Sworn Translation in Kırıkkale

Kırıkkale is a province shaped around the defence industry and petrochemicals. What these two fields have in common is that the documents they generate are not only technical but restricted. With the files that come from here, the first thing a translator needs to know is who will see the text; the second is who must not.

Confidentiality, the first item of business

On corporate work in defence and energy, the undertaking of confidentiality is dealt with before the fee is even discussed. Restricting the file to a small number of people, destroying the working copies once the translation is finished and signing a separate confidentiality agreement on request are all standard practice for us. It may look like a technical detail, but on enquiries originating in Kırıkkale it is the decisive part of the job.

The language of a specification has rules of its own

The commonest mistake in translating technical specifications and test procedures is the loosening of obligation. The difference between “shall be provided” and “is expected to be provided” becomes a matter of dispute at an acceptance test. Tolerance ranges, units of measurement and references to standards likewise have to be carried across to the letter. On files of this kind we apply a second technical reading after the translation.

Type of text	Area of risk	The measure we take
Technical specification	Expressions of obligation	Fixing the set forms
Test and acceptance procedure	Numerical tolerance	A second reading
Material safety information	Warning and first-aid text	Use of standard wording
Supply contract	Liability clauses	Check of legal terminology
Training and certification document	Renderings of titles	Preserving the name of the institution

There are individual enquiries too

Not every job from Kırıkkale is corporate. Service certificates for industrial staff posted abroad, civil registry and education papers for families, and application files for students all arrive regularly. English and German come to the fore in these documents; the languages in which we offer sworn translation are listed on the languages page.

Tender files and references to standards

Because procurement in defence and energy runs through tendering, part of the corporate work originating in Kırıkkale consists directly of tender files. The administrative specification, the technical specification, the annexes to the letter of offer, qualification certificates and reference lists all sit together in the same file. The administrative and technical sections of these documents follow different linguistic regimes: one is legal, the other engineering. Translating the two in the same register weakens the file.

References to standards are the most critical point in these files. The standard numbers, version details and revision dates that appear in the text are not altered under any circumstances; they are data to be preserved, not translated. Units of measurement must likewise not be converted: converting a unit is a decision for the technical team, not for the translator.

With the annexes to an offer, it is time pressure that decides matters. Revisions arriving a few hours before the deadline for submission are commonplace. On work of this kind, rather than translating the whole file again from scratch, we mark the sections that have changed and update only those; that way neither the time nor the cost rises needlessly.

The stage after the tender brings documents of its own as well. Once the contract is signed, delivery schedules, acceptance records, inspection reports and change requests are translated. In these documents the wording that sets out the parties’ obligations has become more binding than it was at the offer stage, and the language tightens accordingly.

On the petrochemical side the files are process-oriented: operating instructions, maintenance procedures, chemical information sheets and emergency plans. In these texts chemical names have to be given in their international forms; the short names in local use may be understood on site, but they cannot appear in the document. Files of this kind we run under the same discipline of confidentiality.

The way we work on these files also differs from the standard: the team is kept small, the file is not broken up and shared out, and the intermediate copies are removed after delivery. However technical the scope, the first rule governing the process is confidentiality.

We do not have a branch in Kırıkkale; files are handled at the office in Ankara and by a team that is deliberately kept small. On sensitive work that is in fact what is wanted: the file is not broken up and shared out, and the intermediate copies are removed after delivery. Because Kırıkkale lies immediately next to Ankara, the wet-signed copy arrives within a short time where digital transmission is not preferred, and if need be the form of delivery is agreed separately.

A short distance, a controlled delivery

Kırıkkale lies immediately next to Ankara. With sensitive files that proximity allows some flexibility in the method of delivery: where digital transmission is not preferred, the wet-signed copy arrives within a short time, and if need be the form of delivery is agreed separately. If you would rather discuss the scope of a corporate job first, you can reach us through the quotation page with a summary of the file.

The information here summarises the process; the notarisation and apostille steps are completed in Ankara. Where you are in any doubt, it is as well to put the point to the institution before you apply.