Consequences of a "No-Invoice Agreement"

The Higher Regional Court of Schleswig has now decided by judgment dated 16.08.2013 under file number 1 U 24/13 that, within the framework of such a no-invoice agreement and the associated invalidity of the contract, the craftsman cannot receive from the client either the agreed remuneration, a claim for reimbursement of expenses, or the refund of the value of the craft services already performed by him, regardless of the legal basis. Particularly interesting in this decision is that the court states that this also applies if only a partial no-invoice agreement exists. In the case to be decided, the contract consisted of an "official" part amounting to €13,500.00 and an agreed cash payment without an invoice amounting to €5,000.00. The contractor’s claim for payment of the contract price was dismissed in its entirety. Whether, following this decision, there is additionally a claim for repayment with regard to payments already made by the client was not to be decided by the court and is therefore left open for the time being. However, this appears likely in view of the court’s reasoning.

Source: Attorney Markus Cosler, Specialist Lawyer for Construction and Architects Law, Lecturer for Construction Law at FH Hannover

Rhenish greetings

I think that's good! This risk is being ignored and must be clearly weighed by the client!

Why risk for the client?

The risk was borne by the contractor and now he is the fool and gets nothing, nada...

The only risk (also not to be underestimated) for the client is non-performance, poor performance, and no warranty.

But the risk is not new. Here the craftsman is left empty-handed.