Other fees from the German JVEG

My previous post on the Judicial Remuneration and Compensation Act (JVEG) discussed the "standard" rates for translation services. However, there are other reimbursable expenses relevant to translation work, which are covered in Section 7 of the law. Here is my translation of its provisions:

Section 7 - Reimbursement for other expenditures

1. Out-of-pocket cash expenses not cited in particular in Sections 5, 6 and 12 are also reimbursed to the extent that they are necessary. This applies particularly to the costs of necessary representatives and escorts.
2. For each of the first 50 pages of photocopies and printouts produced, the reimbursement will be 0.50 euros per page and 0.15 euros for each additional page; the production of color copies or color printouts is reimbursed at 2 euros per page. The amount of the allowance is to be calculated uniformly for the same matter. The allowance is granted only for copies and printouts from official files and court records insofar as their production is necessary for proper preparation or processing of the matter, as well as for copies and additional printouts which are produced at the request of the party contracting the service.
3. For provision of electronically saved files in lieu of the copies and printouts cited in Paragraph 2, the reimbursement will be 2.50 euros per file.

So according to this, if I am requested to prepare a 10 page certified translation for a local court, in addition to my fees for translation and certification, I would add 50 euro cents for each page of the copy submitted. This would probably be 10 euros (assuming the translation has the same number of pages as the original), because a copy of the original is attached to the translation in such cases.

These reimbursement rates, though intended for the specific context of work with German courts and public prosecutors, are reasonable points of reference for work in other areas where hardcopies or large numbers of files are to be provided. They are by no means overly generous when one considers the time involved, the cost of toner, ink cartridges, etc. I would apply these as standard rates for materials any time hardcopies of a translation are requested, and in cases where I am asked to juggle or process a large number of files, I think a per file additional charge may not be inappropriate. This would be a useful way of distinguishing between a 1 file job with 5000 words and a 100 file job with the same word count. Of course the primary CAT tool I use (Déjà Vu X) handles large numbers of files very well (much better than Trados 7.5 & earlier versions), so I might not be inclined to assess a full € 2.50 per file, but there is still more work involved, so the principle is certainly worth considering.