Construction company contacts after 10 months regarding invoice

Hello,
we built our basement with a company.
This company issued us the final invoice at the beginning of October 2011. Since we did not agree with some items, these items were added afterwards, we did not pay them. The company wrote to us that they would get in touch in the following week (2nd week of October).
Months went by and no reaction.
At the beginning of July 2012, we received a call that there were still items outstanding on the invoice, and these should please be settled. This was followed by a statement of the outstanding items.
My question:
Is this procedure allowed or has anyone experienced something similar? Or does something like this become statute-barred?

Regards
Ansgar Müller-Wissmann

Why should it not be allowed to send a reminder after three quarters of a year?

And not everything is always forwarded to accounting by the other departments. They just see, here is still an open invoice, then we send them a reminder.

Hello Ansgar, an invoice only expires after the end of three years of the following year. In plain terms, the construction company could have still issued the invoice in December 2014. This expiration period can also be suspended by reminders.

Regards, Sebastian

Hello,

Or does something like that become time-barred?

[B]§ 286
Debtor’s Default

[/B]
(1) If the debtor does not perform upon a reminder from the creditor that occurs after the due date, he is in default through the reminder. The filing of a lawsuit for performance and the service of a payment order in the dunning procedure are equivalent to the reminder.
(2) A reminder is not required if

	1.	a calendar time is set for the performance,
	2.	the performance requires a preceding event, and a reasonable period for performance is set in such a way that it can be calculated from the event according to the calendar,
	3.	the debtor seriously and definitively refuses to perform,
	4.	for special reasons, balancing the interests of both parties, the immediate default is justified.

(3) The debtor of a remuneration claim is in default at the latest if he does not perform within 30 days after the due date and receipt of an invoice or equivalent payment statement; this applies to a debtor who is a consumer only if these consequences are specifically pointed out in the invoice or payment statement. If the time of receipt of the invoice or payment statement is uncertain, the debtor who is not a consumer is in default at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the counter-performance.
(4) The debtor is not in default as long as the performance is omitted due to a circumstance for which he is not responsible.

Best regards