1. Commencement of Work: The Firm shall provide a Quote (incorporating these Conditions) to the Employer which will be accepted or rejected by the Employer within 30 (thirty) days by way of an Acknowledgment of Quotation. If the Quote is accepted by the Employer by way of Acknowledgment of Quotation, the Firm shall proceed to commence the Services in accordance with the terms of the Contract. If the Firm proceeds to provide the Services without such written acceptance from the Employer, then these Conditions shall apply.

The provision of Consulting Engineering Services (“Services”) incorporates the scope of services in the Association of Consulting Engineers Agreement (“ACE”) as set out in the Quote, except where they are amended by the Conditions herein. The Firm require written agreement of the fee by the Employer prior to commencement of work. Once this has been received, we will continue work unless given written instruction to stop pursuant to clause 14 or otherwise. If we have already started the work, we have the right to invoice the work carried out and fees accrued to date charged to the Employer on a time basis at notified rates. For the avoidance of doubt, should we be required to commence our services prior to receipt, agreement or completion of appointment, framework, purchase order, novation, collateral warranty, third party agreement, reliance letter or any other contract documentation, the Firm will not accept payment being subject to completion, agreement or approval of said documentation. The Employer is not at any time entitled to withhold fees pending completion, agreement or approval of said documentation.

2. Offer Period: The Firm’s offer will remain open for acceptance for a period of 30 days from the date on our covering letter (unless agreed otherwise). If for any reason the Firm is not permitted to commence the Work within 30 days of acceptance of our offer, we reserve the right to re-negotiate. Offers are conditional on written confirmation of the quotation and these general conditions within 30 days.
3. Provision of Services: The scope of Services is set out in the Quote and shall reflect the Association of Consulting Engineers Agreement except where they are amended by the Conditions herein. The Firm will use reasonable skill and care in the provision of its Services. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Contract, the Firm shall not be construed as owing any greater duty than the use of reasonable skill and care in accordance with the normal standards of its profession. For the avoidance of doubt, the Firm shall not be responsible for any fitness for purpose obligations, whether express or implied, unless specifically and expressly agreed in writing.
4. Payment: Fees will be invoiced monthly for the Services unless otherwise agreed against milestones. Payment of fees without set off, retention or discount is required within 28 (twenty-eight) days from the date of invoice, interest being chargeable on overdue accounts at 4% above the Bank of England’s base rate from time to time, or where the project is in ROI, 4% above the European Central Bank’s base rate from time to time. Invoices shall be paid within 28 (twenty-eight) days of the invoice date. The Firm reserves the right to suspend services on any overdue amounts without further notice.
5. Firm’s Fees: The Firm’s fees are exclusive of any allowance for VAT. When payment is made VAT, as appropriate, is to be added at the current standard rate and treated in accordance with the VAT rules relevant to the Jurisdiction in which the works are carried out. The Firm reserves the right to revise its fees in the event of project days, suspension, or significant changes in the scope of work.
6. Clearance of Payment: The Firm reserve the right to request clearance of payment prior to issue of reports, calculations, or detailing/design package. We have secure card payment options or, if preferred, BACS payment is possible.
7. Inflation Adjustments: The Firm shall reserve the right to increase any portion of its fees on 1^st August each year by the rate of inflation. The Firm shall give the Employer not less than 30 days’ prior notice of each increase in the fees.
8. Payment and Suspension: The Employer shall not withhold any fee properly due to the Firm without giving the Firm full details and reasons of their intention to withhold payment no later than 5(five) days prior to the date on which payment becomes due. If payment is withheld and no such fully detailed notice is issued in accordance with the above timescales, the Firm reserves its right to suspend all or part of the services until such time as it is fully paid up by the Employer, subject to issue of 7 (seven) days’ notice to the Employer stating the grounds on which the services are to be suspended. The Firm shall have no liability for delay or damage caused by such suspension. The Firm may charge for any direct costs caused by re-mobilisation of the Services following suspension.
9. Geographical Limitation: Any prices or rates quoted, or standard schedules included, relate to the Services being carried out within the United Kingdom, or the Republic of Ireland where the project in ROI, unless specifically stated to the contrary. The firm shall not be liable for compliance with any laws or standards outside of the relevant jurisdiction unless expressly agreed in writing.
