Terms and Conditions

Valid from January 1, 2013

§1 General provisions

The subject matter of the contract is the performance of a mold inspection, consultation, or preparation of an expert opinion. Conflicting or supplementary terms and conditions of the customer shall not become part of the contract, even if we do not expressly object to them. Deviating provisions require our express written consent.

§2 Order

The order can be placed by telephone or in writing. The scope of the investigations, the subject of the report, and the intended use of the report shall be agreed upon at the latest during the on-site visit. The acceptance of the order as well as verbal, telephone, or employee-made agreements, assurances, or side agreements require the written confirmation of the expert to be effective. The order to prepare an expert opinion will be carried out by the expert impartially and to the best of his knowledge and belief in accordance with the applicable principles.

§3 Performance of the order

The expert shall perform his expert and advisory activities personally. If the involvement of experts from other disciplines is necessary for the proper execution of the assignment, they shall be commissioned by the client.

The expert is entitled to carry out or arrange for the necessary and customary investigations and tests at the client’s expense in order to process the order, to make inquiries, to conduct research, to carry out inspections, and to take or arrange for photographs and drawings to be taken, without requiring the client’s specific consent. If unforeseen investigations or investigations that are time-consuming or costly in relation to the purpose of the expert opinion become necessary, the prior consent of the client must be obtained. The expert must prepare the expert opinion within a reasonable period of time.

§4 Obligations of the client

The client is obliged to provide all necessary and requested documents to the expert in a timely manner and free of charge. The client must support the expert in his work and allow him access to the object of the appraisal. The client is obliged to immediately inform the expert of any changes that are relevant to the appraisal.

The client may not issue any instructions to the expert that could distort his actual findings or the result of his expert opinion.

§ 5 Confidentiality obligation of the expert

The expert is subject to a duty of confidentiality punishable by law in accordance with Section 203 (2) No. 5 of the German Criminal Code (StGB). Accordingly, he is also contractually prohibited from disclosing, passing on or exploiting the expert opinion itself or facts or documents entrusted to him in the course of his expert activities or otherwise made known to him without authorization. The duty of confidentiality covers all non-public facts and applies beyond the duration of the contractual relationship. This duty of confidentiality also applies to all persons working in the expert’s business. The expert must ensure that the aforementioned persons comply with the duty of confidentiality. The expert is authorized to disclose, pass on, or use for his own purposes the knowledge gained in the course of preparing the expert opinion if he is obliged to do so by law or if his client expressly releases him from his duty of confidentiality in writing.

§ 6 Copyright

The expert holds the copyright to the report he has prepared. The client may only use the report he has commissioned for the purpose specified in the order. The report may only be passed on to third parties, reproduced, or published if the expert has given his express written consent.

§ 7 Fee

Remuneration is based on the agreements made in the expert contract/commission.

7.1. expert contract

Der Sachverständige kann Vorauszahlungen für die von ihm geforderten Leistungen und Aufwendungen verlangen. Die Höhe der jeweiligen Vorauszahlungen ist im Gutachtervertrag anzugeben. Der Sachverständige ist berechtigt, erst nach Eingang der Vorauszahlung tätig zu werden. Der Sachverständige hat einen Anspruch darauf, die ihm entstandenen Aufwendungen, die für die Erstellung des Gutachtens notwendig sind, dem Auftraggeber in Rechnung zu stellen.

The expert may demand advance payments for the services and expenses he requires. The amount of the respective advance payments shall be specified in the expert contract. The expert is entitled to commence work only after receipt of the advance payment. The expert is entitled to invoice the client for the expenses incurred by him that are necessary for the preparation of the expert opinion.Das volle Honorar wird mit der Fertigstellung vor Übergabe des Gutachtens an den Auftraggeber oder einer von ihm benannten Person fällig. Bereits bezahlte Vorauszahlungen werden angerechnet. Die Leistungen des Sachverständigen, sowie Auslagen, die der Sachverständige in Rechnung stellt, unterliegen der zum Zeitpunkt der Rechnungslegung gültigen gesetzlichen Mehrwertsteuer. Der Rechnungsbetrag wird mit dem Datum der Rechnungsstellung oder mit Übergabe des Gutachtens fällig. Der Rechnungsbetrag ist grundsätzlich innerhalb von 7 Tagen ohne Abzug zu bezahlen. Der Sachverständige ist befugt, die gesetzlichen Verzugszinsen zu verlangen.

7.2. Assignments (investigations, preliminary appointments, etc.)

Unless otherwise agreed, the invoice amount is due on the date specified. If a date cannot be met for reasons beyond the expert’s control, the invoice amount is due no later than 4 weeks after the order is placed. In this case, the date can be rescheduled at any time.

§ 8 Warranty

If there are deficiencies in the report, the client may first request that the report be corrected.

If the defect is not remedied within a reasonable period of time, or if the remedy fails, the client may demand rescission of the contract or a reduction in the fee (abatement). Defects must be reported to the expert in writing immediately after they are discovered, otherwise the warranty claim expires.

% 9 Termination

The client and the expert may terminate the contract at any time for good cause. Notice of termination must be given in writing.

Important reasons entitling the client to terminate the contract include, for example, a breach of the obligations to provide objective, independent, and impartial expert opinions. Important reasons entitling the expert to terminate the contract include, among others, refusal by the client to provide the necessary cooperation; an attempt by the client to exert undue influence on the expert, which could distort the result of the expert opinion; if the client is in default of payment; if the client suffers financial collapse; if, after accepting the contract, the expert determines that he lacks the expertise necessary to complete the contract. If the contract is terminated for good cause for which the expert is responsible, he shall only be entitled to remuneration for the partial service rendered up to the time of termination to the extent that this is objectively usable for the client.

In all other cases, the expert retains the right to the contractually agreed fee, but with a deduction for expenses saved. Unless the client can prove a higher proportion of expenses saved in individual cases, this shall be agreed at 40% of the fee for the services not yet rendered by the expert.

§ 10 Liability

The expert shall only be liable for intent and gross negligence, regardless of whether the basis for the claim is contractual, non-contractual, or statutory. The expert shall only be liable for damages resulting from a defective expert opinion – regardless of the legal basis – if he or his vicarious agents caused the damages through intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty. This also applies to damages caused by the expert during the preparation of his expert opinion, as well as to damages that arose after subsequent performance. Any further claims for damages are excluded. If the client passes on the expert opinion to third parties, they assume personal liability for damages incurred by third parties as a result of the expert opinion. They indemnify the expert accordingly against liability claims by third parties.

§ 11 Place of performance / Place of jurisdiction

The place of performance is the expert’s place of business; the place of jurisdiction is Munich.

§ 12 Final provisions

If any provision of this contract is invalid due to legal regulations, the validity of the remaining provisions of this contract shall remain unaffected. Ineffective provisions may be replaced by provisions that come closest to the intended purpose and are legally permissible. The contracting parties undertake to accept such a replacement provision.