General Terms & Conditions – B2B (EN)
1.) Validity of the general terms and conditions and deviations
a) The following general terms and conditions apply to all current and future contracts between the client in his capacity as an entrepreneur and the engineering office.
b) Deviations from these terms and conditions, and in particular the customer’s terms and conditions, only apply if they are expressly recognized and confirmed in writing by the engineering office.
2.) Offers, subsidiary agreements
a) The offers of the engineering office are, unless otherwise stated, non-binding with regard to all specified data including the fee.
b) If an order confirmation from the engineering office contains changes to the order, these are deemed to have been approved by the client, unless the client objects to this immediately in writing.
c) Agreements must be made in writing.
3.) Placing an order
a) The type and scope of the agreed service result from the contract, power of attorney and these general terms and conditions.
b) Changes and additions to the order require written confirmation by the engineering office in order to become the subject of the present contractual relationship.
c) The engineering office undertakes to properly carry out the order given to it in accordance with the generally recognized rules of technology and the principles of economic efficiency.
d) The engineering office can call upon other appropriately authorized persons to fulfill the contract and issue orders to them in the name and for the account of the client. However, the engineering office is obliged to notify the client of this intention in writing and to give the client the opportunity to object to this order being placed with a third party within 10 days.
e) The engineering office can also use other appropriately authorized sub-planners to fulfill the contract and issue orders to them in the name of and for the account of the engineering office. However, the engineering office is obliged to notify the client in writing if it intends to have orders carried out by a sub-planner and to give the client the opportunity to object to this order being placed by the sub-planner within one week; in this case the engineering office has to carry out the order itself.
4.) Warranty and compensation
a) Warranty claims can only be made after notification of defects, which must be made exclusively by registered letter within 14 days of delivery of the service or partial service.
b) Claims for conversion and price reduction are excluded. Claims for improvement or amendment of the missing are to be fulfilled by the engineering office within a reasonable period, which should generally amount to one third of the period agreed for the performance of the service. A claim for damage caused by delay cannot be asserted within this period.
c) The engineering office has to provide its services with the care expected of it as a specialist (§1299 ABGB).
d) If the engineering office culpably inflicted damage to the client in breach of its contractual obligations, its liability for compensation for the damage caused thereby – unless otherwise regulated in individual cases – is limited as follows in the case of slight negligence:
1) in the event of resignation and personal injury without limitation,
2) in all other cases with the following limitations:
– for an order value of up to EUR 250,000.00: a maximum of EUR 12,500.00;
– for an order amount over EUR 250,000.00: 5% of the order amount, but no more than 750,000.00 euros.
3) Liability for consequential damage and loss of profit is excluded even in the case of gross negligence, unless otherwise regulated in individual cases.
5.) Withdrawal from the contract
a) Withdrawal from the contract is only permitted for good cause.
b) If the engineering office defaults on a service, the client can only withdraw after setting a reasonable grace period; the grace period is to be set by registered letter.
c) If the client defaults on a partial service or an agreed cooperation that makes the execution of the order by the engineering office impossible or significantly hindering it, the engineering office is entitled to withdraw from the contract.
d) If the engineering office is entitled to withdraw from the contract, it retains the right to the entire agreed fee, also in the event of unjustified withdrawal by the client. Furthermore, §1168 ABGB applies; if the client is justified in withdrawing from the contract, the services rendered by the engineering office are to be paid for by the client.
6.) Fee, scope of services
a) Unless otherwise stated, all fees are in EURO.
b) The stated fee amounts do not include sales tax (value added tax); this is to be paid separately by the client.
c) Compensation with any counterclaims, for whatever reason, is not permitted.
d) Unless otherwise agreed, the non-binding calculation recommendations issued by the Association of Engineers are part of the contract.
e) Unless expressly agreed otherwise, payment must be made without deductions within 30 days of the invoice being sent to the account of a bank with a domestic branch named by the engineering office. In the event of default in payment, interest of 9.2% per annum above the base rate of the ECB plus reminder fees must be paid.
7.) Place of fulfillment
The place of fulfillment for all office services is the seat of the engineering office.
8.) Confidentiality
a) The engineering office is obliged to keep all information provided by the client confidential.
b) The engineering office is also obliged to keep its planning activities confidential if and as long as the client has a legitimate interest in this confidentiality. After the order has been carried out, the engineering office is entitled to publish the work that is the subject of the contract in whole or in part for advertising purposes, unless otherwise contractually agreed.
9.) Protection of the plans
a) The engineering office reserves all rights and uses of the documents created by it (in particular plans, brochures, technical documents).
b) Any use (in particular processing, execution, reproduction, distribution, public demonstration, making available) of the documents or parts thereof is only permitted with the express consent of the engineering office. All documents may therefore only be used for the purposes expressly specified when the order was placed or by a subsequent agreement.
c) The engineering office is entitled, the client is obliged to state the name (company, business name) of the engineering office in publications and announcements about the project.
d) In the event of a violation of these provisions for the protection of the documents, the engineering office is entitled to a penalty in the amount of twice the reasonable remuneration for unauthorized use, with the right to assert any further claims for damages. This penalty is not subject to judicial moderation. The burden of proof that the client has not used the engineering office’s documents is incumbent on the client.
10.) Choice of law, place of jurisdiction
a) Only Austrian law applies to contracts between the client and the engineering office.
b) For all disputes arising from this contract, the jurisdiction of the relevant court at the seat of the engineering office is agreed.