General terms and conditions of the CiviCRM services provided by Coop SymbioTIC

Table of Contents

  1. Software updates
  2. Technical support
  3. Backups
  4. Security
  5. Confidentiality
  6. Payment
  7. Changes to fees
  8. Termination
  9. Satisfaction guarantee
  10. Exemption clause
  11. Conflicts, arbitrage, applicable laws

The following conditions apply to all clients of the CiviCRM hosting services provided by Coop SymbioTIC, technical support and other interventions required to ensure the security and quality of our services. By subscribing to the CiviCRM hosting of Coop SymbioTIC, including subscriptions by a third-party (partner, reseller or other intermediary), you accept the policies described in this document.

Back to top

1) Software updates

Our CiviCRM hosting packages are "cloud hosting" services, where Coop SymbioTIC manages the technicalities related to the installation and upgrades of the software (CiviCRM, Drupal, WordPress, their modules, plugins or extensions). To ensure the security of your data and the quality of the service, Coop SymbioTIC automatically runs minor upgrades when necessary.

There are three main types of updates to expect:

  • CiviCRM and Drupal/WordPress security upgrades: as with most software, a security issue might be discovered in CiviCRM, Drupal WordPress or one of their modules or extensions. When this happens, a security fix might need to be applied to your site. Coop SymbioTIC automatically applies security upgrades within a short delay. CiviCRM security announcements are published on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. For more information on CiviCRM security announcements, see: https://civicrm.org/security. The same conditions apply to Drupal (https://www.drupal.org/node/1173280).
  • Minor upgrades: CiviCRM publishes a new version every month. These new releases include new minor improvements or bug fixes. Coop SymbioTIC usually applies these minor upgrades every 3 to 5 months, unless there is a security release. We also backport bugfixes in between releases. If one client runs into a bug, we will apply the fix to all clients.
  • Major Drupal upgrades : Drupal publishes a new major version every 3 to 5 years. These upgrades often require manual intervention to convert the site from one version to the next. The hosting packages of Coop SymbioTIC are designed to easy this type of transition, at no extra cost. However, we cannot guarantee that this upgrade will be done immediately when a new version of Drupal is out. Heavily-customized websites (using many Drupal features, panels, views, custom Drupal modules) may incur extra cost. Any intervention that may incur extra costs will be subject to an evaluation and approval of the client.
Back to top

2) Technical support

Any incident related to our hosting (i.e. making sure that the service is responding correctly) is our responsibility and part of our hosting service. However, unless you have a service agreement, our hosting service does not include consulting, training or technical support. We are also not responsible for issues that may be encountered with customizations after running an upgrade. This also applies to CiviCRM extensions, Drupal modules or WordPress plugins that are not part of our standard service.

Support requests must be created on our Gitlab issue tracking tool. If you do not have access, please request an account from our contact form.

To reduce the response time, we will try to resolve your request directly, if we think that the intervention will take less than one hour. Otherwise, we will provide an estimate of the work required to resolve the request. The work done will be invoiced at the end of the month. You will also received a detailed time report of interventions that were invoiced. We invoice by increments of 15 minutes. The hourly rate will be the rate that was provided when the hosting account was created, and per our terms of "changes to fees" (detailed below).

We try to respond within 2 to 3 working days. Unless you have a service agreement, this response time is not guaranteed. For emergencies, please write "URGENT" in the subject of your request. Emergencies may be invoiced at twice the regular rate, however this will be confirmed with you before the work is started.

Back to top

3) Backups

Coop SymbioTIC does automatic daily backups of Client data. This includes the files and the databases required by CiviCRM.

Coop SymbioTIC keeps 14 days of daily backups, as well as 3 weekly backups and 4 monthly backups.

The backups are hosted off-site, with another provider than our primary hosting provider.

If the Client requests a restoration from a backup, Coop SymbioTIC will invoice the work required for the intervention. Such interventions are subject to an evaluation and require the approval of the Client before incurring them.

Back to top

4) Security

Considering that CiviCRM is a management system storing personal information, Coop SymbioTIC takes all reasonable measures to ensure the safety of your data.