10. Firm’s Documents: The reports, drawings, bending schedules, calculation sheets and all other documents prepared by the Firm (“Designs”) are confidential to the Employer and their professional advisers and under no circumstances may they be passed on or reproduced in whole or in part, nor may they be relied upon by third parties for any use whatsoever. The Firm shall have no liability for any use by the Client of the Designs for any purpose other than that for which it was prepared or provided by us. Use of the Firm’s documents without written consent is at the Employer’s sole risk and the Firm accepts no liability for such use.
11. Title of Documents: Title in the Designs, together with all the information contained therein, and all data generated under the Contract between the Firm and the Employer, shall remain vested in the Firm but when the Employer has discharged all its obligations under Conditions 4 and 5 above, a non-exclusive licence to use the Documents shall be granted to the Employer, the Firm assuming no obligations to third parties and having no liability in relation to the use of the Documents other than for the purposes for which they were originally prepared. Title shall not pass and license to use documents shall be revoked if full payment of fees is not made in full within agreed terms.
12. Copyright: The Firm shall retain all ownership of all Intellectual Property Rights in the Designs excluding any Customer Materials contained within them. Intellectual Property Rights means patents, copyrights, trademarks, design rights, trade secrets, and all other similar rights worldwide, whether registered or unregistered. Notwithstanding Condition 11 above, the Employer will nevertheless be granted a licence to reproduce the Designs for the purposes of completing the project for which they were intended. The Firm shall not be liable for the use of the Designs for any purpose other than that for which the same were originally prepared by us. Any licence is non-exclusive, non-transferable, irrevocable, and limited to the Employer’s use for the relevant Project only, subject to full payment of fees. Where the Employer intends to use any Designs or information provided by the Firm in any litigation or dispute resolution procedure of any kind then the Employer will both advise the Firm in writing and seek the Firm’s approval prior to using them.  The Firm reserves the right to refuse to provide copies of Designs for use in litigation or other disputes involving the Firm.
13. Building Information Modelling: For projects being undertaken utilising BIM then JNP’s services will meet the requirements set out in ISO 19650 for BIM Level 2. JNP will cooperate with the Design Team and Contractor to meet the Employers Information Requirements (EIR) and Asset Information Requirements (AIR) as set out within the agreed BIM Execution Plan (BEP), led by the Employers BIM Coordinator. JNP will produce discipline specific models relative to the services being provided. BIM coordination and production of the Federated Model is to be by others. The Firm’s BIM role is limited to providing information. The Firm shall not be liable for divergences, coordination, or model management.
14. Termination of Services:
    • The Employer and Firm may terminate the Contract for breach of contract by providing not less than 14 (fourteen) days’ notice provided the defaulting party shall be granted a period of 30 (thirty) days to rectify the alleged default and/or breach of contract. Termination of the Contract shall not prejudice accrued rights to fees and/ or damages.
    • The Firm reserves the right to charge for accrued fees and rights to the date of termination.
15. Completion Dates: The Firm will use reasonable endeavours to meet quoted completion dates, but these dates are estimates.  However, time is not the essence of the Contract, and the Firm will not be liable for delay, however caused, nor shall delay be deemed to be a breach of Contract or an act of negligence. Completion dates are estimates only and time shall not be of the essence.
16. Changes to Designs: Changes to any Designs completed or part completed requested by the Employer, or any other party beyond our control, will be charged to the Employer on a time basis at agreed rates. The Firm may charge for design changes required by the Employer and/or any third parties.
17. Exclusion from Fee: Unless specifically stated, the Firm’s fees do not include for the costs of any services or data which may be required from other Consultants, Authorities or Specialists such as site investigations, traffic counts, flood data, sewer records and the like, or any other services or data not specifically referred to in correspondence between the Firm and the Employer, but which are deemed to be necessary by the Firm for the proper execution of the Services. The Firm is not responsible for such exclusions unless otherwise agreed in writing.
18. Exclusion of Services: Unless specifically covered in the fee offer, all other services are deemed to be expressly excluded. All other services not quoted are excluded unless agreed in writing.
19. Third-Party Information: The Firm will rely on the accuracy of all third-party information provided by the Employer or Employers Representative in all aspects of the Services and will not carry out checks on the correctness of the supplied information.  Should the information which is supplied not be correct this may affect the outcome of the Services provided by the Firm. The Firm cannot accept any responsibility or liability due to the consequences of the supplied information being incorrect. The Employer shall indemnify the Firm for reliance on the accuracy of information or data provided by the Employer and/or third party for the purpose of performing the Services.

