1. general
These General Terms and Conditions apply to all deliveries and services provided by Günter-Köhler-Institut für Fügetechnik und Werkstoffprüfung GmbH (hereinafter referred to as ifw Jena) to entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), unless expressly agreed otherwise. These terms and conditions shall be deemed to have been accepted at the latest when the delivery or service is ordered. Conflicting and deviating terms and conditions of business or purchase of our customers are not recognized; they are hereby expressly rejected. Subsidiary agreements and additions to the contract, in particular changes to the following terms and conditions, are legally invalid unless they have been confirmed in writing by ifw Jena. These General Terms and Conditions apply accordingly to service and work contracts as well as to mixed contracts. 2. offer
Unless otherwise agreed, offers made by ifw Jena shall not be deemed to be an application for the conclusion of a contract within the meaning of Section 145 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and are subject to change and non-binding. The information in the offer does not constitute a guarantee of quality within the meaning of § 443 BGB. The documents belonging to an offer, such as illustrations, drawings, weights and dimensions and other performance data, are only approximate unless they are expressly designated as binding. ifw Jena shall have the sole ownership and copyright to quotation documents, cost estimates, calculations, illustrations and drawings as well as other documents. They may not be made accessible to third parties and must be treated as confidential documents. In the case of service, research and development orders, a written deadline and price commitment shall be deemed to be a non-binding indicative deadline or indicative price and not a binding commitment, as unforeseen changes to deadlines and prices may occur. We shall be bound by the prices quoted in offers expressly marked as binding for 4 weeks from the date of the offer. 3. conclusion of contract
A contract shall only come into existence through our written order confirmation or through our delivery or service. An order is binding for the customer. The information provided to us in connection with orders is not considered confidential. Additions, amendments or ancillary agreements require our written confirmation to be effective. Verbal agreements and e‑mails are invalid unless they are confirmed in writing. Improvements or changes to the delivery or service by ifw Jena are permissible insofar as they are reasonable for the customer, taking into account his interests and the interests of ifw GmbH. Contracts for educational services to be provided by ifw Jena (in particular training and further training events and seminars) are concluded upon registration. However, ifw Jena reserves the right to withdraw from the contract in justified exceptional cases (e.g. no cost coverage due to insufficient number of participants). 4. cancelations
Cancellation of contracts is not possible unless ifw Jena expressly agrees to the cancellation. In the event of cancellation of a contract for which services have already been provided by ifw Jena, the client shall be invoiced for the expenses incurred up to the time of cancellation plus a surcharge for loss of profit. In the case of contracts for educational services to be provided by ifw Jena, if no separate agreement has been made, ifw Jena will reimburse 50% of the agreed fee if the contract is canceled up to one week before the start of the service to be provided. Cancellations of the contract after the start and within one week before the start of the service are not possible unless ifw Jena expressly agrees to the cancellation. In this case, the client shall be invoiced for the expenses incurred up to the time of the cancellation plus a surcharge for loss of profit. 5 Delivery, performance and prices
The scope and prices of the delivery or service shall be determined by the written order confirmation or, if this has not been issued, by the offer. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, we deliver or perform ex works to our stated business address. Additional services that were not included in the offer will be charged separately. This applies in particular to measurements and calibrations within the scope of order processing, the necessity of which was not foreseeable at the time of preparation of the offer or order confirmation or which are carried out at the customer’s request. In the case of larger orders, payments are due on interim invoices issued in accordance with the work performed or costs incurred. All prices are ex works plus packaging, insurance and postage/freight; the same applies to partial deliveries and express deliveries unless other conditions have been agreed separately. All prices are exclusive of VAT, which will be charged in addition in accordance with the current statutory rate. Unforeseeable changes in customs duties, import and export fees of Germany or other supplier countries, exchange rates, etc. shall entitle ifw Jena to adjust prices accordingly. Delivery and performance dates and deadlines are non-binding and shall only be deemed agreed after express written confirmation. The delivery or performance period shall commence on the date of our order confirmation, but not before all details of the order have been clearly clarified and any necessary certificates have been provided. They shall be deemed to have been complied with upon timely notification of readiness for dispatch if the delivery cannot be dispatched on time through no fault of our own. ifw Jena shall be entitled to make partial deliveries and