General conditions of sale for trade
Non-binding associate recommendation provided by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Trading Division, for its Chamber of Commerce members
Updated: 2003
I. Validity
Deliveries, services and offers provided by our company are based solely on these terms and conditions of business. Any terms or conditions of the customer which oppose or deviate from our terms will not be recognised unless we agreed their validity in advance. Contract fulfilment activities on our part are not to be regarded as an agreement of any contract terms which deviate from our own. These terms and conditions of business are also to be regarded as the framework agreement for any further legal transactions between the contract parties.
II. Contract formation
A customer’s contract offer requires order confirmation. The sending of the goods ordered by the customer is also deemed as contract conclusion. If offers are addressed to us, the provider is bound to this by an appropriate time limit of at least 8 days from receipt of offer.
III. Prices
All prices given by us exclude VAT, unless stated otherwise. If there is a change in the labour costs due to collective agreement-related provisions in the industry or internal agreements, in the cost centres relevant for the calculation or costs required for service fulfilment such as costs for materials, energy, transport, third party work, financing etc, we are entitled to increase or reduce prices accordingly. Point III does not apply in the case of consumer business.
IV. Payment terms and interest on arrears
Unless an agreement states otherwise, our payments are due in cash upon receipt of goods. Any discounts require a separate agreement. Any possible discount agreement loses its validity in the event of a payment delay, this also applies to instalment payments. Customer payments are only applied once these have been received by our business account.
If the customer delays with his payment we are entitled to demand replacement of actual damages or the legally permitted interest on arrears. Our company is also entitled to charge compound interest from the day of receipt of the goods if the customer delays his payment.
V. Cancellation of contract
In the case of default of acceptance (Pt. VII) or other important reasons such as customer insolvency or rejection of insolvency due to lack of assets or if the customer delays payment we are entitled to withdraw from the agreement in so far as this has not been fully fulfilled by both parties. In the case of withdrawal from the contract if the customer is at fault, we are entitled to demand a lump sum compensation of 15% of the gross invoice sum or the replacement of the damage caused. If a customer is in payment arrears, we are not obliged to fulfil any further service and delivery obligations and are entitled to withhold any outstanding deliveries or services and demand advance payments / guarantees or withdraw from the contract after an appropriate grace period. If the customer withdraws from the contract – without being entitled to do so – or requests withdrawal, we are entitled to request contract fulfilment or agree to the cancellation of the contract. In the latter case, the customer is obliged to pay a lump sum compensation of 15% of the gross invoice sum or reimburse the damage caused, depending on our choice.
In the case of contract completion in distance selling (§§ 5a et seq Consumer Protection Act), the consumer may withdraw from the contract within 7 work days whereby Saturday is not deemed a work day. This begins with day of the consumer’s receipt of the goods or, in the case of services, with the day of contract completion. The sending of the withdrawal declaration within this time limit suffices. If the consumer withdraws from the agreement, he must assume the costs of the return of the goods. If credit was taken out for the contract, the consumer must also assume the costs for the necessary verification of signatures as well as the fees for credit granting. Contract withdrawal is not possible in the case of services which commence, according to the terms of the agreement, within 7 work days of contract completion.
VI. Reminder and collection expenses
In the case of delayed payment, the contract partner (customer) is obliged to reimburse the creditor for any incurred reminder and collection costs in so far as these are required for the prosecution whereby he is particularly obliged to reimburse maximum the payments of the debt collecting company concerned. These originate from the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Labour’s regulation governing the maximum rates for fees of debt collection companies. If the creditor is assuming the reminders himself, the debtor is obliged to pay a fee of €10.90 per reminder as well as €3.63 per half-year for keeping evidence of the debt.
VII. Delivery, transport, default of acceptance
Our sales prices do not include delivery, assembly or fitting costs. Upon request, we offer these services for an additional payment. Hereby transport / delivery will be charged at the actual costs involved including an appropriate fee for overhead expenses although at least the usual delivery and carriage costs of the chosen mode of transport on the day of delivery. Assembly work is charged according to hours involved whereby an hourly rate which is standard in the sector is agreed.