We may visit the site as part of our familiarisation process, but whilst there, we will not specifically check the validity of any third-party information provided to us. The liability for the accuracy and completeness of all third-party information remains entirely with the providers of that information.

Any changes to Employer and/or third party information may affect the performance of the Services provided by the Firm and as such must be referred back to the Firm. The Firm cannot accept any responsibility or liability due to the consequences of changes to this.

In the event of third-party information not being issued or a delay in receipt of third-party information this will affect the programme, and the Firm reserves the right to charge for any additional costs incurred.

20. Collateral Warranties: If the Firm is required to enter into any collateral warranties or duty of care agreements in a form agreeable to the Firm and do not extend the Firm’s liability beyond the original scope, the Firm reserves the right to charge 5% of the fee associated with those Services requiring warranties or a minimum of £1,000 plus VAT (one thousand pounds) or euro equivalent. Any additional documents or copies will be charged at £200 plus VAT (two hundred pounds) or euro equivalent per copy. Collateral warranties to be provided only if expressly required within six months.
21. Letters of Reliance: If the Firm is required to provide any letters of reliance in a form agreeable to the Firm and do not extend the Firm’s liability beyond the original scope, they shall be subject to a standard charge of £750 plus VAT (seven hundred and fifty pounds) or euro equivalent per report named in the letter of reliance to cover management and insurance costs. Letters of reliance to be to be provided only if expressly required within six months.
22. Liability: Subject always to the Firm’s liability in relation to claims for death, personal injury or fraud, the Firm’s total aggregate liability in connection with the Contract (whether in contract, tort including negligence, breach of statutory duty or howsoever arising) shall not exceed £1 million (one million pounds sterling), or the euro equivalent where the project is in ROI, or any other amount stated in the Contract, whichever is the lesser.
23. Consequential Loss: Under no circumstances shall the Firm be liable to the Employer for any indirect or consequential loss suffered by the Employer including (without limitation) loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of business or business opportunity.
24. Net Contribution: The Firm’s liability under the Contract (and any collateral warranties) shall be limited to the extent that the proportion of loss which it would be just and equitable to require the Firm to pay having regard to the extent of the Firm’s responsibility for the same and on the basis that those other contractors, consultants and suppliers who were engaged in connection with the project shall be deemed to have provided contractual undertakings on terms similar than the Contract to the Employer [or the collateral warranties to the Beneficiary] in respect of the performance of their services and shall be deemed to have paid to the Employer [or the Beneficiary] such proportion as it would be just and equitable for them to pay having regard to the extent of their responsibility.

The Firm shall maintain professional indemnity insurance from the commencement of the Services or the date of this Contract (whichever is earlier) insuring against liability for claims, damages, losses and expenses arising out of the acts, defaults or omissions of the Firm in the course of the Firm’s performance of the Contract for an amount of £1million (one million pounds sterling), or the euro equivalent where the project is in ROI, any one claim, such insurance to be maintained for 6 (six) years from completion of the Services.

25. Disbursements: The Firm will provide the Employer with an estimate of disbursements and expenses prior to incurring them. Such items include but are not limited to travel, printing, mapping, photocopying, surveys, audits, applications, third party contractors and other regulatory fees.

Disbursements and expenses may be charged to you as soon as they are known and approved. In all circumstances in which your instructions involve a significant amount of administration such as printing, photocopying, binding etc, the Firm shall be entitled to add an administration charge to our bills to cover such expense.

