GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS (PLANNING)
General terms and conditions of Austrian engineering offices
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Application of the general terms and conditions and deviations
a.) The following general terms and conditions apply to all current and future contracts between the client in his capacity as an entrepreneur and the engineering office room No9 INTERIOR | DESIGN Claudia Werchota (hereinafter referred to as "engineering office").
b.) Deviations from these conditions and in particular the client's conditions apply only if they are expressly acknowledged and confirmed in writing by the engineering office.
2. Offers, side agreements
a.) Unless otherwise stated, the offers of the engineering office are subject to change with regard to all the data provided, including the fee.
b.) If an order confirmation from the engineering office contains changes to the order, these are deemed to have been approved by the client, unless the client immediately objects in writing.
c.) Agreements must be made in writing.
3. Placing an order
a.) The type and scope of the agreed service result from the contract, power of attorney and these general terms and conditions.
b.) Changes and additions to the order must be confirmed in writing by the engineering office in order to become the subject of the present contractual relationship.
c.) The engineering firm undertakes to properly carry out the order placed with it in accordance with the generally recognized rules of technology and the principles of economy.
d.) The engineering office can use other authorized persons to fulfill the contract and place orders in the name and for the account of the client. However, the engineering office is obliged to notify the client of this intention in writing and to give the client the opportunity to object to this assignment to a third party within 10 days.
e.) The engineering office can also use other authorized persons as subplanners to fulfill the contract and place orders in the name and for the account of the engineering office. However, the engineering office is obliged to notify the client in writing if it intends to have orders carried out by a sub-planner and to give the client the opportunity to object to this sub-planner being given within one week; in this case the engineering office has to carry out the order itself.
4. Warranty and compensation
a.) Warranty claims can only be made after notification of defects, which must be made exclusively by registered letter within 14 days of delivery of the service or partial service.
b.) Claims for conversion and price reduction are excluded. Claims for improvement or supplement of the missing are to be fulfilled by the engineering office within a reasonable period, which should generally be one third of the period agreed for the performance of the service. A claim for damage caused by delay cannot be asserted within this period.
c.) The engineering office has to perform its services with the care expected of it as a specialist (§1299 ABGB).
d.) If the engineering firm culpably caused damage to the client in violation of its contractual obligations, its liability for compensation for the damage caused thereby - if not otherwise regulated in individual cases - in the event of slight negligence is limited as follows:
1. in the event of withdrawal and personal injury without limitation,
2. In all other cases with the following limitations:
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for orders up to EUR 250,000.00: a maximum of EUR 12,500.00;
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for an order total of more than 250,000.00 euros: 5% of the order amount,
however, a maximum of 750,000.00 euros.
3. Liability for consequential damage and loss of profit is also excluded in the event of gross negligence, unless otherwise stipulated in individual cases.
5. Withdrawal from the contract
a.) Withdrawal from the contract is only permitted for important reasons.
b.) If the engineering office is in arrears with a service, the client can only withdraw after setting a reasonable grace period; the grace period must be set by registered letter.
c.) If the client is in arrears with a partial performance or an agreed cooperation, which makes the execution of the order by the engineering office impossible or significantly impedes the engineering office is entitled to withdraw from the contract.
d.) If the engineering office is entitled to withdraw from the contract, it retains the right to the entire agreed fee, as well as in the event of an unjustified withdrawal by the client. Furthermore §1168 ABGB applies; in the event of the customer's justified withdrawal, the services rendered by the engineering office must be honored.
6. Fee, scope of services
a.) In the absence of any other information, all fees are in euros.
b.) The specified fee amounts do not include sales tax (value added tax), which is to be paid separately by the client.
c.) Compensation with any counterclaims, for whatever reason, is not permitted.
d.) Unless otherwise agreed, the non-binding calculation recommendations issued by the engineering association are part of the contract.
e.) Unless otherwise expressly agreed, payment must be made without deductions to the account of a bank with a domestic branch specified by the engineering office within 30 days of the invoice. In the event of late payment, interest of 9.2% per annum above the basic interest rate of the ECB plus reminder fees must be paid.
7. Place of performance
The place of performance for all office services is the seat of the engineering office.
8. Confidentiality
a.) The engineering office is obliged to keep all information provided by the client confidential.
b.) The engineering office is also obliged to keep its planning activities secret, if and as long as the client has a legitimate interest in this confidentiality. After the order has been carried out, the engineering office is entitled to publish the contractual work in whole or in part for advertising purposes, unless otherwise contractually agreed.
9. Protection of plans
a.) The engineering office reserves all rights and uses to the documents it has created (in particular plans, brochures, technical documents).
b.) Any use (in particular processing, execution, duplication, distribution, public presentation, provision) of the documents or parts thereof is only permitted with the express consent of the engineering office. All documents may therefore only be used for the purposes expressly specified when placing the order or through a subsequent agreement.
c.) The engineering office is entitled, the client is obliged to state the name (company, business name) of the engineering office in publications and announcements about the project.
d.) In the event of non-compliance with these provisions for the protection of the documents, the engineering office is entitled to a penalty in the amount of twice the reasonable remuneration for the unauthorized use, whereby the assertion of an additional claim for damages remains reserved. This penalty is not subject to judicial moderation. The burden of proof that the client has not used the documents of the engineering office lies with the client.
10. Choice of law, place of jurisdiction
a.) Only Austrian law applies to contracts between the client and the engineering office.
b.) For all disputes arising from this contract, the jurisdiction of the competent court at the headquarters of the engineering office is agreed.