In today's article, we will examine some of the terms that we see during the preparation and examination of contracts that regulate the provisions to be applied to the legal relationship between the parties. Although the concepts of “Sözleşme Bedeli” and “Hizmet Bedeli” seem to have the same meaning, i.e., fee, they encompass different legal concepts. While it is possible to confuse even the Turkish meanings of these two terms, in practice their English translations can also befrequently confused.
As a result of a contract made between two parties, one of the parties is obliged to pay a sum to the other. For example, in a work contract, the owner's debt is to perform and deliver the work, while the person who orders the work is obliged to pay the contract price to the other party. These are the main duties of the parties. Again, in a lease agreement, the lessee is obliged to give the rent to the lessor as the contract price.
Although the service fee is a price paid for the service provided by one of the parties in the legal relationship, it may not always appear directly as the price of the contract between the parties. If we continue with the example of the contract of work, while the parties decide upon the contract price in the contract of work, the fee for another service that the party under the obligation of creating the work can provide in addition to the creation of the work may be determined separately. In this case, one of the parties may also decide on the price of the service to be provided or the service to be received from a third party in the contract. The important thing in terms of translation is that the price to be determined for any product or service is not translated using the same term (for example, price) every time. The fee can be translated in different ways depending on the content and meaning of the document in question, and it is important to find the most accurate translation in terms of using the right terminology.
For example, the term “Sözleşme Bedeli” can be translated to English as “Contract Price”. Although the phrase “Agreement Price” appears to be true in direct translation, it is not commonly used in practice and is not an accurate terminology. The correct legal terminologies for the translation of the term “Sözleşme Bedeli” are “Contract Price”, “Price” or “Consideration”. For the term “Hizmet Bedeli”, the translation “Service Price” can again be used as an incorrect terminology in practice. But this is not the correct translation in terms of terminology. The correct legal terminologies for the translation of the term “Hizmet Bedeli” are “Remuneration” or “Service Fee”.
