Contractual penalty in the general contractor work contract

Hello dear community,

I just had a conversation with my GU about the contract for work and received a verbal confirmation that a penalty clause for delay can be included in the contract for work. Now I am wondering how this could be best formulated. Of course, I know that I could/should ask a specialist lawyer for this now. But I am interested in whether you have any experience on this topic and/or possibly have a clause in your contract that you could share here?

Currently, I am thinking of the following:
The move-in date for the completed house is 01.12.2024.
In the event that the move-in date is not met, a penalty of €500 per started calendar week will be due, but in total no more than 5% of the agreed contract price. The penalty is independent of any fault on the part of the contractor and can be claimed up to the handover of the house and is due and payable with the final payment.

Your wording will certainly not be accepted by the contractor. It must always be included that the contractual penalty is only due if the contractor is responsible for the delays. You can surely find something on the internet about that.

I found that within 10 seconds.

Found after 10 seconds

Penalty for completion
The contractor commits to paying a penalty of _____ % of the agreed net contract sum per working day of delay in case of exceeding the agreed _____ (completion date) for which he is responsible, but a maximum of 5 % of the net contract sum in total. The assertion of damages beyond this is not excluded. The client can claim the penalty up to the final payment.
If the completion date is postponed due to circumstances for which the contractor is responsible, the penalty will be forfeited in the event of delay by the contractor regarding this new _____ (completion date).

I am currently thinking of the following:
The move-in date for the completed house is 01.12.2024.
In the event that the move-in date is not met, a contractual penalty of €500 per started calendar week will be due, but in total no more than 5% of the agreed contract price. The contractual penalty is independent of any fault of the contractor and can be asserted until the handover of the house and is due and payable with the final payment.

The fault must be changed. For example, if Russia attacks Poland, deep winter starts as early as November, or floods occur in summer, you will not be able to blame the general contractor. Such points are always removed.

Now I naturally wonder how to best phrase that. Of course, I know that I could/should now ask a specialist lawyer about it

Saving on a lawyer for possibly the most expensive investment in life is naive and grossly negligent in the current situation. If the general contractor is open, I would always have the contract reviewed, my points would be insolvency protection, completion guarantee, deadlines, payments, withholdings, etc. Our two-hour appointment led to changes we had no idea about. If you have a company with glossy brochures, a huge legal department, etc., they rather do not change anything in their contract documentation.