render partial services at any time. In the case of deadlines and dates that have not been designated as binding in the order confirmation, the customer may set us a reasonable deadline for delivery or performance at the earliest 2 weeks after their expiry. We can only be in default after this grace period has expired. Without prejudice to our rights arising from the customer’s default, deadlines and dates shall be extended by the period of time by which the customer has not fulfilled its obligations to us. In the event of a breach of duty by ifw Jena, liability for damages shall only be assumed in accordance with Section 9 of these General Terms and Conditions. The customer is obliged to accept a work produced for him within a period of 10 working days from delivery, unless it is a work that cannot be accepted. If no express refusal of acceptance is made within this period, the work shall be deemed to have been accepted. The same shall apply if the customer tacitly uses, sells, processes or otherwise disposes of the work. 6. shipment, transfer of risk
Shipment and transportation are always at the customer’s risk. The risk shall pass to the customer, even in the case of partial deliveries, as soon as the consignment has been handed over to the person carrying out the transportation or has left our warehouse for the purpose of dispatch or, in the case of delivery ex works, has left our works. Sections 446, 447 BGB shall apply accordingly. If the shipment of the delivery is delayed for reasons for which the customer is responsible, the risk of accidental deterioration and accidental loss shall pass to the customer upon notification of readiness for shipment. Storage costs after transfer of risk shall be borne by the customer. Further claims remain unaffected. If the customer is in default of acceptance, we shall be entitled to demand compensation for the expenses incurred by us; the risk of accidental deterioration and accidental loss shall pass to the customer upon the occurrence of default of acceptance. 7. payment
Invoices shall be paid within 14 calendar days of the invoice date without deduction in cash or by bank transfer to our business account, unless another method of payment has been agreed. Payment shall be deemed to have been made on the day on which it is credited to the paying agent of ifw Jena. Payments are to be made free to our paying agent. Payment of the invoice amount by bill of exchange or credit card is not accepted. Several clients are jointly and severally liable. All claims shall become due immediately if the payment deadline is exceeded or the customer suspends payment. In such cases, we shall be entitled to demand advance payments or security deposits for the underlying or future deliveries and services and, if the advance payment or security deposit is not made within 14 calendar days, to withdraw from the contract without setting a new deadline. If the set payment deadline is exceeded, ifw Jena reserves the right to charge interest at least at the statutory rate. The customer shall also bear all collection costs and any court and enforcement costs. The withholding of payments or offsetting against counterclaims of the customer that are disputed by ifw Jena and/or have not been legally established is not permitted. Irrespective of the customer’s provisions to the contrary, all payments shall be credited to the oldest debt and there first to interest and costs. 8. reservation of title
The goods from all deliveries shall remain the property of ifw Jena until all claims plus additional costs and any interest have been paid. If the customer sells the delivered goods, he shall assign to ifw Jena the claims against his buyer arising from the sale, together with all ancillary rights. These and the following provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis to services rendered by ifw Jena on the customer’s goods in the amount of the added value created. For the duration of the retention of title, the customer must insure the delivery item against all possible damage. Processing and treatment of the reserved goods shall be carried out for ifw Jena as manufacturer within the meaning of § 950 BGB, without obligating us. The processed goods shall be deemed to be reserved goods within the meaning of paragraph 1. If the customer processes, combines or mixes the goods subject to retention of title with other goods, ifw Jena shall be entitled to co-ownership of the new item in the ratio of the invoice value of the goods subject to retention of title to the invoice value of the other goods used. If our ownership expires as a result of combining or mixing, the customer hereby assigns to ifw Jena its ownership rights to the new stock or item to the extent of the invoice value of the goods subject to retention of title and shall store them free of charge for ifw Jena. The resulting co-ownership rights shall be deemed to be reserved goods within the meaning of this provision. The customer shall only be entitled to resell, process or combine with other items or otherwise install the goods subject to retention of title (hereinafter also referred to as resale) in the ordinary course of business and as long as he is not in default. Any other disposal of the reserved goods is not permitted. We must be notified immediately of any seizures or other access to the reserved goods by third parties. All intervention costs shall be borne by the customer insofar as they cannot be collected by the third party (opponent of the action in opposition) and the third-party action in opposition has been legitimately brought. If the customer defers the purchase price to his customer, he shall reserve title to the reserved goods vis-à-vis his