ROUTE
Poor workmanship: the customerβs rights
Acceptance reverses the burden of proof and can occur without a signature. Everything after that rests on a deadline set in writing β without it the further rights do not arise.
β Checked: 02/08/2026
German law treats a contract with a tradesman or building firm as a contract for work, and its rules differ from those for buying goods or renting a flat. The central concept is acceptance of the work. Before it the contractor must prove the work was produced as agreed. After it the customer must prove the defect, the limitation period starts running and payment falls due.
COSTS AND DEADLINES
Deadlines you cannot miss
- The deadline set by the contractor for acceptance: silence during it can operate as acceptanceAcceptance of the work: the moment that shifts the balancehard deadline
- The reasonable deadline for remedy is set by the customer β without it the further rights generally do not ariseNotifying the defect and setting a deadline to fix ithard deadline
- Two years for ordinary work and five years for a building β the statutory limitation periodsHow much time you have: two years or fivehard deadline
Amounts follow official fees as of each stepβs verification date. Your city may charge a different rate β check the step itself.
βΊ More about this route
The costliest trap sits precisely in acceptance. The law lets it take effect without the customerβs signature: where the contractor set a reasonable deadline after completion and the customer did not refuse acceptance within it while naming at least one defect. For consumers this works only with a written warning about the consequences β but such a letter looks like ordinary post.
This four-step route works through the whole structure: acceptance and its consequences, the demand for remedy with its mandatory deadline, the rights arising once that deadline passes without result, and finally limitation periods that differ by years depending on the type of work.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
All possible documents for this route
- Contract with the contractor
- Acceptance protocol listing the complaints
- Dated photographs
- Contract and quotation
- Photographs of the defect
- Copy of the letter setting the deadline
- Copy of the deadline letter with proof of dispatch
- Invoices for remedying the defect
- Declaration of price reduction, if that route is chosen
- Contract and dated acceptance protocol
- Correspondence with the contractor
- Invoices and proof of payment
WHERE PEOPLE MOST OFTEN LOSE MONEY AND TIME
- Not answering the request to accept the work. Silence within the deadline can operate as acceptance, and your position reverses.
- Raising complaints only verbally at acceptance. Whatever is missing from the protocol has to be proved later, and recollections diverge within a month.
- Demanding a remedy by phone without setting a deadline with a specific date. Nearly all further rights attach to the unsuccessful expiry of that deadline.
- Assuming correspondence suspends limitation by itself. It does not do so automatically, and two years for ordinary work pass faster than expected.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ROUTE
When may the contractor demand payment?βΎ
The law ties this to acceptance: the remuneration is payable upon acceptance of the work. Where the work is to be accepted in parts and the remuneration is fixed for those parts, each part falls due on its own acceptance. An invoice before acceptance therefore raises questions.
Can work count as accepted without my signature?βΎ
Yes. The law provides for this where the contractor set a reasonable deadline for acceptance after completion and the customer did not refuse within it while naming at least one defect. For consumers a notice about the consequences in text form is required.
Can I choose between repair and rebuilding?βΎ
No. The law gives the choice to the contractor: they may either remedy the defect or produce the work anew. The customer can demand a defect-free result but not the route to it.
When can I hire another firm at the first oneβs cost?βΎ
After a reasonable deadline set by the customer has expired without result. The law then permits self-remedy and reimbursement of the necessary expenses, provided the contractor did not rightfully refuse subsequent performance.
How long do defect claims last?βΎ
The law names two years for work whose result consists in producing, maintaining or altering a thing, and five years for a building together with associated planning and supervision services. The period attaches to acceptance.