Skip to content
Civic TranslationSan Francisco, CA

For language service providers

Overflow capacity that runs on your process.


You hold the contract and the client relationship. We take the overflow volume, under your agreement, in your files, invisible to the agency you serve.

Scope

What we take.

Public-sector document work in California: notices, forms, applications, handbooks, program materials, and web copy destined for an agency site.

The pairs we are asked for most are Spanish, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Vietnamese, Filipino, Russian, Korean, and Arabic. For any other pair, send the pair and the week. You get a yes or a no the same day.

Situations we are built for

  • An oversubscribed week against a deadline that will not move.
  • A reviewer who fell through on a pair you normally cover yourself.
  • A public-notice date moved forward after the schedule was set.
  • A pair you do not staff and would rather not build for one contract.
  • A qualified second pass on target text that already exists.

Fit

We work to your process.

Your agreement, your files, your conventions. In detail:

  • Your NDA

    We sign yours as sent. No mutual form, no redlines.

  • Your style guide, glossary, and memory

    Send them and they govern. If we think an entry is wrong, we flag it to your project manager and leave it alone until you decide.

  • Your CAT format

    We work in the bilingual files you send and return them in the same format, or inside your server instance under accounts you issue.

  • Your QA form

    If you run a scorecard or a review checklist, we complete it in the fields you use.

  • Your file naming and your handoff route

    Folder structure, naming conventions, and delivery channel are yours.

  • Your deadlines, including the ones that move

    Rush handoffs run on the same terms as scheduled work. An unachievable date is flagged before you commit to your client.

  • A paid test piece

    We will take a paid test before you route live volume, scored by your reviewer against your criteria.

  • Invisible to your client

    No contact with your end client, no branding on deliverables, no marketing use of your name or theirs.

Deliverables

What you get back.

Bilingual files back in the format you sent
XLIFF and its variants, plus a clean target. Segment status and locked content come back the way you set them.
A memory-compatible deliverable
TMX segments for your translation memory, on request.
Layout that survives the language
We handle text expansion, CJK line breaking, and right-to-left typesetting so the target file prints and posts like the source.
A review log
What changed, where, and why, at the level of detail your QA process expects.
A certificate of accuracy under your name or ours
Your preference. On your letterhead, we supply the attestation content and stay off the document.
Terminology feedback through you
Wrong entries, gaps, and source inconsistencies go to your project manager, so the correction reaches the client from you.

Getting started

How a first engagement usually runs.

Four steps, and you can stop after any of them.

Standing terms

Every job is reviewed by a qualified linguist in the pair before it goes back to you, including rush work. That is what makes a short turnaround safe to pass on to your client.

  1. 01

    NDA and rates

    Send your nondisclosure agreement and your subcontractor rate sheet. We reply with the pairs and volumes we can hold.

  2. 02

    A paid test piece

    Real content, scored by your reviewer against your criteria.

  3. 03

    One small live job

    A real deadline with room behind it, to test the handoff, the file round-trip, and response times.

  4. 04

    Standing capacity

    A named contact, a response window we hold, and an agreed way to ask whether we have the week before you promise it.

An agency award that needs a subcontractor: the public agency terms are the same ones we bring to a subcontract.

Send an NDA and a test piece.

Tell us the pair, the volume, and the week you are short. We confirm what we can hold and quote a subcontract job same business day.