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General terms and conditions for the use of the Orbow platform

review may 2024

The purpose of these General Conditions is to formalise the terms of use for the Orbow Platform by the Client. Any Contract for the use of the Orbow platform, regardless of the method, implies the unreserved acceptance by the Client of these General Conditions of Use.

1 Definition

The following terms and expressions are used in these General Terms and Conditions with the following meaning:

"Platform Administrator": Personnel of the Service Provider responsible for administering the Platform and creating domain administrator accounts.

"Domain Administrator": Client Representative appointed by the Platform Administrator on the Client's proposal on the date the Order is signed. The User is responsible for creating and administering User accounts and projects within the Domain.

"Client": Company holding an Account on the Platform.

"Order": Subject to signature of the Agreement, the contractual document issued by the Client in accordance with the Service Provider's standard form appended to the Agreement signed between the Client and the Service Provider, and which determines the initial or modified content of the Client's portfolio of Licences.

"Contract": Contractual document signed between the Client and the Service Provider to create the Client's Account on the Platform and to create access to the Platform, governed by these General Terms and Conditions.

"Domain": Space reserved for the Client on the Platform.

"Licence": Right acquired by the Client for the Domain, and which the Domain Administrator may grant at any time to a User of the Domain, allowing this User to use functionalities on the Platform during a connection session.

"Platform": Orbow platform, a collaborative web application consisting of a database of projects and geotechnical data and a chain of functionalities made up of tools for analysing and calculating geotechnical structures. Created by the Service Provider and is the property of the Service Provider.

"Provider": Terrasol, the company that creates, administers, and owns the Platform.

"Domain User(s)": Physical person(s) to whom the Domain Administrator gives, under the Client's responsibility and on his behalf, effective access to his Domain on the Platform.

  • A "Member" user of a Domain is created by the Administrator of that Domain, and their account belongs to that Domain. He must therefore be an employee or acting on behalf of the Client. A member can consult all the projects on the Domain.

  • A "Guest" of a Domain is a user added to the Domain (A) but who is a member of another Domain (B). A guest can only consult a Domain A project if they have been explicitly added to it.

2 Availability

2.1 Access

Access to the Platform is via the address app.orbow.com. We recommend using Chrome and Edge browsers.

The Domain Administrator's account is created by the Platform Administrator, who will provide them with a login (e-mail) and a temporary password, which the Domain Administrator must change the first time they log on. Use of a strong password is mandatory.

Each User's account is created by the Domain Administrator, who will also provide the User with a temporary login and password. The Domain Administrator may create as many Users as necessary in their Domain.

Each User must be an employee or acting on behalf of the Client. In the event that a User ceases to work for the Client, the Domain Administrator will be responsible for suspending or deleting the User's account.

2.2 Confidentiality of identifiers

Login details are personal and confidential. If a User loses their password, the Domain Administrator can reset the User's password from the administration page. The password of a Domain Administrator may be reset by the Platform Administrator.

The Client guarantees that the Users will respect the confidentiality of their logins and passwords. IDs and passwords may only be used to allow access to the Platform by Users authorised by the Client, in order to guarantee the security of the Client's data. IDs and passwords must not be passed on to third parties. The Client is solely and wholly responsible for the use and confidentiality of Client Domain account identifiers and passwords and shall ensure that only authorised persons have access to the Platform and the Client Domain.

2.3 Service level

The Service Provider ensures that the Platform is available to the Client 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of maintenance periods. These maintenance operations will be subject to 7 calendar days' notice and an estimated duration. The Platform Administrator will inform all Platform Domain Administrators by e-mail. Maintenance can be carried out during normal working hours (Monday to Friday between 9am and 6pm).

The Service Provider will regularly deploy updates to correct system bugs and modify and add new features. These deployments are likely to cause the service to be temporarily unavailable for a limited period of time, up to a maximum of one (1) hour.

