Next to the formal warranty, German has a word for what lies outside it: Kulanz, goodwill. The automobile club ADAC explains that after the warranty ends, a manufacturer sometimes shares the cost of a repair out of goodwill. Das ist eine freiwillige Leistung, rechtlich ist er dazu nicht verpflichtet. It is a voluntary act, and the manufacturer has no legal duty. Many manufacturers refuse if the car was not serviced without gaps in their own authorized workshops.
Script Acceptance in Public Television
German public broadcasters formally accept the productions they commission. In 2016 the courts of audit of the states served by MDR, the public broadcaster for central Germany, examined its commissioned productions. Thuringia’s court led the audit. They found that MDR had accepted the script in every case they examined before the cost negotiations. The production contracts ran bis zur Endabnahme durch den MDR, until the final acceptance by MDR. The auditors noted a consequence. In one production, the script acceptance and production release in March 2013 had bound MDR legally to the producer.
How to Object
German official decisions end with a Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung, a notice on how to object. A typical one reads: Gegen diese Entscheidung ist der Widerspruch gegeben, der innerhalb eines Monats bei der Stadt Rottenburg am Neckar … An objection to this decision may be filed within one month with the town of Rottenburg am Neckar, followed by the address and the form. The deadline starts only if the person was told in writing where and by when to object. If the notice is missing or wrong, the one-month period becomes one year.
Change Management by Design
Since 2005 the V-Modell XT has been the standard process model of the German federal government for developing and buying IT systems. Its core has only four modules that every project must use: project management, quality assurance, configuration management, and Problem- und Änderungsmanagement, problem and change management. A project that leaves out any of the four does not comply with the model.
State IT Contracts
German federal authorities buy IT under the EVB-IT, standard contract terms published by the Federal Interior Ministry. They are binding for federal authorities. The EVB-IT system contract provides a Funktionsprüfung, a function test, before acceptance. Unless agreed otherwise, it lasts 30 days. Defects fall into three named classes. A betriebsverhindernder Mangel prevents operation. A betriebsbehindernder Mangel hinders operation. A leichter Mangel is a minor defect. Requests for changes are handled under their own clause.
Damage After a Move
After a household move in Germany, the Commercial Code sets hard deadlines. Visible damage must be reported to the removal firm spätestens am Tag nach der Ablieferung, at the latest on the day after delivery. Hidden damage must be reported within fourteen days. Otherwise the claim lapses. A typical liability notice from a removal firm adds: Pauschale Schadensanzeigen genügen in keinem Fall. General damage reports are never enough. Each damage must be specified.
The Holiday Complaint
A German package tourist who finds a noisy room or a closed pool is expected to report it on the spot. The consumer advice center in Hamburg warns: Ohne eine offizielle Mängelanzeige und Aufforderung zur Abhilfe können Sie später keine Ansprüche geltend machen. Without an official notice of defects and a demand for a remedy, you cannot make claims later. It advises getting written confirmation from the local tour guide. Consumer advisers recommend the Frankfurter Tabelle as a guide to compensation. It is a list of percentage reductions per defect, developed by a Frankfurt court in the 1980s. Daytime noise can mean 5 to 25 percent off. The table is a guideline, not binding.
Freiburg’s Protest
On 2 April 2022 Bayern Munich won 4:1 in Freiburg. During a substitution in the 86th minute, Bayern briefly had twelve players on the pitch. SC Freiburg filed a protest against the result with the German Football Association. The club stressed that it had no part in the error. It said the association’s rules had forced it formal in eine aktive Rolle, formally into an active role. The decision came after einem intensiven und äußerst differenzierten Abwägungsprozess, an intensive and very careful weighing process. The association’s sports court rejected the protest. The fault lay with the referees.
“Changes Must Be in Writing”
German contracts often end with a Schriftformklausel, a written-form clause: Änderungen und Ergänzungen dieses Vertrags bedürfen zu ihrer Rechtswirksamkeit der Schriftform. Changes and additions to this contract must be in writing to take effect. Many add a second sentence: the written-form requirement itself can only be lifted in writing. The law sets a limit. An individual agreement takes priority over standard terms, and a simple written-form clause can be waived without writing. In 2008 the Federal Labor Court held a doubled clause in a standard employment contract invalid, because it could mislead employees about the force of oral agreements.
The Construction Diary
On a German building site, the site manager or supervising architect keeps a Bautagebuch, a construction diary. It records each day’s workers and machines, deliveries, weather, obstructions, inspections and defects found, and when and how they were put right. A building trade publisher calls it eine Hauptleistungspflicht des Bauleiters bzw. überwachenden Architekten, one of the main duties of the site manager or supervising architect. Its value lies in later disputes. Gaps in the record can as a rule not be filled in afterwards.