All third-party costs paid by the Firm on behalf of the Employer shall incur a 20% administration fee (unless agreed otherwise).

26. Acceptance of Documents: The Firm will not accept any consequences caused by the delivery of any drawings by others, either in electronic or hard-copy format, if they are not:

• • accompanied by a formal Document Issue Register
  • clearly annotated to show what revisions have been made since their previous issue

The Firm will require, free of any charge to the Firm, hard copy back-up prints or PDF electronic copy of any drawings by others that are sent to us in electronic format.  This is to enable us to check that third party e-drawings look as they are intended by their originator should we open or print them.

27. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 / The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (together the ‘CDM Regulations’): Where the project is located in the United Kingdom, it is assumed that the Employer is fully aware of their obligations as ‘Client’ under the CDM Regulations, and that they will comply with those obligations. The owner of the site, or any party recognised as the ‘Client’ under the current CDM Regulations that apply to the relevant jurisdiction, has a duty under the CDM Regulations to investigate the site and provide the gathered information, with assistance from the Principal Designer, to the Firm at the outset of the Firm’s engagement. This is a duty that cannot be delegated to the Firm. The Employer remains responsible for ensuring that the ‘Client’s’ duties are met (Industry Guidance and relevant clauses of the CDM Regulations). The Firm shall not be deemed to be principal designer unless formally appointed in writing. Further information can be found here.

CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS:

Where the project is in ROI, the Employer shall ensure that all necessary safety precautions and regulations applicable to construction operations on the Project are observed including the Construction Regulations, Building Regulations and codes of practice. The Employer hereby elects to be treated as the only client pursuant to the Construction Regulations. The “Construction Regulations” means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013, as amended. The “Building Regulations” means the Building Regulations 1997 to 2022 and the Building Control Regulations 1997 to 2021, and any amendment thereto.

28. The Building Safety Act 2022; Building Regulations 2010 (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023; Part 2A – Dutyholders and competence: If your project is subject to a Building Regulations Application submission (applicable to England and Wales) and there is likely to be more than one Contractor working on the project, you must also formally appoint a ‘Principal Designer’ and ‘Principal Contractor’ to undertake these dutyholders responsibilities under the Building Regulations and sign off the Local Authority Building Control ‘Notice of Completion’. These appointees must have control of the design phase (Principal Designer) and building works (Principal Contractor) respectively. NOTE: these are separate formal appointments to the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor appointed under the CDM Regulations. We have assumed that the Architect (or another designer) has been appointed as Lead Consultant and will lead and control the coordination of designs by the other Consultants. JNP will not act in the capacity of ‘sole designer’ or ‘Principal Designer’ under the Building Regulations and therefore will not be authorised to sign the LABC Notice of Completion.
29. Limitation:
    • No action or proceedings for any breach of the Contract whether in contract or in tort or in negligence or for breach of statutory duty or otherwise shall be commenced against the Firm after the expiry of 6 (six) years from the earlier to occur of (i) completion of the whole of the Services or (ii) termination of the engagement under the Contract, (in Scotland: 5 years from the claimant becoming aware, completion or termination).
    • This Condition shall not apply to any liability in respect of death, personal injury, fraud, or any matter that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
30. Force majeure. Neither party shall be liable for any delay or failure in performing any of its obligations for so long as and to the extent that the delay or failure results from events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control.
31. Assignment and other dealings.
    • The Employer shall not assign, novate, transfer, mortgage, charge, subcontract, delegate, declare a trust over or deal in any other manner with any or all of its rights and obligations under the Contract without the prior written consent of the Firm (consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed).
    • The Firm may at any time assign, novate, transfer, mortgage, charge, subcontract, delegate, declare a trust over or deal in any other manner with any or all of its rights and obligations under the Contract, provided that it gives prior written notice to the Employer.

32. Confidentiality.

• • Each party undertakes that it shall not disclose to any person any Confidential Information of the other party, except as permitted by this Condition.
  • Each party may disclose the other party’s Confidential Information:
    • to its employees, officers, representatives, contractors, subcontractors or advisers who need to know that information for the purposes of exercising its rights or carrying out its obligations under the Contract. Each party shall ensure that its Representatives comply with confidentiality obligations which are substantially equivalent to those set out in this Condition ; and
    • as may be required by law, a court of competent jurisdiction or any governmental or regulatory authority.
  • Neither party may use the other party’s Confidential Information for any purpose other than to exercise its rights and perform its obligations under the Contract.