The Platform's Service Level Agreement (SLA) is that of the Service Provider's infrastructure provider, OVH Cloud. The monthly availability rate of the infrastructure used is 99.999%. The Platform's Guaranteed Service Range (PSG) is 5 days a week, Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding public holidays in France. The Response Time Guarantee (RTG) is 16 hours during this GSS (i.e. 2 days maximum). In the event of unavailability, the Service Provider will make every effort to minimise the duration of the unavailability. The Recovery Time Guarantee (RTG) is 32 hours during the GSS (i.e. 4 days maximum).

Under the Evolving Maintenance clause, the Customer shall benefit, for the duration of the Contract, from all updates to all or part of the Platform relating to the licence levels in its portfolio. These updates shall include technical or functional improvements offered exclusively by the Service Provider. The Service Provider undertakes to inform the Customer of any changes as soon as possible and to provide updated documentation for the new versions. The Service Provider undertakes to ensure that updates and new versions of the Platform do not result in any regression in terms of performance and functionality and undertakes to restore, at no additional cost, all general or specific operational functionalities prior to the said update.

2.4 Internet connection

The Client is reminded that access to the Platform requires a reliable and fast Internet connection and that technical hazard inherent in the said connection may affect the use or temporarily interrupt access. Consequently, the Service Provider shall not be held liable for any unavailability or delays on the Platform, or for use degraded by poor connection conditions.

2.5 Data backup - Storage

Data is stored and backed up on servers in France. The Service Provider implements a regular and incremental backup on several geographical sites to prevent the risk of data loss.

The Platform does not constitute a "digital safe" or a cloud service, and the storage space on the Platform is offered to the Client solely to enable, during use of the Platform and for the duration of the Contract, communication of information between several Users of the Platform, and/or processing of the information required to perform the associated services. The Service Provider excludes all liability in the event of loss or theft of data resulting from a malicious or fraudulent act.

The Client's attention is drawn to the need to keep a copy of all information communicated and stored on the Service Provider's servers when using the Platform.

The Client undertakes to make reasonable use of the storage facilities made available to him in connection with the use of the Platform, and to store only data of a professional nature that falls within the scope of his activity. In particular, it is forbidden to use the Platform to store sound files, images or videos unrelated to the Client's professional activity (such as films, music or photos related to hobbies, private life, etc.). Failing this, the Service Provider may suspend the Client's and/or its Users' access to the Platform.

2.6 Assistance

The Platform user guide is included. All Users can consult it at any time.

The Client, via the Domain Administrator, may, in the event of a question or malfunction, contact the Service Provider's support teams by the following means:

  • E-mail: orbow@terrasol.com

  • Telephone: +33 1 82 51 52 00, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6 p.m (UTC+1)

3 Client Account and Licences

3.1 Accounts

Client Users must open a Client Account with the Service Provider in order to use the Platform. This account comes into effect on receipt of the signed Contract attached to the first Order. The Client's Domain and the Domain Administrator's account will be created by the Service Provider within 48 hours of receipt of the Agreement.

3.2 Licences

Use of the Platform by the Client's Users requires a subscription to one or more Licences.

Licences are available at four levels: free, basic, pro and multi.

The free licence is free and allows Users to consult the site's data. The number of Licences free is unlimited for all Domains and is not included in the calculation of the cost of the Client's portfolio of Licences.

Licences basic, pro and multi entitle the holder to features listed in the appendix to any Order form.

A User connected to the Platform uses a Licence. A User who is disconnected from the Platform does not use a Licence. The Domain in which the User works provides the Licence. Where applicable, the Client must provide the Guest Users with a Licence enabling them to work in the Domain.

Subscription to the Platform also includes a flat-rate account management and infrastructure fee based on the Client's consumption in terms of data storage space on the Platform.

To keep the Domain active, the Client must keep in the licence portfolio at least one (1) licence basic and the package infra which corresponds to the state of their data storage space in the Domain.

In the event of termination (§3.4) of all Licences, the provisions of §6.4 relating to data retention periods shall apply.

3.3 Adjustment of the Licences portfolio

The Client may modify the status of their portfolio of Licences for their Domain at any time by means of an amending Order Form.

The change in portfolio composition will be made effective by the Service Provider within 48 hours of receipt of the amended Order form.

If the cost of the Licensing portfolio is modified downwards during the calendar month, the cost before modification will be invoiced for the whole month.