customer under the same conditions under which we have reserved title upon delivery of the reserved goods; however, the customer shall not be obliged to reserve title with regard to claims against his customer arising in the future. Otherwise, the customer is not authorized to resell the goods. The customer’s claims arising from the resale of the reserved goods are hereby assigned to ifw Jena, which accepts this assignment. They serve as security to the same extent as the reserved goods. The customer shall only be entitled and authorized to resell the goods if it is ensured that the claims to which he is entitled are transferred to us. If the reserved goods are sold by the customer together with other goods not supplied by us at a total price, the assignment of the claim arising from the sale shall be in the amount of the invoice value of our reserved goods sold in each case. If the assigned claim is included in a current account, the customer hereby assigns to ifw Jena a part of the balance corresponding to the amount of this claim, including the final balance from the current account. The customer is authorized to collect the claims assigned to us until we revoke this authorization. We are entitled to revoke the contract if the customer does not properly fulfill his payment obligations arising from the business relationship with us or if we become aware of circumstances that are likely to significantly reduce the customer’s creditworthiness. If the conditions for exercising the right of revocation are met, the customer must, at our request, notify us immediately of the assigned claims and their debtors, provide all information necessary for the collection of the claims, hand over the relevant documents to us and notify the debtor of the assignment. We are also entitled to notify the debtor of the assignment ourselves. If the value (in the case of claims the nominal value, in the case of movable property the estimated value) of the securities existing for us exceeds the secured claims by more than 50% in total, we shall be obliged to release securities of our choice at the customer’s request. If we assert the retention of title, this shall only be deemed a withdrawal from the contract if we expressly declare this in writing. The customer’s right to possess the reserved goods shall expire if he fails to fulfill his obligations under this or any other contract. The above provisions for the delivery of goods shall also apply mutatis mutandis to the provision of services. 9 Warranty and liability
The warranty period for all goods and services provided by ifw Jena, with the exception of contractual services (in particular research and development services, educational services, etc.), for which no warranty is assumed, is 12 months. It begins with the transfer of risk in accordance with Section 6 of these General Terms and Conditions. The data sheets belonging to the respective product and enclosed or available for download are an integral part of the contract. If the manufacturer’s or ifw Jena’s recommendations for use are not followed, if changes are made to the products or if they are opened or tampered with, any warranty shall be void unless the customer can prove that the defect is not due to this. The rejected goods must be returned to ifw Jena in the original or equivalent packaging for inspection. In the event of a justified and timely notice of defects, we shall remedy the defects by way of subsequent performance at our discretion by eliminating the defect or delivering a defect-free item, whereby we shall bear the costs of remedying the defect insofar as these are not increased by the fact that the delivery item has been taken by the customer to a place other than the place of performance. We are entitled to refuse subsequent performance in accordance with the statutory provisions. In the event of refusal of subsequent performance or its failure, the customer shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract or to a reduction (reduction of the remuneration). The customer shall only be entitled to withdraw from the contract – insofar as withdrawal is not excluded by law – or to reduce the purchase price after the expiry of two unsuccessful reasonable deadlines set by him for subsequent performance. In the event of withdrawal, the customer shall be liable for deterioration and loss not only for his own customary care, but also for any negligent and intentional fault. In addition, the customer shall compensate ifw Jena for the benefits derived. No liability or warranty is assumed for products or parts thereof that are subject to premature wear and tear due to their nature or the way in which they are used, or for normal wear and tear. Furthermore, no liability is accepted for damage resulting from improper storage, natural wear and tear, incorrect or negligent handling, excessive or unsuitable use, unsuitable operating materials, chemical, electronic or electrical influences as well as weather and natural influences. If materials provided by the customer are used, no liability or warranty shall be assumed for these. If promised properties are changed by the use of materials provided, this shall not be deemed a defect. Ifw Jena shall not be obliged to take back the goods, to reduce their value or to repair them. The goods delivered or services rendered by ifw Jena must be inspected immediately for quality and quantity. ifw Jena shall only be liable for defects discovered in the process if these are reported in writing immediately after delivery or performance. § Section 377 HGB applies accordingly. Warranty claims must be reported immediately, but no later than one week after the defect occurs. Thereafter, all warranty claims