Inspection of electrical installation - only possible with an electrician without a general contractor?

Dear forum members,

I am faced with the following question regarding acceptance:
We are building a house with a general contractor who commissions an electrician for the builders.
For the turnkey house, the construction contract was signed with the GC, which includes a "standard electrical installation," classically with a few lamps and sockets.
The contracting party is therefore the GC. It is a construction contract for a complete service without agreed partial services or partial acceptances.

Since the electrical services were obviously not sufficient, we signed a separate contract with the electrician, with more sockets, etc.

Now the electrician commissioned by the GC wants to carry out a final acceptance of the electrical services, since he alone performed the entire electrical installation. The GC is unavailable in the next few days but would agree to the acceptance.

Background: We are doing the painting and tiling work ourselves. The companies are to start work promptly tomorrow so that the acceptance can possibly still take place in December. Of course, I understand the electrician, who insists on acceptance of his services before external own work begins, which could possibly cause damage to his services.

Question:
Can I, as the builder, carry out the final acceptance with the electrician without the GC being present? If yes, would the GC then have to issue a brief statement authorizing the electrician to carry out the overall electrical service acceptance on behalf of the GC?

Best regards

It is not a problem.

Best to have a short two-liner written as you say.

There could only be a problem if you identify defects and the GU does not acknowledge them.

Therefore, send him the protocol as quickly as possible.

My main concern is the following point:

"Acceptance without Contractor
The formal acceptance should take place in the presence of both parties. Exceptionally, according to § 12 para. 4 no. 2 VOB/B, it is permissible to carry out the formal acceptance in the absence of the contractor.
The prerequisite, however, is that the contractor does not appear despite the appointment being agreed upon and the invitation having been sent with sufficient notice (twelve working days). Then the client is also relieved from the obligation to prepare the acceptance protocol (§ 12 para. 4 no. 2 sentence 2 VOB/B). In this case, it is sufficient for the client to inform the contractor of the result of the acceptance informally as soon as possible. "As soon as possible" is generally understood to mean within twelve working days."

According to my understanding, there is only one formal acceptance with the general contractor, namely when he has completed all services (turnkey house, except for owner-provided work). However, this acceptance cannot yet take place because the total services include the installation of sanitary fixtures + installation of doors + installation of stairs. Except for the stairs, these construction services take place after the owner-provided work (painting and tiling).
However, the electrician is now finished and naturally wants to avoid that painters and tilers cause damage that could be criticized during the formal acceptance.

(PS: I am grateful for any answer/opinion and will not consider this as legal advice or the like.)

You are building according to VOB/B after 01.01.2018? That has actually been agreed upon in your contract?

The contract does not mention anything about VOB/B or a specific type of contract, only the individual services/trades for which the GU set fixed construction rates for completion. The contract was signed in Jan 2020, construction has been ongoing since July 2020. Does that help?

The GU is of the opinion that the electrician can approve the electrical installation on his behalf.

The contract does not mention anything about VOB/B or a specific type of contract, only the individual services/trades for which the general contractor fixed firm construction rates for completion. The contract was signed in January 2020, construction has been ongoing since July 2020. Does that help?

Then you have concluded a consumer construction contract according to the Building Code. This was newly incorporated into the Building Code as of January 1, 2018. Feel free to read up on it – there are many nice provisions.

Question to you: Do you want to accept (the work)? Do you have a problem with acceptance? From your posts, I understand that you do not want to accept because you are "afraid." However, if you want to continue with your own work, the question does not even arise. Be pragmatic and that’s it. What could possibly happen, especially if the general contractor cooperates.