Terms and Conditions for Support and Maintenance (AMC)

These AMC Terms govern the manner in which Contech S.r.l. provides the Client with technical support and maintenance services on existing industrial automation systems and software.

The purpose of the AMC Contract is to guarantee operational continuity, qualified technical support and defined response times, in order to minimise plant downtime, preserve the efficiency of the systems and provide the Client with a dedicated and competent technical point of contact.

The AMC Contract is a fee-based service agreement, for the duration indicated in the offer.

The offer accepted by the Client (the contract) defines the scope, AMC level, included hours and calls, intervention methods and fees. Each scope has its own contract.

The AMC Contract neither replaces nor suspends the warranty provided for by the Contech General Terms and Conditions of Sale. Defects covered by the warranty are corrected without using up the included hours; as long as the AMC Contract is active, the times of the chosen level also apply to them. Outside an AMC Contract, the warranty does not provide for intervention times.

For the purposes of these AMC Terms, the terms listed below have the meaning indicated next to each of them, unless otherwise specified in the context:

The AMC Contract applies only to the scope described in the offer. Anything outside it is not covered: another site, another machine or another system requires a new AMC contract, with its own technical and financial assessment.

Contech reserves the right to verify, when acknowledging reports, that the plant or system covered by the request falls within the contractual scope. Any out-of-scope interventions will be treated as activities outside the contract and quoted separately.

The AMC Contract includes the following technical support and maintenance activities, carried out by qualified Contech personnel, within the limits of the allowance of hours provided for and for the scope indicated in the offer:

• Corrective technical support: diagnosis and resolution of faults, malfunctions and functional anomalies on the scope covered by the contract.
• Preventive maintenance: periodic inspections, functional checks and preventive activities aimed at reducing the risk of faults and ensuring the operational continuity of the systems. At the Base level, it uses up the included hours. At the Pro and 7/24 levels, the routine maintenance described in the offer is included in the fee and does not use up the included hours. Routine maintenance includes, within the limits described in the offer: security updates and minor version updates, backups and restoration tests, verification of alarms and diagnostics, periodic review with a summary report.
• Diagnostics and fault analysis: in-depth analysis of the causes of malfunctions, identification of critical issues and formulation of technical recommendations for resolution and prevention.
• Operational software support: technical support for the use, configuration and parameterisation of automation, supervisory and control software.
• Resolution of anomalies and bugs: identification and correction of software anomalies, functional bugs and performance issues found in the software covered by the contract.
• Verification and restoration of functionality: functional verification activities following corrective interventions, updates or modifications, including the restoration of nominal operating conditions.

The included activities are provided in compliance with the response times and intervention methods provided for by the AMC level selected by the Client.

Unless otherwise explicitly agreed between the parties, the following activities are not included in the AMC Contract and shall be subject to a specific quotation and separate approval:

• Extraordinary maintenance: major version upgrades, platform, operating system or database migrations, architecture changes, adaptations to new regulations or to new requirements of the Client. These are subject to a separate offer.
• Design and development of new software: the creation of software from scratch, even if related to the systems covered by the contract, does not fall within the support and maintenance activities.
• Substantial modifications to existing software: interventions involving significant changes to the application logic, the software architecture or the core functionalities, beyond normal corrective and adaptive maintenance.
• Electrical, hardware and software engineering: design, sizing and specification of hardware components, electrical diagrams, network architectures and technical infrastructure.
• Start-up and commissioning: start-up, commissioning, acceptance testing and validation of new plants or systems.
• Electrical diagrams: drafting, revision and updating of electrical diagrams and plant documentation.
• Technical documentation: drafting of operating manuals, functional specifications, technical reports and project documentation.
• Hardware supply: supply of components, equipment, spare parts and hardware materials of any kind.

Coverage depends on the AMC level: Base and Pro from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 to 18:00, excluding public holidays; 7/24 on-call availability every day, 24 hours a day. For all levels, Contech provides a dedicated telephone number.

All times indicated in these terms and in the signed contract are expressed in the CET (Central European Time) time zone during the standard time period and in CEST (Central European Summer Time) during the daylight saving time period.

With every request, the Client states the support code or its own client number.

For each level three times apply, from the logging of the call.

For Base and Pro the times are counted in coverage hours (Monday to Friday, from 9:00 to 18:00, excluding public holidays): a call logged on Friday at 17:00, with acknowledgement within 8 working hours, must be acknowledged by Monday at 16:00. For 7/24 the times are counted in actual calendar hours, because coverage is always on.

The offer may provide for times different from those of the level, including times differentiated by the severity of the report (for example: blocking, serious, minor) and workaround or correction times: in that case the times in the offer apply.

The on-site intervention time applies to plants within 100 km of a Contech office, the same zone as Day-Return Travel, with outbound and return on the same day. For plants outside the zone, the time is the time within which the technician departs, by the first available means of transport: the journey does not count. Abroad, visas, permits and site access do not count either.

