Postfach 90 04 40
60444 Frankfurt am Main
Cancellation may also be made by email to: gdch@gdch.de
In the event of an effective cancellation, the services received by both parties must be returned and any benefits derived must be surrendered. If the services received cannot be returned in whole or in part, or can only be returned in a deteriorated condition, compensation for their value must be paid. If the value of the goods exceeds EUR 40, the GDCh shall bear the costs of returning them. If the value of the goods is lower, the contractual partner shall bear the costs.
If the goods are not in stock, the GDCh shall supply them in accordance with the catalogue. The goods must comply with statutory requirements. Minor customary and reasonable deviations in colour or dimensions shall not constitute a defect.
The agreed prices include VAT. Participation in a Conference may constitute an exception. Additional services are not included in the price.
If the GDCh cannot meet the agreed delivery period, it must inform the purchaser of this in good time. Disruptions for which the GDCh is not responsible, particularly at suppliers, as well as cases of force majeure, shall extend the delivery period by the duration of the disruption. In such cases, the purchaser shall only be entitled to withdraw if, after expiry of the delivery period, they request performance of the agreed services, set a reasonable grace period and this reasonable grace period also expires without result. If the delivery period is determined by calendar date, the reasonable grace period to be set by the purchaser shall begin upon its expiry. The statutory right to claim damages in lieu of performance shall remain unaffected.
Unless otherwise agreed, delivery shall be made ex warehouse to the delivery address specified by the purchaser. Risk shall pass to the purchaser as soon as the delivery has left the GDCh, including where partial deliveries are made. Information about the delivery period is non-binding unless, exceptionally, the delivery date has been bindingly confirmed in writing.
Payment shall be made by invoice. The invoice will be sent to your preferred address by post together with the goods ordered. Invoices for participation in a Conference will be sent by email.
If the purchased goods have a defect for which the GDCh is responsible, the GDCh shall, at its own discretion, be entitled to remedy the defect or provide a replacement. Unless otherwise stated below, further claims by the purchaser are excluded. The GDCh shall therefore not be liable for damage not caused to the delivered item itself; in particular, the GDCh shall not be liable for loss of profit or other financial losses incurred by the purchaser. Where the GDCh’s liability is excluded or limited, this shall also apply to the personal liability of employees, representatives and vicarious agents. If the GDCh negligently breaches an essential contractual obligation, its liability for compensation for property damage or personal injury shall be limited to the damage typically foreseeable.
German law shall apply. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all claims in connection with the business relationship shall be Frankfurt/Main. The GDCh shall also be entitled to bring an action at the purchaser’s general place of jurisdiction.
Registration for events must be made in writing. If registration is not made online, it must be sent by letter, fax or email.
Registration is binding and will be processed in the order in which it is received. The date of receipt by post shall apply. In the event of overbooking, the person registering will be informed immediately.
Only one registration is permitted per participant.
The GDCh reserves the right to invoice the agreed service electronically by email. The fee must be paid after receipt of the invoice, quoting the invoice number, to:
German Chemical Society e.V.
IBAN DE36 5007 0010 0096 6416 01
BIC DEUTDEFFXXX
Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main
Bank address: Roßmarkt 18, 60311 Frankfurt am Main
For Online registration, payment is generally made by credit card or direct debit. It is also possible to choose payment by invoice, which appears on screen after booking and must be printed out.
If the invoice amount is paid before the event, proof of payment must be presented when collecting the documents from the Conference office (Conferences only). Participants who register on site at the Conference office may pay the invoice by EC card or credit card.
Entitlement to participate may be transferred free of charge at any time to a replacement participant to be named in writing. Any difference between the participation fee for members and non-members will be invoiced or credited.
Cancellation conditions for Conferences:
For written cancellations received no later than 6 weeks before the start of the Conference, EUR 25.00 will be charged for national Conferences and EUR 40.00 for international Conferences. For cancellations after the above dates, the full invoice amount will be charged.
Cancellation conditions for GDCh.academy courses:
(A) In-person events
- free of charge up to 71 days before the start of the course
- from 70 to 28 days before the start of the course, cancellation fee of EUR 50.00 (early-career chemists EUR 20.00)
- cancellation after the above dates: full invoice amount
(B) Online course
- free of charge up to 50 days before the start of the course
- from 49 to 7 days before the start of the course, cancellation fee of EUR 50.00 (early-career chemists EUR 20.00)
- cancellation after the above dates: full invoice amount
(1) The event may be cancelled without stating reasons. Fees already paid will then be refunded; no further claims may be made by the contractual partners. A change of speakers or venue shall not entitle the participant to withdraw from the contract or terminate it.
(2) Cancellation by the GDCh where exhibitor contracts exist
If the GDCh has to cancel the event at short notice for reasons for which it is responsible, it shall be obliged to refund the exhibitor’s financial contributions received, in part or in full. The GDCh shall be entitled to retain part of the amount already received from the exhibitor if the exhibitor’s support has already been promoted in advance of the event using the exhibitor’s logo. However, the refund shall always amount to at least 50% of the total sum.
We expressly point out that the purchaser shall be responsible for payment for rooms ordered but not used.
Photographs and video recordings made at events on behalf of the GDCh shall be used by the GDCh exclusively for documentation, reporting and advertising purposes.
The European Commission provides a platform for Online dispute resolution (ODR), which you can find at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We are neither obliged nor willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
If you have any problems, please contact gdch@gdch.de directly – further contact information can be found in the Legal Notice.
Frankfurt am Main, 30 May 2023