General terms and conditions

A project run by RT-Lasertechnik GmbH, D-33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück (last updated: April 2021)

§1 General Provisions – Scope of Application

1. Our terms and conditions shall apply exclusively; we shall not acknowledge any conflicting or deviating terms and conditions of the customer, unless we explicitly agree to their validity in writing. Our terms and conditions of sale shall apply even if we provide a product or service to the customer despite being fully aware of the latter’s conflicting or deviating conditions.
2. All agreements made between us and the customer for the purpose of performing a contract shall be recorded in writing therein.
3. Our terms and conditions of sale only apply to transactions with “entrepreneurs”, as defined in Section 310 (1) of the German Civil Code (BGB).

§ 2 Offer – Offer Documents

1. If the order qualifies as an “offer”, as described in Section 145 BGB, we may accept it within two weeks.
2. We shall reserve all property rights and copyrights to our illustrations, drawings, calculations and other documents. This also applies to any written documents marked as “confidential”. The customer must obtain our express written consent before disclosing such information to third parties.

§ 3 Prices – Terms of Payment

1. Unless otherwise stated in the order confirmation, our prices shall apply “ex works”, excluding packaging; this shall be billed separately.
2. The statutory rate of value added tax is not included in our prices; this shall be indicated separately in the invoice at the statutory rate on the day of invoicing.
3. Unless otherwise indicated in the order confirmation, a 2% discount shall be granted if payment is made within 10 days of the invoice date.
4. Unless otherwise indicated in the order confirmation, the full purchase price shall be due for payment (without deductions) within 30 days of the invoice date. The statutory regulations shall apply with regard to the consequences of late payment.
5. The customer shall only be entitled to offset claims against counterclaims that are acknowledged by us, undisputed or legally recognised. The customer shall also be authorised to exercise a right of retention if its counterclaims are based on the same contractual relationship.

§ 4 Delivery Time

1. The delivery time specified by us shall only begin when all technical issues have been resolved.
2. In addition, we shall only be able to meet our delivery obligations if the customer has properly fulfilled its own obligations in a timely manner. We reserve the defence of an unperformed contract.
3. If the customer fails to accept the deliveries or services on time or culpably violates other duties to cooperate, we shall be entitled to demand compensation for any damages incurred as a result, including any additional expenses. We reserve the right to assert further claims.
4. If the conditions stipulated in § 4 (3) are met, the risk of the accidental loss or accidental deterioration of the purchased items shall be transferred to the customer at the time when the customer fails to accept the items or make payment on time.
5. Our liability shall be governed by the statutory provisions if the underlying contract of sale is a transaction to be performed by a fixed date, as described in Section 286 (2) No. 4 BGB or Section 376 HGB. Our liability shall also be governed by the statutory provisions if the customer is entitled to claim that it is no longer interested in the performance of the contract due to a delivery delay for which we are responsible.
6. In addition, our liability shall be governed by the statutory provisions if the delivery delay is caused by an intentional or grossly negligent breach of contract for which we are responsible; we shall be held equally accountable for the actions of our representatives and vicarious agents. If the delivery delay is caused by an intentional or grossly negligent breach of contract for which we are responsible, our liability shall be limited to the typically foreseeable degree of damage.
7. Our liability shall also be governed by the statutory provisions if the delivery delay for which we are responsible is caused by the culpable breach of an essential contractual duty; in such cases, however, our liability shall be limited to the typically foreseeable degree of damage.
8. Our liability shall also be governed by the statutory provisions if the delivery delay for which we are responsible is caused by the culpable breach of an essential contractual duty; in such cases, however, our liability shall be limited to the typically foreseeable degree of damage.

§ 5 Transfer of Risk – Packaging Costs

1. Unless otherwise indicated in the order confirmation, the goods shall be delivered “ex works”.
2. A separate agreement shall be made regarding the return of packaging.
3. If requested by the customer, we shall take out transport insurance for the delivery, the costs of which shall be borne by the customer.

