General terms and conditions

1. Scope and contractual basis

These terms apply to contracts with GEONOVA – Dr.-Ing. Ingo Hylla exclusively with businesses within the meaning of section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), legal entities under public law and special funds under public law. The quotation defines the scope of services. Individual agreements and the provisions of the quotation take precedence over these terms.

2. Input data and cooperation

The client provides the required information and data correctly, completely and in good time. GEONOVA checks their completeness and technical usability for the agreed services and reports inconsistencies that should be apparent during competent professional processing. Further geotechnical verification is included only if expressly commissioned. Processing periods begin once all required input data have been received.

3. Changes and additional services

Services beyond the quotation, such as additional investigation points, sections, variants or changes to the input data, require a separate agreement. GEONOVA offers the scope, price and effects on the schedule in text form in advance; the client commissions them in text form. Statutory rights relating to defects and agreed adjustments remain unaffected.

4. Modelling and access to results

Models, sections and visualisations provide digital processing of the supplied geotechnical information. Independent investigations, design calculations, stability checks, foundation recommendations and expert reports are included only if expressly agreed.

Unless otherwise agreed, the web view and result files remain available for 30 days after the completed results are made available. No separate reminder before the availability period expires is owed. The client saves the files in good time. They are then deleted from the delivery system. Statutory retention obligations and rights relating to defects remain unaffected.

5. Review and acceptance

GEONOVA makes the completed results available for review and, where the services are capable of acceptance, requests acceptance in text form within a reasonable period. Apparent defects should be reported. Statutory provisions govern acceptance, remedial performance and other rights relating to defects; these terms introduce no additional time limit that would exclude such rights.

6. Fees and payment

Prices are net of statutory VAT. Agreed additional services are charged separately. Invoices are payable within seven calendar days of receipt. Where acceptance is a statutory requirement for payment to become due, the payment period starts no earlier than acceptance. Statutory rights to withhold payment remain unaffected.

7. Liability

GEONOVA is liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, harm to life, body or health, mandatory statutory liability and guarantees it has assumed. For a breach of essential contractual duties caused by slight negligence, liability is limited to damage typical of the contract and foreseeable when it was concluded. Essential duties are those which enable proper performance of the contract and on whose fulfilment the client may normally rely. Liability for slight negligence is otherwise excluded. These rules also apply to errors in client data; agreed duties to check data and report inconsistencies remain in place.

8. Rights of use and final provisions

Upon full payment, the client receives a non-exclusive right, unlimited in time and territory, to store, reproduce and modify the agreed results and share them with project participants and authorities for the planning, construction, operation and documentation of the commissioned project. Review for acceptance is permitted before payment. Use for other projects requires GEONOVA’s consent. German law applies. The statutory rules on jurisdiction apply.