Acceptance, what particularities should be noted?

A big thank you to you all from Gabriele, who has greatly benefited from this thread because the acceptance is today. I printed out Otus11's text and will take it with me.

I wanted to link you this thread yesterday, but I forgot...

Good luck!

Regards

Hi everyone,

a silly question:

(2) If the client accepts a defective work according to paragraph 1 sentence 1, although he knows of the defect, he is only entitled to the rights designated in § 634 numbers 1 to 3 if he reserves his rights regarding the defect upon acceptance.

Are there any special formulations to be observed? Or do I simply write:
"Acceptance subject to the rights under §634" and that's it?

Best regards,

Andreas

Your quoted law actually only states that defects known to you (e.g. your exterior plaster has not yet been applied) must be included in the written protocol at the acceptance. Defects that you discover only after the handover are not covered by this.

The law is basically completely harmless as long as you document all known defects in writing at the acceptance. For this there is an acceptance protocol, which in our case the site manager prepares during the walkthrough. EVERY defect you list must be included, regardless of whether the site manager says "we already do it that way" or not. Because if it is not included and you told him, it is considered no longer a defect according to the mentioned law (if the site manager/company can prove that you were aware of the defect).

If you built with a reasonable company, there will be no problems with defect correction for minor issues anyway. Big issues cannot be swept under the table or will only become apparent after the handover.

Is there any special wording that needs to be observed? Or do I simply write: "Acceptance subject to reservation of rights according to §634" and that's it?

For example: "The acceptance is made with regard to the recorded defects subject to all rights due to the defects." Your sentence is also fine, if it is indeed a contract under the Building Code. The only thing missing in your sentence is the Building Code reference according to para 634 Building Code.

The law is basically completely harmless as long as you formally note all defects known to you during acceptance in writing.

No, the law is restrictive in this distinction: No rights without reservation!
Just recording is not enough.

In practice, this is handled sensibly by reasonable companies.

The acceptance declaration has several consequences:
** Due date of payment
** Fulfillment phase ends, warranty phase begins
** Start of the limitation period
** Reversal of the burden of proof (in court) for defects (!)

With acceptance, you say: "Okay, that's fine."
Therefore, you should also raise defects visible at (!) the acceptance, not afterwards.
If there are minor defects, you basically say:
"Okay, fine, except for... I want this to be rectified contractually by..."

Legally, this is still the original claim for performance.
Defects after acceptance: warranty claims.

And yes, after the reservation, the second most important thing is:
Put defects in the record!!!
Do not be talked out of it and insist on it.

The general contractor can certainly dispute the defect – but only afterwards or possibly already in the record.