If the customer does not accept the goods as agreed (default of acceptance) we are, after the unsuccessful granting of a notice period, entitled to store the goods on our premises, for which we will charge a storage fee of 0.1 % of the gross invoice sum per commenced calendar day, or store them with an authorised commercial enterprise, the cost and risk of which is to be assumed by the customer. We are also entitled to demand either contract fulfilment or, after an appropriate time limit of at least 2 weeks, withdrawal from the contract and can use the goods in another way.
VIII. Term of delivery
We are only obliged to service fulfilment once the customer has fulfilled all his obligations which are required for contract execution in particular all technical and contractual details, preliminary work and preparatory measures.
We are entitled to exceed the agreed dates and delivery deadlines by up to one week. The customer may only withdraw from the contract after this deadline and after an appropriate period of grace.
General terms and conditions of sale for trade
Non-binding association recommendation provided by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Trading Division, for its Chamber of Commerce members
IX. Place of fulfilment
Place of fulfilment is the company headquarters.
X. Minor changes to services provided
If this does not involve a consumer business, minor changes of our services / delivery obligations or changes which are acceptable for the customer are regarded as being approved. This applies, in particular, to certain necessary deviations (e.g. in measurements, colours, appearance of wood and varnish, texture and structure etc.)
XI. Compensation
All damage claims in the case of minor negligence are excluded. This does not apply to personal damages / in case of consumer business, damages to items assumed for work. If this does not involve a consumer business, the injured party must provide evidence of minor or gross negligence. The limitation period of damage claims, if not involving a consumer business, is three years from the transfer of risk. The regulations concerning damage compensation in these terms and conditions of business or any other agreed terms also apply if the damage claim is being made in addition to or instead of a warranty claim.
Before the connection or transport of technical computing products or the installation of any computer programmes, the customer is obliged to secure any data on his computer system. Otherwise, he will have to assume responsibility for any lost data or damages associated with this.
XII. Product liability
Recourse claims in terms of § 12 Product Liability Act are excluded unless the recourse claimant can prove that we are responsible for the error and at least a case of gross negligence exists.
XIII. Title retention and its assertion
We deliver all goods under reservation of ownership and the goods remain our property until full payment for them has been received. If enforcing retention of title, contract withdrawal is only permitted if this has been expressly declared. In the case of redemption of goods, we are entitled to invoice any transport and manipulation costs. If third parties access the goods subject to retention of title – in particular through seizures – the customer is obliged to point out our goods and inform us immediately. If the customer is a consumer or not an entrepreneur whose business includes trading with the goods purchased from us, he may not use the goods subject to retention of title or sell, pawn, or lend them or give them away until full payment has been made. The customer bears the full risk for the goods subject to retention of title in particular for the risk of perishing, loss or deterioration.
XIV. Assignment of claims
In the case of delivery under retention of title, the customer relinquishes any claims towards third parties in so far as these arise through the sale or processing of our goods until full settlement of our debt claims. If requested, the customer must name his buyers/customers and inform them of the assignment in good time. The assignment is to be entered in the account books in particular in the outstanding items list and made visible to buyers on delivery notes, invoices etc. If the customer is in arrears with his payments to us, his sales revenue must be separated and the customer only holds these in our name. Any claims against an insurer are to be assigned to us within the limitations of § 15 Insurance Contract Act.
Claims against us may not be assigned without our express permission.
XV. Retention
If a consumer business is not involved, the customer is, in the case of a justified complaint, not entitled to withhold the entire payment but only an appropriate sum of the gross invoice total with the exception of reverse transaction cases.
XVI. Choice of law and jurisdiction
Austrian law applies. The applicability of UN law for international sales is excluded. The contract language is German. Contract parties agree on Austrian jurisdiction. If a consumer business is not involved, the court at our company headquarters will be exclusively locally responsible for any disputes arising from this contract.
XVII. Data protection, change of address and copyright law
The customer agrees to the automatic storage and processing, through us, of his personal data contained in the purchase agreement in the fulfilment of this contract.
The customer is obliged to inform us of any changes in his home / business address as long as the legal contractual transaction has not been fully fulfilled by both parties. If we are not informed of any changes, any declarations will be deemed as delivered if sent to the last known address.
Any plans, illustrations or other technical documents as well as samples, catalogues, brochures, images or similar remain our property. The customer does not have any kind of exploitation or usage rights concerning these.