If the cost of the Licences portfolio is increased during a calendar month, the cost after the change will be invoiced for the whole month.

The Client may not delete all the Licences in their portfolio simply by submitting an Order Form.

3.4 Termination by the Service Provider

The Client's Account may be automatically terminated by the Service Provider if the Client fails to fulfil any of the obligations under the Agreement and fails to remedy such failure within thirty (30) days of formal notice being sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, together with an e-mail to the e-mail address provided by the Client.

In addition, the Service Provider may automatically terminate the Account without prior notice in the event that the Client in any way damages the integrity of the Platform or the image of the Service Provider or the Setec Group, and in the event of an infringement of the intellectual property rights.

Any breach of the clauses of these General Terms and Conditions by the Client will automatically result in the termination of the Account, without prejudice to any claim for damages.

4 Responsibilities

4.1 Compliance with these General Terms and Conditions

The Client undertakes to use the Platform only in accordance with their geotechnical requirements.

The Client may not under any circumstances make the Platform available to a third party other than Users and is strictly prohibited from any other use, in particular any adaptation, modification, translation, arrangement, distribution or decompilation.

The Client guarantees compliance with these General Terms and Conditions of Use by all Users and Administrators of its Domain.

If a User fails to comply with any clause of these General Terms and Conditions of Use, that User's access to the Platform may be suspended immediately.

4.2 Specific exclusion

The Platform has been designed for geotechnical and construction professionals. Under no circumstances shall the Client's use of the Platform be considered by the Client or any third party as the Service Provider's involvement, in any capacity whatsoever, in any operation related to the Client's projects or worksites, nor as the Service Provider's involvement in the act of building. Under no circumstances may the Service Provider be treated as a contractor within the meaning of Article 1792-1 of the French Civil Code, nor as a subcontractor of such a contractor, works company, design office, project manager's assistant or the Client's project manager.

The Platform is only a tool made available to the Client, and the Service Provider is not responsible for the use by the Client.

In no event shall the Service Provider be liable to the Client for any special or consequential damages, claims or losses whatsoever arising out of the use or inability to use the Platform.

5 Rules of use

5.1 Restrictions on content

When using the Platform and the storage functions, the Client and/or the Users undertake not to distribute or send any content, in particular:

  • contravening the laws in force;

  • harmful, unlawful, violent, dangerous, abusive, libellous, pornographic, defamatory, invasive of privacy or likely to harm children;

  • that harass, degrade, intimidate or are hateful towards an individual or group because of their religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or disability;

  • impersonating another person;

  • containing personal information belonging to another person without that person's consent, or generally contravening the RGPD (General Data Protection Regulation);

  • false, misleading, fallacious, seeking to disinform or distract;

  • infringes the terms of any patent, registered trademark, trade secret, copyright or other property right of any other person, or content which the User does not have the right to make available to the public in accordance with any legal provision, contractual or fiduciary relationship;

  • promoting illegal services or offering products the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by current legislation, including all items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by French law;

  • containing computer viruses or any other computer code, files and programmes intended to destroy or impair the proper functioning of any computer equipment (software or hardware) or telecommunications equipment;

  • interrupting normal connections by sending an excessive number of messages to the Platform (flooding attack) or generally interrupting users' normal access to the Platform;

  • use false e-mail addresses or headers or generally manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of content transmitted via the Platform.

5.2 Prohibited use

The Client undertakes to ensure that the Users make fair use of the Platform, in accordance with the purpose, in particular by refraining from:

  • reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, decipher or otherwise attempt to obtain the source code relating to any underlying intellectual property used to provide all or part of the Services;

  • use manual or automatic software or devices, robots or other means to access, explore, extract or index any page on the Platform;

  • endanger or attempt to endanger the security of the Platform by attempting to monitor, scan or test the vulnerability of the network or to breach security or authentication measures;

  • simulate the appearance or operation of the Platform;

  • deliberately impose a disproportionate burden on the Platform's infrastructure;

  • attempt to transmit or activate computer viruses via or on the Platform.