The service levels (SLA) represent service objectives that Contech undertakes to pursue in providing technical support. Compliance with the response and intervention times is guaranteed provided that the following technical and logistical availability conditions are met:

• VPN remote access: the Client must guarantee Contech secure and working remote access to the systems covered by the contract, via VPN connection or equivalent tools agreed in advance.
• Plant accessibility: for on-site interventions, the Client must guarantee the accessibility of the plant, the availability of the reference personnel and the safety conditions necessary to carry out the intervention.
• Transport availability: for on-site interventions, compliance with the intervention times is subject to the actual availability of means of transport (flights, trains, car hire) and to the site being reachable.

The service times presuppose that the Client makes available, and maintains for the entire duration of the contract, the necessary access, credentials and environments (VPN connection, access to the systems and to the cloud platforms, test environments), in addition to plant accessibility and transport. If these cease to be available, the times run from when they are available again.

In the absence of one or more of the conditions indicated above, the response and intervention times may vary without this constituting a breach of contract on the part of Contech.

In hours, calls are unlimited and free of charge, for all levels. At the Base and Pro levels, there is no coverage out of hours, at night or on public holidays: the request is acknowledged at the first available working time; an out-of-hours intervention may be agreed on a case-by-case basis, with no call charge, with the hours and surcharges of section 12. The 7/24 level covers all hours: it includes 6 out-of-hours, night-time or public holiday calls for each 12-month period, after which each call bears the acknowledgement charge indicated in the offer; on-call availability guarantees the times, it does not make the call free of charge.

The call charge covers the acknowledgement; intervention hours are counted separately. Unused included calls cannot be recovered.

Technical support is provided primarily remotely, via VPN connection or remote access tools agreed in advance with the Client. Remote intervention allows faster response times and efficient management of technical resources.

Where remote intervention is not sufficient to resolve the issue, or where the nature of the intervention necessarily requires the physical presence of Contech personnel, an on-site intervention will be scheduled as indicated in section 11.

Each on-site intervention is a travel assignment, at the Contech price-list rates in force for the applicable item (Day-Return Travel, Italy Travel, Europe Travel). For holders of an AMC Contract these rates are discounted: Base −5%, Pro −10%, 7/24 −10%, on all travel items in the Contech price list. The travel hours and the hours of the day on site are included in the travel assignment and are not deducted from the included hours.

The offer may include a number of site visits included in the fee: each travel assignment counts as one site visit, even with more than one technician, whatever the destination.

The applicable intervention item (Day-Return Travel, Italy Travel, Europe Travel) determines the rate and the financial conditions relating to the travel assignment and is defined according to the location of the Client’s site in relation to the nearest Contech office.

Where a technical support intervention requires a significant commitment in terms of hours, resources or technical complexity, such as to exceed the normal maintenance and support activity provided for by the AMC Contract, Contech reserves the right to propose to the Client the suspension of the intervention in progress and the preparation of a dedicated offer.

This approach is intended to ensure more efficient management of the intervention, with adequate planning of resources, a clear definition of the scope and timescales and a financial quotation that is transparent and proportionate to the complexity of the activity.

The suspension of the intervention, where proposed by Contech, does not constitute a breach of contract and does not prejudice the Client’s right to technical support for further reports falling within the AMC Contract.

The fee is the one stated in the offer. It is normally invoiced in a single payment on the start date (or on the event that the offer indicates as the start); on request, in 5 or 10 monthly instalments from that date, as indicated in the offer. Hours beyond the package and chargeable calls are invoiced at the end of the month.

The contract lasts 12 months from the start date indicated in the offer, or from the event that the offer indicates as the start (for example, entry into service or the acceptance of a release); or 24 or 36 months if the offer so provides. On expiry it is not renewed automatically.

Contech proposes the renewal at least 60 days in advance, with a new offer at the prices in force. On request, the expiry date alone may be extended by 30 or 60 days, in order to conclude the renewal.

After expiry, interventions are quoted with a separate offer, at the price-list rates without discount.

Each contract has a code (for example AMC-2026-001) and each Client a 4-digit number, which remains the same on renewal: the Client states them with every call.

Each intervention has a service report with the hours used, the hours remaining and the call number; the Client receives it and may sign it online. Every month Contech sends a summary report of hours and calls, which can also be consulted on the portal.

Contech reserves the right to suspend the provision of the services provided for by the AMC Contract in the event of non-payment of the fee or of other sums due from the Client, without this entailing any liability or obligation to pay compensation on the part of Contech.

The suspension of service will be notified to the Client in writing and will remain in force until the payment obligations have been fully met. During the suspension period, the response times and service levels provided for by the contract are not guaranteed.

The suspension does not entail an automatic extension of the contract term. The support hours included in the contract continue to run during the suspension period as well.

For all aspects not expressly governed by this document, including, by way of non-exhaustive example:

• financial conditions and rates;
• invoicing and payment methods;
• suspension of activities for non-payment;
• limitation of liability;
• confidentiality;
• processing of personal data (GDPR);
• force majeure;
• applicable law and competent court;

the Contech S.r.l. General Terms and Conditions of Sale apply in full, in the revision in force at the date of signature of this contract.