These are our standard Terms and Conditions for consulting services. If you hire Opus One® for a consulting project, these will, by default, represent our basic operating assumptions about our relationship.

1. Quality is the most important thing to us. We will not work in an environment where we are not satisfied that we can do the best job possible.

2. For fixed price work, our quote includes all expenses and should be considered the bottom-line cost for our services. For all other work, our rates are competitive and range from $2000 to $3000 per day, plus any expenses. Rates vary depending only on the type of the project (standard consulting, laboratory testing, or training) and your scheduling window (see item 3 below).

   We don't "surcharge" expenses, and we use normal service providers: AT&T, Federal Express, etc. You are free to require any specific carriers or billing arrangements; in fact, we prefer to charge expenses of this type directly to you, if available.

   We will handle any air travel in a way which balances your desire for thrift with our need to keep our staff healthy, happy, and effective. We will also respect any preferences you have for hotels, rental cars, and meals. If you would prefer fixed-cost for travel expenses, please ask, and we can prepare a quote based on your location and current market conditions.

3. We do not like to work in panic mode. If you need us to work in panic mode, it will be very expensive. In particular, any project started on less than one month notice is defined as "panic mode." Panic mode rates start at 150% of normal rates and can be higher, depending on circumstances.

4. We are frequently out of town, or unavailable. If you think that you'll have need of the time of one of our staff, check our calendar in advance.

5. We will treat anything and everything you tell us as a trade secret, and not disclose it to any third party. Unless you ask specifically, our business relationship is not considered secret nor is the general nature of our work together.

   We may have occasion to provide you with software or documentation which we have written as part of our business and which belongs to us and which we consider our trade secret. You may use this freely within your organization, but you may not distribute it further. You should treat this software or documentation in the same way you treat your own trade secrets.

   You may ask us to develop new written materials or software to meet a particular need of yours. We normally do not consider these "works for hire," but we do agree that you have a nonexclusive right to do anything you want with them, including reselling them or making them widely available. If you want to own all rights to our work product (i.e., a true "work for hire"), please make sure you state this up front.

6. Accounting can be handled any way you prefer. Normally, we send out invoices for accumulated time once a month. If you prefer other arrangements, this is fine, but should be stated ahead of time. We will charge a 15% late fee on invoices which are more than one month overdue. Your accounting department should be told that we are a "Net 30" invoice.

   For tax purposes, you should handle any payments you make to us in the same way you treat other corporations.

7. Your clients (or customers, or whatever you normally call them) are your clients, and your employees are your employees. We will not solicit or accept business from your clients, and will not hire your employees for at least a year.

8. Our relationship is based on mutual respect and common business practice. When we work for you, it is for you exclusively. We don't take kickbacks from vendors, and we only recommend products and procedures that we have tested and used ourselves. If you have any question at all about why we suggest a particular solution, please ask.