Violations of the security of the Platform may lead to civil and criminal proceedings. The Service Provider may call on the legal authorities to prosecute Users who have taken part in such violations.

6 Data

6.1 Data ownership

The Client is the sole owner of the rights to the data processed and/or stored in the Domain as part of the use of the Platform by the Users.

The Service Provider undertakes not to access the Client's data for any reason other than to diagnose and resolve a technical problem relating to the operation of the Platform itself.

The Service Provider is not responsible for the content of the data and, in particular, excludes all liability in the event that the Client and/or the Users process data that is contrary to the laws and regulations in force, or data that the Client is not entitled to use.

6.2 Personal data

The Client acts as data controller under the applicable law, and is responsible for carrying out the necessary formalities with the competent authorities in terms of data protection, and for complying with the obligations under the applicable law.

The Service Provider undertakes to process only the Personal Data that the Client has expressly designated to it, and only on the Client's instructions, and not to use them for any other purpose. In addition, the Service Provider implements the necessary security measures to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the data.

The Service Provider shall not transfer the said Personal Data processed for the purposes of the General Terms and Conditions outside the European Union without the Client's prior written consent.

6.3 Data access

The Service Provider offers solutions to enable the Client to export data from the Domain and the reuse outside the platform:

  • Data type by data type exports (csv files, pdf reports);

  • A global export of a project's ground investigation data in AGS format;

  • Global export of projects and associated data in json format.

6.4 Data recovery in the event of termination

In the event of termination or non-renewal of the Contract, and therefore of all licences to use the Platform for the Client's Domain, the Client will have a period of 2 months from the date of termination to recover all the data stored on the Service Provider's servers for the Client's Domain, using the export formats listed in §6.3.

The Service Provider shall have no archiving obligation. At the end of this period, or earlier at the Client's request, the Service Provider will delete the Client's Domain and will not retain any data associated with this Domain.

6.5 Data security

The Service Provider undertakes to systematically back up the Platform database every 24 hours at a geographical location other than the production infrastructure to enable data to be restored in the event of a problem with the production infrastructure.

7 Intellectual property

7.1 The Service Provider

The Platform is the property of the Service Provider, registered with the APP (Agence de Protection des Programmes) under registration number IDDN.FR.001.380010.000.S.C.2023.000.30500, and is protected by copyright legislation.

The name and logo are registered trademarks under registration number 018722971 and are the exclusive property of the Service Provider.

Only temporary and non-exclusive use of the Platform is granted to the Client, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in these General Terms and Conditions.

All right, title and interest in and to the Platform including all visuals, appearance and functional elements, all source code, computer code (including HTML), application, audio, music, video and other media, design, animation, interface, documentation relating to the Platform are the exclusive property of the Service Provider.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall constitute an assignment or waiver of the Service Provider's intellectual property rights under law.

Any disassembly, decompilation, deciphering, extraction, reuse, copying and, more generally, any act of reproduction, representation, distribution and use of any of the content of the Platform or its various functionalities, in whole or in part, without the permission of the Service Provider, is strictly prohibited and shall constitute an infringement punishable under Articles L.335-2 et seq. of the French Intellectual Property Code. Any such actions would be prosecuted.

7.2 From the Client

The information, regardless of the medium or content, that the Client displays, downloads, enters, provides, communicates, submits or stores as part of the use of the Platform remains the exclusive property of the Client.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall constitute an assignment or waiver of the Client's intellectual property rights under any law.

However, the Client agrees and accepts that by posting, uploading, inputting, providing, submitting content and information, regardless of the medium, in connection with the use of the Platform, the Client thereby grants the Service Provider permission to access such content from time to time solely to enable the Service Provider to maintain and improve the Platform for the Client.

8 Confidentiality

The Client undertakes to treat as strictly confidential all information, communications, letters and e-mails, of whatever nature and on whatever support, transmitted by the Service Provider in connection with the performance of the Order.

The Client undertakes to take all measures to ensure compliance with this obligation of confidentiality and shall refrain from disclosing to any natural or legal person, either directly or indirectly, any confidential information of which they may become aware in connection with the purchase and/or from reproducing and/or exploiting such information, either on their own behalf or on behalf of third parties, for any purpose other than the performance of the purchase.

