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Terms and Conditions

Section 1 – Preamble

  • All services provided by the Hüsges Group are based on these contractual terms and conditions. Conflicting or deviating terms and conditions of the client shall not be recognised unless they have been expressly confirmed in writing. They apply both to follow-up orders and to ongoing business relationships. Consumers within the meaning of the business relationship are natural persons with whom a business relationship is entered into without any commercial or self-employed professional activity being attributable to them. Entrepreneurs within the meaning of these contractual terms and conditions are natural or legal persons or partnerships with legal capacity with whom a business relationship is entered into and who act in the exercise of a commercial or self-employed professional activity. Clients within the meaning of the contractual terms and conditions are both consumers and entrepreneurs.

Section 2 – Commissioning

  • Orders are only binding for the Hüsges Group if and to the extent that they have been confirmed in writing. Changes, additions and verbal side agreements of any kind must also be made in writing. This includes, in particular, information and commitments made by employees of the Hüsges Group and by experts engaged by the Hüsges Group. The written form requirement also applies to any amendment or cancellation of this written form clause.
  • If the client orders the services of the Hüsges Group electronically, the Hüsges Group will confirm receipt of the order without delay. The confirmation of receipt does not constitute a binding acceptance of the order. The confirmation of receipt may be combined with the declaration of acceptance.
  • If the client orders the work electronically, the contract text will be stored by the Hüsges Group and sent to the client by email on request, together with these General Terms and Conditions.

Section 3 – Right of Withdrawal for Consumers

  • If the client is a consumer in accordance with § 1 of these General Terms and Conditions, they have the right to revoke their declaration of intent to conclude the contract within two weeks of concluding the contract. The revocation does not need to include a reason and must be declared in writing to Hüsges GmbH, Head Office Willich, Halskestraße 20, 47877 Willich, or by returning the service, if actually possible; timely dispatch is sufficient to meet the deadline.
  • The Hüsges Group reserves the right to commence performance of the service only after expiry of the two-week cancellation period.
  • The client shall arrange for the service to be performed/carried out by providing the information required for the performance of the service. If the client sends or transmits the information referred to in sentence 1 before the expiry of the two-week withdrawal period, this shall be deemed to constitute consent to the performance. Once the Hüsges Group has commenced performance by processing the data, the right of withdrawal shall expire.

Section 4 – Services

  • The Hüsges Group shall perform its services impartially, neutrally and to the best of its knowledge and belief in accordance with recognised rules, observing the regulations in force at the time of acceptance of the order.
  • Insofar as it is necessary for the proper performance of the service, the client shall obtain information from parties involved and third parties, conduct surveys and inform the Hüsges Group thereof.
  • The scope of the services to be provided by the Hüsges Group shall be specified in writing when the order is placed. Partial services are possible. If, during the proper execution of the order, changes and/or extensions to the specified scope of the order arise, these must be agreed in advance in writing between the contracting parties. If the client cannot reasonably be expected to adhere to the contract in view of the changes or extensions, the client shall have the right to withdraw from the contract. In this case, the client shall nevertheless pay the agreed remuneration or, in the absence of an agreement, an appropriate remuneration.

Section 5 – Obligations of the Client

  • The client shall provide the Hüsges Group with all information and documents necessary for the execution of the order conscientiously, completely, free of charge and in a timely manner.
  • The client shall, on its own initiative, draw attention to all events and circumstances that may be relevant to the execution of the order.
  • The execution of the order without fulfilling the above points 1 and 2 shall be at the sole risk of the client, unless the Hüsges Group is partly to blame.

Section 6 – Confidentiality

  • The Hüsges Group may make photocopies of the written documents that are made available to the Hüsges Group for inspection or that have been handed over for the purpose of executing the order.
  • The Hüsges Group expressly reserves the copyrights to the services provided.
  • When the order is placed, the scope of services will be specified in writing by the Hüsges Group. The client may only use the report prepared by the Hüsges Group within the scope of the order or the services provided by the Hüsges Group, including all related details, for the purpose agreed upon when the order was placed.