33. Entire agreement.
    • The Contract constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes and extinguishes all previous agreements, promises, assurances and understandings between them, whether written or oral, relating to its subject matter.
    • Each party acknowledges that in entering into the Contract it does not rely on and shall have no remedies in respect of any statement, representation, assurance or warranty (whether made innocently or negligently) that is not set out in the Contract. Each party agrees that it shall have no claim for innocent or negligent misrepresentation [or negligent misstatement] based on any statement in the Contract.
34. Variation
    No variation of the Contract shall be effective unless it is in writing and agreed by the parties (or their authorised representatives).
35. Waiver
    • A waiver of any right or remedy is only effective if given in writing and shall not be deemed a waiver of any subsequent right or remedy.
    • A delay or failure to exercise, or the single or partial exercise of, any right or remedy does not waive that or any other right or remedy, nor does it prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.
36. Severance: If any provision or part-provision of the Contract is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed deleted, but that shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of the Contract.

37. Notices

• • Any notice given to a party under or in connection with the Contract shall be in writing and shall be:
    • delivered by hand or by pre-paid first-class post or other next working day delivery service to its address specified in the Contract Details; or
    • sent by email to the email address specified in the Contract Details,

    or to any other address as it may have notified to the other party in accordance with this Condition.

• Any notice shall be deemed to have been received:
  • if delivered by hand, at the time the notice is left at the proper address;
  • if sent by next working day delivery service, at 9.00 am on the second Business Day after posting; or
  • if sent by email, at the time of transmission, or, if this time falls outside business hours in the place of receipt, when business hours resume. In this Condition, business hours means 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday on a day that is not a public holiday in the place of receipt.

38. Third party rights: The Contract does not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of the Contract. Where the project is in ROI, the Contract does not give rise to any rights to third parties to enforce any term of the Contract.
39. Disputes: If a dispute or difference arises under the Contract which cannot be resolved by direct negotiations, each Party shall give serious consideration to any request by the other to refer the matter to mediation.
40. Adjudication: If a dispute or difference arises under the Contract which either party wishes to refer to adjudication, the Employer accepts that any disputes can be referred to Adjudication pursuant to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 for projects in England, Wales or Scotland, the Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 and The Scheme for Construction Contracts in Northern Ireland Regulations (Northern Ireland) for projects in Northern Ireland 1999 and the Construction Contracts Act 2013 for projects in ROI. Each party shall bear its own costs unless the adjudicator decides otherwise.
41. Governing law: The Contract, and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which the project is located.
42. Jurisdiction: Each party irrevocably agrees that the courts of the relevant jurisdiction in which the project is located shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with the Contract or its subject matter or formation.

 