The Client undertakes to pass on confidential information received only to those members of their staff who are responsible for participating in the performance of the purchase and who have been informed in advance of the confidential nature of such information.

The undertakings given by the Client under this clause shall survive the expiry of the purchase for a period of five (5) years.

It is expressly stipulated that the confidentiality obligations set out in the General Terms and Conditions shall not apply in respect of confidential information disclosed to the Client which:

  • would be widely known to the public at the time of their transmission, or would become so subsequently, independently of any breach of the obligation of confidentiality;

  • would have been known by the Client before they were sent to him, provided that the Client can validly prove that he had prior knowledge of them;

  • would have been communicated by a third party in a lawful manner and received in good faith;

  • have been the subject of a request from an administrative or judicial authority; or

  • constitute information the use or disclosure of which has been specifically authorised in writing by the Service Provider.

9 Publications

By signing the Agreement, the Client authorises the Service Provider to use the Client's name on the Service Provider's advertising and marketing materials, websites and social networks.

10 Guarantees

The Service Provider warrants that they hold all necessary rights to grant the Client the right to use the Platform as set out herein.

The Client acknowledges that they have received all information enabling them to fully understand the Platform and to assess the suitability for their needs.

11 Force majeure

Neither of the Parties may be held liable for any breach of the obligations under the Contract if such breach results from a case of force majeure as defined by article 1218 of the French Civil Code.

The Party prevented from performing must inform the other Party without delay of the inability to perform their contractual obligations. Force majeure suspends the obligations arising from the Contract for as long as it exists. However, if the force majeure continues for a period in excess of fifteen (15) days, the non-hindered Party may terminate the Contract, without such termination being deemed to be in breach of contract. In such a case, termination must be notified by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt and will take effect on the date of receipt of said letter.

12 Insurance, social security and tax obligations

The Service Provider takes out insurance for the provision of the Platform, which is the subject hereof.

The Service Provider certifies to the Client that the Client's situation with regard to the tax authorities and social security institutions is in order. They declare that they have fulfilled the various obligations listed in article L. 8221-1 of the French Labour Code, and certifies that the Contract will be carried out by employees who are regularly employed. They guarantee the Client against any claims in this respect.

13 Applicable law - jurisdiction

These General Terms and Conditions are governed by French law. They may only be modified by an amendment signed by the Parties.

Any dispute arising from the use of the Platform or the application of these terms and conditions shall fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tribunal de Commerce de PARIS (75).

14 Evolutionary character

These General Terms and Conditions are subject to change, which the Parties expressly accept. Consequently, the Service Provider reserves the right to amend these General Terms and Conditions at any time, subject to thirty (30) calendar days' notice. By continuing to use the Platform after the expiry of this period, and/or by paying the related invoices, the Client agrees to be bound by the new conditions as amended.

15 Ethics

The Service Provider is an ethical company which attaches particular importance to the fight against fraud and corruption and which expects any person or company dealing with them to adhere to the same principles and scrupulously comply with the regulations in force.

Consequently, the Client irrevocably undertakes to respect the elements stipulated in this article.

Any breach by the Client of the provisions of this clause shall be deemed to be a serious breach entitling the Service Provider, at their discretion, to terminate the Agreement without notice or compensation, but without prejudice to any damages to which the Service Provider may be entitled as a result of such breach.

The Client guarantees that any person, natural or legal, acting on their behalf under the Contract:

  • Comply with all anti-corruption regulations;

  • Shall not, by act or omission, do anything that could render the Service Provider liable for non-compliance with existing regulations aimed at combating corruption;

  • Implement and maintain their own policies and procedures relating to ethics and anti-corruption;

  • Inform the Service Provider without delay of any event which comes to their attention and which could result in obtaining an undue advantage, whether financial or of any other nature, in connection with this Agreement;

  • Provide any necessary assistance to the Service Provider to respond to a request from a duly authorised authority relating to the fight against corruption.

It is understood that no obligation under these General Terms and Conditions shall have the effect of obliging either Party to breach obligations relating to the fight against corruption.