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.
The Daily Time Sheet
When construction work in Germany is paid by the hour, the VOB/B requires a paper trail. The contractor must announce hourly work before it begins. Then he submits Stundenlohnzettel, lists of hours, materials and equipment, daily or weekly according to custom. The client must return the certified lists within six working days at the latest. Objections can be written on the sheet or sent separately. Nicht fristgemäß zurückgegebene Stundenlohnzettel gelten als anerkannt. Sheets not returned in time count as accepted.
Announce It First, or It Is Not Paid
German construction contracts under the VOB/B set strict rules for extra work. A contractor who does work the client demands but the contract does not provide for can claim special payment. Er muss jedoch den Anspruch dem Auftraggeber ankündigen, bevor er mit der Ausführung der Leistung beginnt. But he must announce the claim to the client before he starts the work. For changes the client orders, a new price should be agreed before the work is done. As a rule, work done without an order, or by departing from the order on one’s own, werden nicht vergütet, is not paid. Handling these claims has its own name in the industry: Nachtragsmanagement, the management of contract supplements.
By Registered Mail
German consumer advice treats a complaint as something to put in writing and prove. A leaflet of the consumer advice center in Baden-Württemberg says: Aus Beweisgründen sollten Sie eine Reklamation am besten schriftlich vortragen. Verwahren Sie eine Kopie dieses Schreibens. For reasons of proof, make a complaint in writing and keep a copy. If the customer sends the letter by post, dies sollte aus Beweisgründen nachweisbar per Einschreiben erfolgen, it should go by registered mail. The consumer center in Lower Saxony offers a sample letter that demands that craftsmen remove named defects.
Two Repair Attempts
A German shopper who returns a broken phone or appliance must usually give the seller a chance to repair it. Section 440 of the Civil Code sets the number. Eine Nachbesserung gilt nach dem erfolglosen zweiten Versuch als fehlgeschlagen … A repair counts as failed after the second unsuccessful attempt, unless the nature of the item or the defect points otherwise. After that, the buyer may withdraw from the contract or reduce the price without setting a further deadline. The consumer advice center in Baden-Württemberg puts it plainly: Normalerweise hat der Händler zweimal die Möglichkeit, die mangelhafte Ware zu reparieren. Normally the dealer has two chances to repair the faulty goods.
First the Deadline, Then Another Firm
A German customer may have a defect fixed by another firm and charge the cost to the first one. Section 637 of the Civil Code allows this only nach erfolglosem Ablauf einer von ihm zur Nacherfüllung bestimmten angemessenen Frist: after a reasonable deadline for repair, set by the customer, has passed without result. Lawyers speak of the zweite Andienung, the second attempt. A homeowner who calls a new plumber to fix a botched job, without first setting the original firm a deadline, can normally not charge the original firm.
A Record Signed by Both Sides
Sometimes a German customer refuses to accept a building job and names defects. Section 650g of the Civil Code then gives the builder a right. The customer must take part in a joint record of the work’s condition. The record should be dated und ist von beiden Vertragsparteien zu unterschreiben, and must be signed by both parties. If the customer stays away, the builder may make the record alone. Once the work is handed over, an obvious defect missing from the record is presumed to have arisen afterwards and to be the customer’s responsibility.