1.0 Exclusive Applicability of these General Terms and Conditions for Entrepreneurs, Public Law Entities, and Public Law Special Assets, as well as General Provisions.
1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter: GTC) apply exclusively to entrepreneurs, legal entities, and public law special assets acting in the exercise of commercial or self-employed professional activities at the time of contract conclusion. Our GTC apply without exception to all our offers, agreements, and services provided to such customers.
1.2 The customer’s general terms and conditions do not obligate us, even if we have not objected to them after receipt. This means that in the event of a conflict between our GTC and the customer’s general terms and conditions, only our GTC shall apply. Therefore, additional or supplementary regulations included in the customer’s general terms and conditions, which are absent in these GTC, will not become part of the contract.
2.0 Contract Conclusion and Prices
2.1 Our offers are always non-binding, and our ownership and copyright remain on offers, drawings, and other documents (whether in physical or intangible, especially electronic form). They must not be made accessible to third parties and must be returned to us immediately upon request.
2.2 Illustrations in our brochures, advertisements, on our website, or similar are non-binding.
2.3 The contractual relationship is established by both parties signing a contract (hereinafter: contract) that describes the services owed by us in detail. The customer is bound by their offer in the unilateral signing of a corresponding draft contract for 2 weeks. This period begins when the customer’s offer reaches us. The contract is only concluded when we countersign the contract signed by the customer within 2 weeks of its delivery to us.
2.4 All agreements, especially all ancillary agreements and subsequent contract changes, require written form to be effective. This also applies to assurances and changes and/or additions to our GTC.
2.5 Our prices are net prices. Therefore, statutory VAT will be added.
2.6 We only assume guarantees in special agreements. Such an agreement must be in writing to be valid.
3.0 Scope of Our Services
The services to be provided by us are conclusively regulated in the contract.
4.0 Contract Duration
4.1 The contractual relationship begins and ends at the times agreed in the contract. During the agreed contract term, neither party may terminate the contract normally.
4.2 The contract is automatically extended by one year unless terminated by either party 6 months before the end of the contract period.
4.3 The right to extraordinary, immediate termination of the contract for a good cause remains unaffected for each party. A good cause for extraordinary termination by us exists, in particular, if the customer is in arrears with payment of our remuneration for two consecutive appointments or if, over a period extending beyond two appointments, the customer is in arrears with the payment of an amount that reaches the value of two months' remuneration.
4.4 Termination must be in writing to be effective.
5.0 Payment Terms
5.1 Payments must be made by the agreed due dates without any deduction.
5.2 Default interest will be charged in accordance with § 288 Para. 2 BGB at 8 percentage points above the base rate.
6.0 Set-off and Right of Retention
6.1 The customer may only offset against our payment claims with undisputed or legally established counterclaims.
6.2 The customer cannot invoke a right of retention that does not arise from the same contractual relationship.
7.0 Customer’s Obligation to Notify Complaints
Any complaints regarding our obligations arising from the contract must be immediately submitted to us in writing for remedy. If the customer fails to notify us immediately, they cannot derive any rights from the respective complaint.
8.0 Liability
8.1 We are liable for damages caused by us to the customer of any kind only:
8.2 The provisions of 8.1 apply accordingly to claims for compensation for wasted expenditures.
8.3 The provisions of 8.1 and 8.2 also apply to claims for damages and claims for compensation for wasted expenditures against our legal representatives and our vicarious agents.
9.0 Place of Performance, Jurisdiction, and Applicable Law
9.1 The place of performance for the services we are to provide under the contract is our registered office (hereinafter: registered office).
9.2 The place of jurisdiction for all claims arising from the respective contract is, for claims with a dispute value of up to €5,000, the locally competent district court for our registered office, and for claims with a higher dispute value, the locally competent regional court for our registered office. We are entitled to sue the customer at their general place of jurisdiction.
9.3 Only German law applies, excluding the CISG (United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods) and the UN Sales Law.
10.0 Written Form and Severability Clause
10.1 For the preservation of any written form prescribed in these GTC, transmission by fax is sufficient; telecommunication transmission, particularly by email, is not sufficient.
10.2 If any provision of these GTC is or becomes invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected. In place of the invalid provision, an effective provision shall be deemed agreed that most closely reflects the economic purpose of the invalid provision.