German purchasing departments measure their suppliers by Liefertreue, delivery fidelity. The business glossary Welt der BWL gives the formula: orders delivered on schedule divided by all orders. A delivery counts as on schedule only if it comes nicht verspätet oder verfrüht, neither late nor early. Liefertreue can also decide supplier awards. In 2013 the machine builder Zahoransky gave its Business Partner Award to suppliers that had proved especially reliable, insbesondere hinsichtlich Qualität, Liefertreue, Innovationskraft und Preisverhalten, especially in quality, delivery fidelity, innovation and pricing.
Marked as Not Binding
Every German shopper knows the letters UVP on a price tag: unverbindliche Preisempfehlung, the manufacturer’s non-binding recommended price. A shop may compare its own price with a higher manufacturer’s price only if that price is clearly labeled in this way. Vaguer terms such as list price are not allowed for this comparison, because they are ambiguous. Everyday German marks other figures in the same way. Lottery numbers come with Angaben ohne Gewähr, information without guarantee. Offers say freibleibend or Änderungen vorbehalten, subject to change. Section 145 of the Civil Code explains why such markers matter. Whoever offers a contract is bound by the offer, unless he has excluded being bound.
Bound Until a Named Day
In a German public construction tender, a bidder’s price is binding for a set period, the Bindefrist. Section 10 of the VOB/A, the tender rules, says the client sets a reasonable period during which bidders are bound to their offers. A period longer than 30 calendar days should be set only in justified cases. Das Ende der Bindefrist ist durch Angabe des Kalendertages zu bezeichnen. The end of the period must be named as a calendar day. During it, the bidder may not withdraw. The duty also runs the other way. The award must reach the bidder before the period ends.
When the Date Is the Deal
German commercial law knows the Fixgeschäft, a deal in which the date is essential. Section 376 of the Commercial Code covers sales between merchants where delivery must happen genau zu einer festbestimmten Zeit, exactly at a fixed time. If the date passes, the buyer may withdraw. A buyer who still wants the goods must say so at once. Erfüllung kann er nur beanspruchen, wenn er sofort nach dem Ablaufe der Zeit … dem Gegner anzeigt, daß er auf Erfüllung bestehe. He can demand delivery only if he tells the other side immediately after the date that he insists on it. Lawyers give everyday examples: a wedding cake, or 100 bouquets ordered for a wedding on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Their Words Hold
On 20 January 2012 the general assembly of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Rostock adopted a guiding statement for honorable merchants. Ehrbare Kaufleute achten die Gesetze und halten Verträge sowie Abreden ein. Ihre Worte gelten. Honorable merchants respect the laws and keep contracts and agreements. Their words hold. They versprechen nur das, was sie auch halten können, promise only what they can keep. They are interested in caring for business relationships with customers and suppliers over the long term. In Hamburg, the Versammlung Eines Ehrbaren Kaufmanns traces its roots back to 1517. It meets at noon on New Year’s Eve, and more than 2,000 people attended the assembly at the end of 2014.
Sixteen Months Late
Germany’s satellite-based toll for trucks was meant to start on 31 August 2003. The operating consortium, Toll Collect, could not meet the date. Because of various technical problems, the system started only on 1 January 2005, 16 months late and in a reduced form. In July 2005 the federal transport ministry took the consortium before an arbitration tribunal. In May 2018 the parties agreed on a payment of 3.2 billion euros to the Federal Republic. The arbitration ended in July 2018, after 13 years.
A Penalty for Each Day of Delay
A German construction contract can tie the builder to the completion date with a Vertragsstrafe, a contractual penalty. Under Section 339 of the Civil Code, the penalty is incurred as soon as the debtor is in default. In a case decided by the Federal Court of Justice in February 2024, the clause set 0.2 percent of the contract sum for every working day of delay, up to 5 percent in total. The court had held in 2003 that a penalty of 5 percent of the contract sum is just about permissible. In 2024 it struck down the clause for another reason. The sum on which the penalty was calculated was only provisional.
As Punctual as the Railway
Pünktlich wie die Eisenbahn, as punctual as the railway, is an old German phrase of praise. Today it is mostly said with irony. In 2025 only 60.1 percent of Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains arrived on time, according to figures first reported by Bild am Sonntag. In 2015 the share had been 74.4 percent. By the railway’s own definition, a train is late from six minutes of delay. For 2026, the head of Deutsche Bahn, Evelyn Palla, hoped to reach at least 60 percent.
The irony only works because the old standard is still expected.
No reminder needed when the date was agreed
German law normally requires the creditor to send a reminder before the debtor is formally in default. But where the parties have fixed a performance date by the calendar, no reminder is required at all — § 286 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB. Default begins the moment the date passes.
The Latin maxim is quoted in German textbooks: dies interpellat pro homine — the day admonishes in place of the man.
A German who agreed a date does not expect to be chased, and the law agrees with him.