GEO-ENVIROMENTAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

1. Site Investigation quotations are necessarily in the form of a schedule of rates or a Bill of Quantities. The estimated total value given is provided for guidance only and is based on assumed provisional quantities, based on what we currently know/infer about the site and likely ground conditions.  The final value and time for completion will depend on the actual work undertaken. If unexpected or unforeseen ground conditions are encountered at the site that necessitate different or additional investigation techniques to address, this would be identified to the Employer, and additional cost proposals would then be provided to investigate the issue. 
2. Site Investigation Conditions of Contract: Physical Site Investigation site works, and testing will be carried out in accordance with the ICC Infrastructure Conditions of Contract: Ground Investigation Version (2011), or such later edition or reprint published by the Association of Consulting Engineers and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, except where amended by the Firms Conditions of Contract, which shall take precedence over all other terms and conditions. Design of site investigations will be carried out in accordance with the ACE Professional Services Agreement Advisory, Investigatory and other Services 2019.
3. Abnormal Working: Exploratory hole formation operations are to be performed without interruption in one visit during our normal working hours unless stated otherwise. The Firm has made no allowance for any abnormal working such as night or Saturday / Sunday working. The Firm shall require payment at an hourly rate detailed in our offer for all delays due to circumstances beyond our control including, but not limited to, the consequences of working in inter-tidal areas.
4. Traffic Management: Unless the Firm has specifically stated otherwise, no allowance has been made for the provision of any traffic control, watching, lighting or protection of the work. In the event of these proving necessary, the Firm shall require to be paid for the above at Dayworks Rates in the Current Schedule of Dayworks of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association.
5. Unavoidable Damage: Whilst the Firm will confine its site investigation operations to the minimum extents required for access and working areas, it cannot be held liable for any damage caused whilst at, or in gaining access to each exploratory hole or test position.
6. Access and Continuity: Any offer for site testing is based on drivable access being available for all our plant and equipment. In addition, we require to be able to work continuously from one test position to the nearest adjacent test position and all such positions must be suitable for immediate and unobstructed access for the plant and equipment stated in our offer. We shall charge for all additional costs incurred plus 20% (unless agreed otherwise) if this condition is not met.

Whilst we will endeavour to limit costs, if we cannot complete the proposed works due to circumstances outside of our control, abortive costs may be charged which could be up to the full cost of the hire of the sub-contractors and JNP time.

7. Services: During site investigation fieldwork the Firm shall not be held responsible for, and the Employer shall indemnify the Firm against, any claims arising from any damage or the consequence of any damage to mains and services such as cables, pipes, sewers, etc., the positions and nature of which are not clearly indicated in writing to us prior to the commencement of the Works. The rights and obligations under this condition shall be unaffected by any electronic or other searches we have made.
8. Reinstatement: Except where expressly stated, our offer makes no allowances for removal of turf, breaking out surface coverings or subsurface obstructions. Similarly, no allowances have been made for reinstatement other than the replacement of cut cores or sections and their temporary securing with site mixed grout or concrete as appropriate. The Firm’s rates include for backfilling exploratory holes and pits with arisings only as a safety measure, and not in a manner that is equivalent to the strength of the original ground. The Firm have not allowed for any further reinstatement subsequent to the original backfilling and accepts no liability for any loss or damage as a consequence of reusing arising material as backfill. The rates for backfilling with grout, if quoted, are based on grouting the theoretical borehole volume per metre. Should loss of emplaced grout occur the Firm require reimbursement at the standing time rate plus materials and any additional plant at cost plus 20% (unless agreed otherwise).
9. Security of Monitoring Installations: Where long term tests or instrumentation have to be left unattended, the Employer is required to provide adequate watching, lighting and security. All losses and damage to our equipment or instrumentation would be charged at replacement cost plus 20% (unless agreed otherwise). In this connection we require the Employer’s representative to accept in writing and take responsibility for all completed installations as soon as they have been commissioned and remain responsible for any consequences of damage thereto.
10. Personal Protection Equipment: On contaminated land sites; should we consider that additional personal protective / safety equipment, ablution facilities etc are necessary, then the additional charges will be levied at cost plus 20% (unless agreed otherwise) with all delays chargeable at the appropriate hourly rate. Additionally, we would reserve the right to renegotiate the rates for execution of the Works.
11. Adequacy of testing: The Firm accepts no liability as to the adequacy of testing (including Waste Acceptance Criteria testing) instructed by others. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the Firm shall not be responsible for interpretation of any such testing.
12. Testing Liability. The Firm’s liability under any contract for testing shall be strictly limited to the invoice value of the analyses performed.
13. Management of Hazardous Soils: Our offer makes no allowance for the containment of arisings and/or disposal of samples and/or arisings from a site which are deemed hazardous under the European Waste Catalogue 2002 (and subsequent updates). All such material shall be collected and disposed of by the Employer, at no cost to the Firm.
14. Laboratory Testing Programmes: Unless specifically defined otherwise in our offer, laboratory test results will generally be reported within 10 working days (14 calendar days) of receipt of the samples for test or the testing schedules, whichever is later. Turnarounds can be expedited, but only upon an instruction from the Employer, and agreement of additional fees.