Do we have here...

... a knowledgeable member in the field of contract law, ideally a lawyer or judge? With our "final invoice" there are "disagreements" that I would like to discuss with the person responsible.

You can post your final invoice here – of course redacted to hide the real data of involved persons/companies – describe what’s bothering you and we will see if you can be helped – without obligation. I don’t know if is in the country or on vacation; he would be the first point of contact. On the other hand, you are demanding too much from this forum. Legal questions may – in the narrower and factual sense – only be answered by lawyers. And they will hesitate – besides Otus, there are other members of this professional group here – to give a recommendation to a stranger without knowing the exact facts/the contract documents. I therefore assume that if someone should take care of your question concretely via private message or phone, they will not want to do so for free. I don’t understand why you are not willing to invest €250.00/300.00 if the decision is difficult for you; you evidently have some difficulties accepting the final invoice. That should surely be much higher than the required investment for legal advice in real life? Alternatively, the VBZ is available as a contact point against – in my humble opinion – a membership fee. Rhenish greetings

Laypersons can discuss, legal advice is provided by professionals who with ad hoc inaccurate or incomplete information certainly will not take unnecessary risks and thereby risk a contractual penalty (or whatever it is called). Lawyers offer an initial consultation for about 190 +VAT.

And I always thought that people who have knowledge in various fields discuss for free in a forum?

To discuss, you should describe the facts and provide the necessary information here. For advice, you should contact the lawyer of your trust specializing in construction law.

To my knowledge, the consumer advice center does not deal with construction law. The "dispute amount" is also not very high; it is more about the principle, as the claim is, in our eyes, an outrage, but the company has threatened to take legal action. Ultimately, the court costs (including all expenses) would probably be significantly higher if the case were lost than the amount in dispute itself. Therefore, an "assessment based on construction intuition" would suffice for us. For example, if someone could say that we have good chances, then we would also take the risk; if it were about 50:50, then rather not.

Therefore, a "gut feeling assessment" would be enough for us.

You only get a gut feeling assessment from the users here (and that is what you wanted in the forum) if you also describe the matter :rolleyes:

Therefore, a "gut feeling assessment" would be enough for us. If someone could, for example, say that we have good chances, then we would also take the risk; if, for example, it’s 50:50, then rather not.

My assessment: Don’t do it. Why? Because it depends on how the presiding judge at the local court slept the night before the hearing; the vast majority of legal disputes in court end in a settlement. A crazy undertaking then; especially if it involves trivial sums. Rhineland greetings