shall lapse. The customer shall grant us the necessary time and opportunity free of charge to make any changes we deem necessary and to supply spare parts. The warranty and liability for damages shall lapse if the repair is carried out by the customer or a third party commissioned by the customer. The replacement of parts or assemblies does not result in any new warranty periods, except in cases of intent or gross negligence. Work carried out on the basis of recognized warranty claims by the customer shall only lead to a suspension of the limitation period. ifw Jena reserves the right to make technical and design changes to the products. In the case of replacement deliveries with improved products, the difference in value will be charged. In the event of improper use of our products or their use as a component of a system solution that results in damage, we must reject any claims, including claims for damages. ifw Jena shall not be liable for damage that has not occurred to the delivery item itself, in particular ifw Jena shall not be liable for loss of profit or for other financial losses of the customer. In the event of damage caused to the customer’s property within the framework of service or work contracts, ifw Jena shall be liable up to a maximum of the agreed remuneration (excluding VAT). We shall only pay compensation for damages and/or expenses due to breach of contract, breaches of duty during contract negotiations, breaches of contractual obligations, delay or impossibility if we or our vicarious agents can be accused of intent or gross negligence. However, our liability – except in the case of intent – shall be limited to the typical damage foreseeable at the time of conclusion of the contract. All claims for damages and/or reimbursement of expenses against us, on whatever legal grounds, shall become time-barred at the latest one year after delivery of the item to the customer, in the case of tortious liability from the time of knowledge or grossly negligent ignorance of the circumstances giving rise to the claim and of the person liable to pay compensation. Any shorter statutory limitation periods shall take precedence. The exclusion of liability and the limitation period shall not apply in the event of injury to life, limb or health or in the event of fraudulent concealment of a defect or mandatory liability under the Product Liability Act. 10. property rights
In the case of production according to drawings, samples and other instructions of the customer, we assume no warranty and liability for the functionality of the product and for other defects, insofar as these circumstances are based on the customer’s instructions. The client shall indemnify ifw Jena against any third-party claims, including product liability claims, for damage caused by the delivery or service, unless we have caused the damage intentionally or through gross negligence. The customer warrants to us that the manufacture and delivery of the goods produced in accordance with his instructions does not infringe any third-party property rights. In the event that industrial property rights are asserted against ifw Jena, we shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract after hearing the customer, without any legal examination of any third-party claims, unless the third party withdraws the assertion of the industrial property rights within 14 calendar days by written declaration to us. The customer shall compensate ifw Jena for any damage caused by the assertion of property rights. In the event of withdrawal, the work performed by ifw Jena to date shall be remunerated. Further rights under the statutory provisions remain unaffected. The drafts, data sheets, molds, tools, construction documents, other results worthy of protection, etc. produced by us for the execution of the order are exclusively our property. The customer shall not be entitled to any claims in this respect, even if he participates in the costs for the production of the development documents and molds, tools and design documents, unless expressly agreed otherwise. Any use of these documents by the customer or a third party commissioned by the customer is prohibited and shall give rise to claims for damages by ifw Jena. 11. miscellaneous/severability clause
The place of performance for our services and the customer’s payment obligation is our stated place of business. All legal relationships between ifw Jena and the Client shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the conflict of laws provisions of German private international law. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) shall also not apply. From the transfer of ownership of our delivery, the buyer is responsible for compliance with the applicable statutory import and export regulations. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising directly or indirectly from the contractual relationship shall be our registered office. The aforementioned place of jurisdiction shall apply to non-merchants if claims have to be asserted by way of dunning proceedings. However, we can also take legal action against customers before the courts of their general place of jurisdiction. ifw Jena would like to point out that personal data relating to the business relationship with the customer will be stored and that this data may also be transmitted to affiliated companies of ifw Jena for business purposes. Should individual provisions of this contract be or become invalid or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The invalid or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid or enforceable provision that achieves the purpose of the invalid or unenforceable provision to the greatest extent possible.