To ensure a trusted and efficient environment for clients and providers to work together, the following policies apply to all Genohub-managed projects:

General Project Policies

Project scope and price: When the service provider confirms a quote and the client accepts it, both parties agree on the scope, turnaround time and cost of the service exactly as specified in the quote

Turnaround time: Service providers are required to specify a guaranteed turnaround time for every confirmed quote on Genohub. Once a quote has been confirmed by the provider and accepted by the client the project is subject to our Turnround Time Policy. If any issues arise that may affect the turnaround time, the provider should communicate them with the client as soon as possible.

Changes in project scope or price: The service provider is responsible for performing the service exactly as specified in the confirmed and accepted quote. If the provider determines that there is a need to deviate from the accepted quote they must first submit a revised quote to the client. Genohub requires the client’s explicit approval of the revised quote in order to be able to make the necessary payment adjustments.

Data quality: Sequencing projects are by default subject to Genohub’s Standard Quality Policy, unless otherwise specified under the Terms & Procedures sections of the project page. As a provider, if you can’t abide by this policy please get in touch with us at support@genohub.com before you accept any projects.

Project communication: Service providers are strongly encouraged to respond to all customer queries within two business days. We strongly recommend that all written communication between the client and the provider is conducted on the project page. Providers and clients may discuss the project on the phone or through other channels but for Genohub to assist with any potential problems we require that you post a short summary of any updates or agreements to the project page.

Shipping input material: The client may ship the input material to the provider soon after accepting a proposed quote, but work on the project may start only when the payment arrangements are complete (e.g. we have received a purchase order, upfront payment or credit card authorization). The provider is not responsible for storing the samples for longer than 30 days, so if the PO or payment process is going to take longer the client must time the shipment accordingly. Please see the Sample Storage Policies for details. Unless otherwise specified, the client is responsible for all shipping charges when shipping the input material to the provider.

Genohub's Standard Quality Policy

For any Genohub project involving either library preparation, sequencing or both:

• The provider is required to perform QC on the input material, i.e. samples or pre-constructed libraries shipped by the client, regardless of whether the client has performed their own QC. If the provider wishes to charge for this QC, they need to explicitly state the cost for sample or library QC failure before confirming a quote.
• If the input material fails the provider’s quality requirements, the provider must inform the client before proceeding with further library preparation or sequencing work. The provider may cancel the project if input material fails the provider’s quality requirements. If the provider agrees to proceed, the client can choose to ship new input material, or request that the sequencing run proceed at the client’s own risk. Unless otherwise agreed by both sides, the provider is not responsible for the quality of output data if the input material does not meet their quality requirements.

For Genohub projects where the provider performs both library preparation and sequencing:

• If the input material passes the provider QC it is the responsibility of the provider to deliver sequencing data that meet sequencing read guarantees in the quote. This includes redoing the sequencing run if necessary at no additional cost to the client. Sequencing read guarantees only apply for libraries the provider constructs and sequences. Unless otherwise specified in the quote, the provider agrees to deliver pass filter reads that are at least 85% of manufacturer specifications. E.g. if 10 samples are submitted for 1 lane of sequencing and the manufacturer specification for 1 lane is 100M pass filter reads, the guarantee is 8.5M pass filter reads/sample. If 85% is not appropriate for a project, the provider must enter the number of guaranteed reads or state that a guarantee can't be offered.

For all Genohub projects:

• If there is a dispute between the client and the provider beyond what is specified in the quotation, Genohub will mediate to determine if reasonable expectations were met. If it’s determined that the delivered data do not meet such reasonable expectations it is the responsibility of the provider to remedy the situation and redo the sequencing run if necessary at no additional cost.

Payments by Clients to Genohub

• Genohub acts as the payment intermediary between the client and provider.
• For clients based in the United States, full payment for the project is due 10 days after the completion of the project unless otherwise stipulated by purchasing policies of the client’s institution and explicitly stated on the purchase order. For orders under $10,000 payment can be made by credit card at the start of the project, in which case a purchase order will no longer be required.
• For clients outside United States, full upfront payment is due before the project starts.
• For all projects, Genohub will release the payment to the provider after the project is complete. The project is considered complete when the provider sets the status to ‘Complete’ and all deliverables are submitted to the client.

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property

All project information, samples and data a client sends or communicates to the service provider or Genohub is considered confidential. Genohub and the provider will only use the client’s confidential information to perform services, and will not disclose any information to any third party.

Any project-related information furnished by the client, including supplementary files and documents, as well as any data or reports generated as part of the project are considered the intellectual property (IP) of the client and are never transferred to the provider or Genohub.

If a signed agreement is required, please request Genohub’s Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Cancellations and Refunds

• The client can cancel the project at no cost as long as they haven't shipped the input material yet. Genohub will issue a full refund to the client if a payment has already been made.
• The provider can request that the project be canceled if the input material doesn’t meet their quality requirements. The client would be responsible for any provider-specified QC charges up to that point.
• If the client raises an issue about the quality of the results up to 10 calendar days after the completion of the project, depending on the situation, the provider may be asked to repeat the service or a partial or full refund may be assessed at the sole discretion of Genohub. The provider will be liable for such partial or full refund.
• If the client raises an issue after 10 days past the completion of the project, any refunds will be at the discretion of the provider.
• The client may be eligible for a partial refund as per Genohub’s Turnaround Time Policy.

Turnaround Time Policy

The following are definitions of key project milestones for the purpose of tracking turnaround time:

Project Start Date: The project is considered started when the latest shipment of input material has been received by the provider, the client has submitted all of the requested information, and the project has been confirmed by Genohub.

Result Delivery Date: The date when the provider delivers the result to the customer and sets the project status to Results Delivered. The client has 10 days starting from the result delivery date to review the data and communicate any issues/concerns about the results.

Project Completion Date: The project is considered complete 10 days after the Result Delivery Date or the date when the client acknowledges that the project was completed to their satisfaction, whichever earlier.

Turnaround Time (TAT): the number of calendar days from Project Start Date to Result Delivery Date.

Each confirmed Genohub project has a Guaranteed TAT. If the actual TAT exceeds the guaranteed TAT the client may request to be refunded a missed TAT penalty. To do so, the client must make a written request to Genohub within 10 calendar days of the result delivery date. This request will be honored at the discretion of Genohub only if it is determined that the provider has been solely responsible for the delay. The provider will be liable for the missed TAT penalty. The missed TAT penalty does not affect any Genohub service fees owed by the provider.

The missed TAT penalty is equal to 0.5% of the original project total for every 1% delay over the guaranteed TAT. The maximum TAT penalty will be 25% of total project size.

Here are a couple of example scenarios for a $1000 project that has a guaranteed TAT of 20 days:

Example 1:
Actual TAT: 22 days
Delay = (22 - 20) / 20 = 10%
Missed TAT penalty = 5% of project amount = $50 refunded to the client

Example 2:
Actual TAT: 35 days
Delay = (35 - 20) / 20 = 75%
TAT penalty = 25% of project amount (37.5% capped at 25%) = $250 refunded to the client

Sample Storage Policy

The client may ship the input material to the provider soon after accepting a proposed quote, but work on your project may start only when we have received either a purchase order or upfront payment, as indicated on the invoice sent to the client. The provider is not responsible for storing the samples for longer than 30 days, so if the PO or payment process is going to take longer the client must time the shipment accordingly.

After one month from the receipt of the samples if the client hasn’t taken the requested payment action the provider may request that the project be canceled, in which case the input material will be returned to the client. The client will be responsible for all shipping charges.