Behavior in contract negotiations

Hello,

do your negotiating partners also react so brusquely when you don’t sign the very first contract offered?

I am experiencing this for the second time now. The first time, I had a house contract checked by the [Verband Privater Bauherren] and then went back to the house consultant, who reacted offended, tried to appease and downplay, doubted the competence of the [Verband Privater Bauherren] advisor, along with small concessions, etc. We then decided to walk away from that.

Then we were with an independent architect, whose contract I also didn’t find very good, and he reacted to requests for changes with accusations of lack of trust, saying he had never had problems before, etc.

Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong?

You are doing everything right, but just consider the situation. Unfortunately, I don’t know which profession you practice, but you could probably trigger comparable reactions there.

Your counterpart represents the opinion of your contract partner, who fundamentally always wants the best for their company. You represent your interests, and somewhere in the middle there is friction. Now it is up to the involved parties. Either you come closer together or remain firm in your position. Ultimately, the contract is concluded or not. Then you have to keep searching until you find someone whose contract suits both parties.

You should not sign contract clauses that you cannot sleep well with.

Best example: Deutsche Bahn AG, EVG and GLD...

Can only agree with that! I have a rather positive example. We had our contract reviewed and actively addressed it. All requested changes were accepted. But you also have to say that it was a premium provider in the region. Probably "Peanuts" for him.

You are doing it right. If it doesn’t suit you, you have to consider whether it is worth taking certain risks for you. It seems to me that the risk was not worth it to you.

Of course, you also have to be aware of your negotiating position. If the providers have plenty of customers who sign every contract, they will not make concessions to you. On the other hand, if they have to look for customers, the situation looks much better for you. I cannot assess how the situation is in [Saarland].

Best regards Michael

We also build in Saarland (Massivhausbau-Firma aus Nunkirchen oben am Berg), had the contracts reviewed and were able to enforce all our change requests.