Acquisitions and Directory Services (ADS)
Volume 15, No. 3, October 2011
New Contract Clause — Translation Memory
Note: The new clause applies only to contracts with Professional Services and not to those with the Parliamentary Services and Interpretation.
Background
The Translation Bureau has been using a translation memory for several years now, and it wants to standardize its practices for texts translated with the assistance of the translation memory and bring them into line with common business practice in the translation industry.
Therefore, it has decided to insert a new clause concerning the calculation of the number of words and hours in all translation services contracts. This clause has already been inserted in several large contracts and from now on will be part of all new contracts.
The clause
The new clause, entitled "Number of words or hours," amalgamates several provisions already included in contracts and contains new provisions on the use of the translation memory.
Terminology
Before talking about how the number of words and hours is to be calculated, we need to define some terms.
"Segment" means a string of words beginning at a capital letter and ending at a period or return. For example, this might mean a complete sentence or a heading.
"Match" means a segment that has been retrieved in whole or in large part from a translation memory. An "exact match" is a segment retrieved in its entirety, and a "fuzzy match" is a segment retrieved in large part.
"Repetition" means identical segments within a given text or group of texts. More specifically, these are passages (sentences, paragraphs, etc.) that appear more than once in the same text.
The "weighted word count" means the word count adjusted to take into account the translation effort required. In other words, the translator spends less time checking or revising a passage that has already been translated (exact or fuzzy matches) than translating a new passage in its entirety. The number of words is therefore "weighted" to take into account the translation effort required.
Memory
The translation memory used by the Bureau comprises corpora created from texts translated by the Bureau's translators and suppliers and delivered to clients.
Calculation
The Translation Bureau analyses and preprocesses all texts for translation upon receipt. The analysis identifies repeated, identical and similar passages, as well as new passages, and quantifies the effort required. It should be noted that the method of calculation takes into account the effort required to check (revise) the retrieved segments (exact and fuzzy matches) and to translate the new segments.
Simply put, the effort expected of the supplier corresponds to the weighted word count (equivalent in new words) of the text. The weighted word count is determined using the following conversion factors: 25% of the total number of words for segments that are exact matches, including repetitions (segments in mauve), 50% of the total number of words for segments that are fuzzy matches (segments in green) and 100% of the total number of words for new segments (segments in black).
Disputes
The "Number of words or hours" clause states that the Bureau will provide the contractor with the authorized number of words or hours for the work. Any disputes in this regard must be resolved prior to the start of the work. It is up to the supplier to put forward its arguments in light of the principles and instructions set out in the clause. Lastly, if the parties fail to come to an agreement, the Bureau is responsible for making a decision.
Complete wording of the clause
Number of words or hours
4.1 The following definitions apply to this article:
"Match" means a segment retrieved in whole or in large part (75% of it or more) from a translation memory.
"Repetition" (redundancy) means the recurrence of identical segments within a given text or group of texts. The first occurrence of each segment that repeats is counted as a new segment requiring translation.
"Segment" means a string of words beginning at a capital letter and ending at a period or return.
"Word" means a contiguous series of characters, including numbers.
4.2 The Project Authority will provide the Contractor with the number of words or number of hours. Any disputes over the number of words or number of hours must be resolved prior to the start of the Work. The Project Authority is responsible for making a decision if the parties cannot come to an agreement.
4.3 Subject to 4.7 below, the Contractor will be paid at the rate per word set out in Annex B.
4.4 When the document for translation is not provided in machine-readable form, the Project Authority will provide the Contractor with the estimated word count. The Contractor will be paid on the basis of the final word count of the target text (without applying a conversion factor to account for the difference between the English and French word counts). PDF files that cannot be converted fall into this category.
4.5 When the document for translation is submitted in machine-readable form, the Project Authority will calculate the word count of the source text electronically using the word processing software and version in which the source text was submitted.
4.5.1 With respect to Aboriginal and foreign languages, the electronic word count is based on the text in the official language, be it the source text or the target text.
4.6 When a text is preprocessed using a translation memory, the number of words to be translated by the Contractor is weighted according to the match rate and the repetition rate as established by the translation memory.
4.6.1 In the files for translation, the match rate of segments is indicated as follows: mauve (100%), green (75% to 99%) and black (new segment, 0% to 74%).
4.6.2 The Contractor will be paid on the basis of the weighted word count. The word count is weighted as follows:
4.6.2.1 The total number of words in segments with a match rate of 100% (exact matches), including repetitions, is multiplied by 0.25;
4.6.2.2 The total number of words in segments with a match rate of between 75% and 99% (fuzzy matches) is multiplied by 0.5;
4.6.2.3 The total number of words in new segments (0% to 74%) remains as is.
Example: text of 10,553 words
Word Count
Conversion Factor
Weighted Word Count for Billing Purposes
Exact matches (segments with a match rate of 100%), including repetitions
4,646
0.25
1,162
Fuzzy matches (segments with a match rate of between 75% and 99%)
4,749
0.50
2,375
New segments
1,158
None
1,158
TOTAL
10,553
4,695
4.6.3 The Contractor must translate the new segments and must review the segments with exact or fuzzy matches to ensure that the translation proposed by the translation memory is accurate and that the style and level of language are appropriate.
4.7 At the discretion of the Project Authority, the Contractor will be paid at the hourly rate set out in Annex B in the following cases:
4.7.1 The word count cannot be calculated using the word processing software in question (PDF files excepted);
4.7.2 The available version of the text to be translated is difficult to decipher;
4.7.3 The word count does not reflect the effort required, that is, where the Work involves:
4.7.3.1 changes to a translation (for example, the insertion, removal, adaptation or revision of passages in a document that has been partially or completely translated but not preprocessed using a translation memory in accordance with 4.6 above);
4.7.3.2 images, graphics or other visual elements to be translated that require painstaking technical manipulations (complex graphics, images, etc.), bibliographies or dozens of hyperlinks, which require the display text and underlying target address to be changed;
4.7.3.3 considerable restrictions, such as available space (for example, the number of characters), sonority (for example, rhymes) and cultural references (for example, acrostics, plays on words, slogans, etc.).
