According to the definition, a contract for work is a private law agreement in which the contractor owes the client the success of his work.
Contract for work, a private law agreement
The work contract is clearly regulated in §§ 631 ff BGB (German Civil Code). In § 631 of the German Civil Code (BGB), typical contractual obligations in the contract for work, paragraph 1: “The contract for work obliges the entrepreneur to produce the promised work, and the customer to pay the agreed remuneration”. Paragraph 2 continues: “The subject of the contract for work and services can be the production or modification of an object as well as another result to be achieved through work or service”.
Difference between work contract and service contract
Typical examples of a work with a contract for work within the meaning of the BGB are, for example, the production of a tailor-made suit (manufacture), the repair of a dishwasher (change to an item), construction work (work) or the preparation of an expert report (service). In contrast to a service contract in which the action is in the foreground, the contracted entrepreneur owes the success of his activity in a service contract.
It does not matter whether the remuneration is a time wage or a piece wage. The boundaries between a service contract and a service contract are often fluid. For example, the work of an architect can, depending on the assignment, meet the requirements for a work contract as well as a service contract as well as for a work contract and a service contract.
Delimitation of work contract, service contract and work delivery contract
The contract for work and services differs from the contract for work and services in that a contract for work and services exclusively covers movable things, but the contract for work and services can relate to both movable and immovable works. It is a mixture of a sales contract and a contract for work, supplemented by the obligation that the ordered item is to be delivered to the customer.
The service contract differs from the service contract due to the contractual obligation. The contractor owes the client the success in the case of a service contract and the action in the case of a service contract. This means that in the case of a contract for work and services, the contractor must deliver the work to the purchaser free of both material defects and legal defects. In the case of a service contract, he owes the mere action or the effort to achieve success, but not the success itself.
Special forms of the work contract
- There are some contracts that are included in contracts for work and services, although their nature does not necessarily mean that they are work contracts. One of the special forms of
- Travel contract, a contract from the law of obligations. The tour operator undertakes to provide certain services to a traveler. In return, the tour operator is entitled to the travel price.
- Freight contract , a contract from commercial law, regulated in the HGB (Commercial Code). A freight contract is a special transport contract for the transfer of cargo.
- Transport contract , a special contract under the law of obligations for the transport of people or goods. In the narrower sense, the passenger transport contract is generally viewed as a transport contract; the freight contract is usually used for goods. This means that, as a matter of principle, the main distinction must be made here as to whether the transport involves people or goods.
- Construction contract , a contract under private law in which the contractor undertakes to provide construction work in accordance with the contract in return for payment of a wage. The creation of a building is decisive as an owed success. Architects do not provide construction work, but are responsible for planning and construction supervision, regulated in the construction supervision contract.
- Planning contract , an architect contract in which the architect stipulates his services to the client in detail.
- Contract for work and services based on special regulations such as the agency contract , which by its nature represents a service contract.
- Copyright contract , a contract for work and services usually coupled with a work protected by copyright in practice, which also regulates the client’s right of use. What is special about it is the right of transfer to third parties contained in most copyright contracts in return for an appropriate share of the proceeds.
- Work contracts similar to temporary workers , in which an employer, the lender, transfers his employees to another employer, the hirer, for a limited period of time in return for payment. The employer’s rights and obligations remain with the lender. Common terms for temporary work contracts are temporary work, staff leasing, personnel leasing, temporary work and temporary work.
Things to know about the guarantee for a contract for work and services
The handling of defective works is regulated by BGB § 634 rights of the customer in case of defects. There it says accordingly that if a work is defective, the customer can, provided the relevant requirements are met or have already been met and unless otherwise specified, according to
- BGB § 635 request supplementary performance. If the supplementary performance is not sufficient, he is entitled to the right
- Self-help, that is, he can eliminate the defect himself (BGB § 637) and the contractor the
- Request reimbursement of expenses (BGB § 637) as well as from
- Withdraw the contract (BGB §§ 636, 323 and 326 para. 5), the
- Reduce remuneration (BGB § 638),
- Demand compensation (BGB §§ 636, 280, 281, 283 and 311a) or
- Request reimbursement of wasted expenses (BGB § 284).