  • All web communications are protected using SSL/TLS encryption ("https").
  • Access to CiviCRM will be protected by a username and password unique for each user of the system.
  • Coop SymbioTIC keeps an access log to all services (IP address, timestamp, page accessed) for a minimum of six (6) weeks.
  • Coop SymbioTIC applies operating system upgrades automatically, during the night.
  • Coop SymbioTIC only hosts the minimum required services on its servers. The services do not have any control panel such as cPanel/Plesk or utilities such as phpmyadmin.
Back to top

5) Confidentiality

All parties will commit to take all reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality of all information obtained as part of the agreement:

  • ensure that all passwords are kept private;
  • choose reasonably secure (hard to guess) passwords;
  • to not re-use the same passwords used on other services;
  • to avoid sharing accounts between multiple people, so that we can more easily audit and block access to certain services if necessary;
  • protect all backups;
  • use secure communication tools for the exchange of any confidential information (or of information that provides access to confidential information);
  • share access credentials or permissions on a need to know basis;
  • Coop SymbioTIC will use the information and permissions obtained only to resolve the clearly defined tasks that were requested. Coop SymbioTIC does not share any Client information, directly or indirectly.
    As part of the services provided by Coop SymbioTIC (ex: security upgrades, technical support), the Client authorizes the employees or contractors of Coop SymbioTIC to access its instance of CiviCRM in order to do the tasks at hand, as part of the conditions outlined in this document.
Back to top

6) Payment

  • Payment must be sent either by monthly credit card or wire transfers, or every three (3), six (6) or twelve (12) months by cheque, at the beginning of the billing cycle.
  • Coop SymbioTIC may refuse the option to pay by cheque at any moment.
  • An invoice in PDF format will be sent by email at the beginning of each billing cycle.
  • The Client is responsible for making sure that the invoice is paid on time.
  • Coop SymbioTIC is not responsible if a reminder email was not received by the Client.
  • If the payment is not received on time, a reminder will be sent. If the payment is not received on time, the service will be temporarily disabled until payment is received.
  • Coop SymbioTIC may charge administrative fees for payment recovery at a rate of 2% per month late from the invoice date (26.86% annually).
  • Bounced cheques are subject to a recovery fee of $20.
  • All prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD), unless indicated otherwise.
Back to top

7) Changes to fees

  • Coop SymbioTIC aims to continually reduce its operating costs as we further improve and automate our services. However, Coop SymbioTIC reserves the right to increase the price of its services at most 5% per year (rounded to $5 increments), in order to adapt to, for example, inflation.
  • Unless there is a major unforeseen incident affecting our services, Coop SymbioTIC will not increase the price of the service for the first two years of the subscription.
  • Any change to fees will be communicated thirty (30) days before the next billing cycle.
Back to top

8) Termination

In the event of termination of services, the Parties undertake to implement a constructive and respectful approach known as a “clean break” aimed at facilitating the end of the contractual relationship without conflict or prejudice. They will cooperate to ensure an orderly transition, exchange necessary information and make every effort to maintain a climate of trust until the effective termination of services.

  • If the Client wishes to cancel the hosting agreement, it must inform Coop SymbioTIC by email as soon as possible (voir « Soutien technique »). If there are automatic monthly payments, please inform us at least 5 working days before the next payment.
  • On request of the Client, Coop SymbioTIC will provide a full copy of the database and files of the Client.
  • In good faith, and to the extent possible, Coop SymbioTIC will share all necessary information to migrate to another host or solution. As our services are based on open source software, this information is generally already available. Additional fees may apply to assist the Client in moving to another solution. These fees will be assessed and submitted to the Client for approval before being incurred.
  • Client data will be deleted within thirty (30) days following the cancellation of the service.
  • If Coop SymbioTIC was a reseller of certain services, such as WordPress plugin licenses, the licenses will also be cancelled along with the hosting. Coop SymbioTIC will provide documentation on how to obtain a new license, if necessary. In the case of a domain name, Coop SymbioTIC will provide a transfer code so that the Customer can migrate their domain to another registrar.
Back to top

9) Satisfaction guarantee

The Client has thirty (30) days after the creation of the account to cancel it with full reimbursement.

Back to top

10) Exemption clause

In no event shall Coop SymbioTIC be held liable for any damages or losses caused by Internet security breaches, unauthorized access to confidential data, the Client's own malfunctioning hardware, software or networks, and any other unforeseen circumstances beyond their control; neither can they be held responsible for damages, losses and costs incurred by the Client while requesting services of another provider, replacing hardware and/or software, and performing other related maintenance tasks.

Back to top

11) Conflicts, arbitrage, applicable laws

  • In case of disagreement or conflict that cannot be resolved by email, phone or other forms of direct communication, the parties will request in good faith the services of a mediator before starting any legal procedures.
  • This convention operates within the Quebec legal framework and all legal procedures must be undertaken in the Montreal judiciary district.
  • Coop SymbioTIC servers are physically located in Canada, under Canadian jurisdiction (unless the Client has explicitly requested to be hosted in the European Union).
  • Coop SymbioTIC uses third-party e-mail delivery services (ex: SparkPost.com). These services may be located in the United-States and therefore under United-States jurisdiction.
Back to top