§ 6 Liability for Defects

1. The customer may only assert claims for defects if it properly fulfils its obligation to inspect the goods and report any defects in accordance with Section 377 of the German Commercial Code (HGB).
2. If a purchased item is defective, we shall be entitled to choose whether to rectify the issue by remedying the defect or delivering a new, faultless item. If we have to rectify such an issue, the necessary expenses borne by us shall be limited to the purchase price.
3. If we fail in our attempts to rectify the issue, the customer shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract or reduce the purchase price at its own discretion.
4. Our liability shall be governed by the statutory provisions if the customer asserts claims for damages based on intentional or grossly negligent actions, including the intentional or grossly negligent actions of our representatives or vicarious agents. Unless we are accused of an intentional breach of contract, our liability shall be limited to the typically foreseeable degree of damage.
5. Our liability shall be governed by the statutory provisions if we culpably breach an essential contractual duty; in such cases, however, our liability shall be limited to the typically foreseeable degree of damage.
6. If the customer is otherwise entitled to assert claims for damages instead of the performance of the contract due to a negligent breach of duty, our liability shall be limited to the typically foreseeable degree of damage.
7. The above provisions shall have no bearing on our liability for culpable injury to life, limb or health; this also applies to our mandatory liability under the German Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG).
8. Unless otherwise stipulated above, we shall not be liable.
9. All claims for defects shall expire 24 months after the transfer of risk. This shall not apply if the defect is caused by a purchased item that is commonly used to construct a building.
10. Notwithstanding the above, if the customer exercises a right of recourse against the supplier in accordance with Sections 478 and 479 BGB, the limitation period shall be 5 years from the delivery of the defective item.
11. The offer / order shall be based on the average general manufacturing tolerances specified in DIN ISO EN 9013 (thermal cutting) / DIN ISO EN 2768 (individual parts) / DIN ISO EN 13920 (welded constructions).
12. Any additional standards and tolerances requested by the customer must be listed separately and confirmed by us.

§ 7 Joint Liability

1. We shall not assume any further liability for damages beyond the provisions set out in § 6, regardless of the legal nature of the claims. This particularly applies to any claims for damages arising from negligence when concluding the contract, due to other breaches of duty or due to tortious claims for compensation for property damage pursuant to Section 823 BGB.
2. The limitation described in § 7 (1) shall also apply if the customer requests the reimbursement of futile expenses instead of asserting a claim for damages in lieu of the performance of the contract.
3. If our liability for damages is excluded or limited, this shall also apply with regard to the personal liability of our employees, workers, representatives and vicarious agents.

§ 8 Reservation of Title

1. We shall retain ownership of the purchased items until we have received all payments within the scope of our business relationship with the customer. If the customer breaches the contract, especially by falling into arrears, we shall be entitled to take back the purchased items. If we take back the purchased items, this shall not constitute our withdrawal from the contract. We shall be entitled to exploit any such items; the proceeds shall be deducted from the customer’s liabilities (minus any reasonable exploitation costs).
2. The customer must treat the purchased items with care and adequately insure them against fire, water damage and theft at its own expense; the insurance policy must cover their replacement value. If maintenance or inspection work is necessary, the customer must carry this out in good time at its own expense.
3. In the event of seizures or other third-party interventions, the customer must notify us immediately in writing so that we can take the legal action described in Section 771 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO). If the third party is unable to reimburse our judicial and extra-judicial costs for the legal action taken in accordance with Section 771 ZPO, the customer shall be liable for the losses we incur.
4. The customer shall be entitled to resell the purchased items within its ordinary course of business; however, the customer hereby assigns to us all claims arising from the resale to its customers or third parties up to the final invoice amount of our own claim (incl. VAT), regardless of whether the purchased items are resold without or by agreement. The customer shall remain authorised to collect any such claims following their assignment. We reserve the right to collect the claims ourselves. However, we agree to refrain from collecting the claims ourselves, as long as the customer fulfils its obligation to pay us from the proceeds received and provided the customer is not in arrears, no request has been made for the initiation of any form of insolvency proceedings and payments have not been suspended. In such cases, however, we may ask the customer to notify us of the assigned claims and the relevant debtors, to provide all information required to collect the claims, to hand over the associated documents, and to inform the debtors (third parties) that the claims have been assigned to us.
5. If the customer processes or remodels the purchased items, this shall always be carried out for us. If the purchased items are processed with other items that do not belong to us, we shall obtain co-ownership of the new item in the ratio of the value of the purchased items (final invoice amount incl. VAT) to the value of the other processed items at the time of processing. Otherwise, the new item shall be subject to the same regulations as the purchased goods subject to the reservation of title.
6. If the purchased items are inextricably combined with other items that do not belong to us, we shall obtain co-ownership of the new item in the ratio of the value of the purchased items (final invoice amount incl. VAT) to the value of the other combined items at the time of mixing. If the items are combined in such a way that the item belonging to the customer may be seen as the main object, the customer hereby agrees to transfer proportional co-ownership to us. The customer shall safeguard the solely owned or co-owned items for us.
7. By way of security for our claims, the customer shall also assign to us any claims it holds against a third party after combining the purchased items with real estate.
8. We agree to release our securities at the customer’s request if the realisable value of our securities exceeds the total amount of the secured claims by over 10%; we shall select the securities to be released.

§ 9 Place of Jurisdiction – Place of Performance

1. If the customer is a merchant, our place of business shall be the place of jurisdiction; however, we shall also be entitled to take legal action against the customer at its place of residence.
2. The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply.
3. Unless otherwise stated in the order confirmation, the place of performance shall be our place of business.