Betriebsfrieden. Works peace. A concept in German labour law: the works council and employer are under a statutory duty to cooperate in a spirit of mutual trust and to refrain from acts that disturb it. Peace inside the firm is a legal object, with duties attached to preserving it.
The safety factor
Sicherheitsfaktor. German engineering practice works with generous safety factors, specified in DIN standards and in the professional codes of the engineering chambers. The structure is built to carry loads it will never meet. The margin is the contingency, and it sits in the design rather than in a separate plan.
The unlimited contract
The German word for a permanent contract is unbefristet — unlimited, without an end date. The fixed-term contract is befristet, limited. The permanent one is named by what it lacks. The ending is the exception, and the language treats its absence as the normal state.
The body of rules
Das Regelwerk — the work of rules. A German compound naming the whole structure of rules governing a field as a single object, used in engineering, sport, finance and administration. The rules are understood as a system rather than as a collection.
The date must be agreed, not imposed
That automatic default only applies where the date was fixed by contract, by statute or by court judgment. A payment deadline written unilaterally on an invoice does not count — the Federal Court of Justice has held that it is merely an offer of credit terms.
A deadline one party announced is not a deadline. It has to have been agreed.
The negotiation record
Das Verhandlungsprotokoll. German negotiations produce a written record of what was proposed, what was objected to, and what was agreed, circulated afterwards and corrected. Whatever was felt in the room does not survive into the document. Only the positions do.
Who the subcontractor tells
Under German construction practice a subcontractor directs his notice of concerns to his own main contractor, not to the building owner. Notifying only the supervising architect is unreliable unless that architect is demonstrably authorised to receive such declarations.
The chain of responsibility is precise, and the courts have ruled on who counts as the right recipient.
Degree of effect
Degree of effect. The German word for efficiency in the engineering sense — output divided by input — and it appears in ordinary conversation about boilers, cars and appliances. The ratio is a household concept, not a specialist one.
Understanding of the matter
Sache, the matter. Verstand, understanding. Sachverstand is understanding of the matter itself.
English took expertise from the Latin expertus, tried and tested by experience. The English word points at what has happened to the person. The German word points at the subject.
Two cultures locating the same quality in different places.
Rework is the expensive failure
Nacharbeit — rework. A named cost category in German manufacturing accounting, tracked separately from scrap and from warranty claims. The number exists because somebody decided it was worth knowing what correcting things costs. Once it is measured, the argument for deciding correctly the first time makes itself.