Section 7 – Terms of Payment

  • After completion of the order or upon presentation of the invoice, the order fee is due for payment immediately or, if a due date is specified on the invoice, on the date specified on the invoice without deduction.
  • Bills of exchange, cheques and money orders are only accepted on account of performance. They are considered payment once they have been cashed. Standard bank charges are borne by the client.
  • If the client is in default of payment of the invoice, the Hüsges Group may withdraw from the contract or claim damages in lieu of performance. Subject to the assertion of further damages, the Hüsges Group shall be entitled to default interest at a rate of 5% above the base rate in the event of default in payment. However, the client shall be entitled to prove that the Hüsges Group has not incurred any damage at all or that the damage incurred by the Hüsges Group is significantly lower.
  • If the Hüsges Group becomes aware of facts indicating that the client is no longer creditworthy, the Hüsges Group shall be entitled to demand cash payment before completing the order. In such cases, the Hüsges Group may also withdraw from the contract after a reasonable grace period or demand compensation for non-performance. This amounts to 15% of the remuneration, subject to the assertion of higher damages, unless the client can prove that no damage or only minor damage has been incurred. This also applies in the event of non-compliance with the terms of payment, non-payment of cheques or bills of exchange, suspension of payments, the opening of insolvency proceedings against the client’s assets or the rejection of the opening of proceedings due to lack of assets on the part of the client.
  • Advance payments may be requested and/or partial invoices may be issued by the Hüsges Group in accordance with the services already rendered. If the client is in default with the payment of partial invoices despite a grace period having been set, the Hüsges Group shall be entitled to refuse further execution of the order, to withdraw from the contract or to claim damages in lieu of non-performance.

Section 8 Offsetting/Prohibition of Retention

  • Offsetting or withholding payments due to counterclaims is excluded, unless the counterclaim is undisputed or has been legally established.

Section 9 Deadlines

  • The order deadlines of the Hüsges Group are non-binding unless their binding nature has been expressly agreed in writing.

Section 10 Termination

  • The contract may be terminated in writing by either party at any time for good cause. Ordinary termination of the contract is excluded, unless otherwise stipulated in the contract.
  • An important reason for the Hüsges Group to terminate the contract is given in particular if the client refuses to provide the necessary cooperation, if the client attempts to falsify the results of the expert opinion/service provided by the Hüsges Group in an inadmissible manner. If the client falls into financial collapse or defaults on payment.

Section 11 Warranty

  • Insofar as the Hüsges Group provides services, the parties agree that the Hüsges Group is not obligated to achieve a specific result, but is solely obligated to provide services, and that it is solely within the client’s sphere of decision-making and risk-taking to make the necessary decisions based on the services provided.
  • Otherwise, if defects occur within the warranty period, the Hüsges Group may initially exercise its right to subsequent performance. Subsequent performance shall be carried out at the discretion of the Hüsges Group either by rectifying the defect (repair) or by producing a new item (replacement).
  • In the event of a minor breach of contract, in particular minor defects, the client shall not be entitled to withdraw from the contract.
  • Any claim for damages shall remain unaffected in the event of the absence of warranted characteristics.


Section 12 Liability

  • The Hüsges Group shall only be liable for damages, regardless of the legal basis, if the Hüsges Group, its legal representative or vicarious agent caused these damages intentionally or through gross negligence, or if the Hüsges Group or its representative or vicarious agent negligently breached a material contractual obligation. In the event of a breach of essential contractual obligations, the Hüsges Group’s liability for damages shall be limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract.
  • Liability for indirect consequential damages, including consequential damages typical for this type of contract, is excluded. Furthermore, the liability of the Hüsges Group is limited to the following insurance sums:

– €500,000.00 for property damage
– €250,000.00 for financial losses

  • The above exclusions and limitations of liability do not apply to damages resulting from injury to life, limb or health, for other damages based on a grossly negligent breach of duty by the Hüsges Group or on an intentional grossly negligent breach of duty by a legal representative or vicarious agent of the Hüsges Group, or for damages due to culpable violation of essential contractual rights and obligations within the meaning of Section 307 (2) No. 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB).
  • The client must immediately notify the Hüsges Group in writing of any damage for which the Hüsges Group is liable.
  • Insofar as claims for damages against the Hüsges Group are excluded, this also applies with regard to the personal liability of the employees of the Hüsges Group.

Section 13 Final provisions

  • The place of performance for all claims arising from the contract is the registered office of the Hüsges Group.
  • The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes is the registered office of the Hüsges Group, unless the client is a merchant within the meaning of the German Commercial Code (HGB), a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, or claims are asserted by way of summary proceedings. The same place of jurisdiction shall apply if the client does not have a general place of jurisdiction in Germany, moves his place of residence or habitual abode outside Germany after conclusion of the contract, or if his place of residence or habitual abode is unknown at the time the action is brought.
  • The contract alone is binding for the relations between the contracting parties. German law applies to the contractual relationship. The uniform UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is excluded.
  • Should any provision of these terms and conditions be or become invalid, or should a loophole become apparent, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. In this case, the client and the Hüsges Group undertake to strive to achieve the intended purpose by agreeing on a replacement provision. (As of November 2009)