Our General Standard Terms and Conditions (GT&C)
1. Type and scope of service
a) Wir lieben Service GmbH, hereinafter referred to as Proprietor, is offering building, glass, façade, interior and comparable cleaning work as well as professional caretaker services (facility management), and also coordinated maintenance with the help of tradesmen (property management).
b) The scope of any performance owed to the corresponding customer will be as regularly defined in a schedule of services and fees drawn up upon the customer’s request by the Proprietor and in the agreement concluded on the basis thereof.
c) The Proprietor shall agree to perform any service to be carried out under such agreement in a proper and workmanlike fashion. The Proprietor shall provide the labour as required for the services to be performed by the Proprietor. The Proprietor shall also warrant that the services will be provided as defined in the agreement even in case of illness, holiday or other shortfall.
d) The Proprietor will only assign reliable personnel who have the necessary technical qualifications. The Proprietor shall make certain that the entire labour force working on its behalf will observe the regulations set forth by the German employer’s liability insurance association. If and where any foreign labour is employed, the Proprietor shall make certain that these are in possession of valid residence and/or work permits, and that all other obligations to register and provide evidence have been fulfilled for them.
e) Unless as agreed otherwise by and between the parties, the Proprietor shall provide all machines, equipment, and cleaning and treatment agents for performing the work as specified in the agreement from time to time. The Proprietor shall warrant that the work equipment and working fluids it provides are always suitable without any restriction according to the state-of-the-art so as to guarantee the proper care and maintain the value of the properties to be cleaned, that the machines are always in conformance with the generally accepted rules of engineering, and that the cleaning agents always meet the environmental provisions as applicable at the time of performing the service.
2. Conclusion and commencement of contract
a) A contract shall be deemed concluded between Proprietor and customer when an agreement between both parties based on a schedule of services and fees drawn up by the Proprietor has been signed by their authorised signatories, if any.
b) If and where the technical opportunities exist and the Proprietor is awarded an order by the customer by using an online procedure, i.e., exclusively by means of distance communication including but not limited to e-mails, mobile data services or online platforms, a contract shall not be deemed concluded unless by the final order acknowledgement transmitted by the Proprietor.
c) When using an online procedure for granting an order to the Proprietor, any customer who is a consumer as defined in Section 13 of the German Civil Code, shall have a right to revoke in accordance with Sections 312g, 355 of the German Civil Code. Before concluding a contract, the Proprietor shall explicitly point out such a right to revoke to a customer who is a consumer and provide the customer with all information required for exercising such right to revoke.
d) The contract concluded between Proprietor and customer shall, as a general rule, commence at the time agreed by and between the parties. If no such time has been agreed, the Proprietor shall notify the customer of the contract’s commencement date which, on a regular basis, shall not be later than 14 days after having concluded the contract.
3. Supervision
a) The Proprietor shall designate to the customer a person who will be responsible for supervising the Proprietor’s personnel in or, respectively, at the customer’s property. Such supervisor shall be the competent contact person for the customer or for any representative to be appointed by the latter, and will see to it that the customer’s instructions will be implemented in accordance with the schedule of services agreed.
b) The personnel shall be expressly forbidden from looking at Or into any written document, file, folder or similar record, and from opening any Cabinet, desk or other container. The personnel shall agree to observe silence about any trade or industrial secret which may come to the personnel’s notice when performing any work in or at the customer’s property, and shall not disclose any such secret to anybody. Furthermore, the personnel shall agree to hand any object found within the scope of any work performed inside or at the customer’s property to the latter without any delay. The personnel employed by the Proprietor shall be forbidden from bringing any person to the customer’s property unless such person is part of the Proprietor’s operations and is active on the latter’s assignment.
4. Accessibility of property, recreation rooms and other collateral duties of customer
a) The customer shall make suitable rooms available free of charge to the Proprietor to be used for recreation by the personnel assigned by the latter. These rooms must not be used unless exclusively in accordance with statutory regulations and official requirements.
b) The customer shall also make suitable rooms available free of charge to the Proprietor for storing work materials including but not limited to cleaning agents and/or cleaning machines.
c) The customer shall provide both the water needed for contract performance and the required power supply free of charge.
d) The customer shall agree to grant unhindered access to or, respectively, into the property to the Proprietor or, correspondingly, to the personnel assigned by the latter for contract performance at the times as agreed in the contract. This shall also include access to waste paper and refuse bins as well as to any storage rooms used, e.g., for towels and toilet paper.
5. Warranty
a) The work to be carried out by the Proprietor shall be deemed performed and accepted in accordance with the contract unless the customer complains of any shortcoming in text form, i.e., in writing or via e-mail, either immediately or by the latest within 24 hours after finishing work. If there is any shortcoming, the Proprietor shall have both the right and the obligation to make a subsequent improvement. The customer shall set a reasonable deadline for such subsequent improvement.
b) If any one-time work performance has been agreed as, e.g., final construction site cleaning, such work shall be accepted not later than 24 hours after the Proprietor reports the completion thereof, or shall be accepted section by section if appropriate. Completion shall be reported in text form, i.e., in writing or via e-mail. If the customer fails to meet its obligation to accept the work performed, such work shall be deemed accepted.
c) The customer shall have no warranty claim for any defect caused by any failure of the customer to provide the Proprietor with any important information on the type and condition of the surfaces and objects to be cleaned The same shall apply if and when the customer fails to take sufficient precautions to ensure the accessibility or, correspondingly, availability of any surface to be cleaned.
6. Interruption in contract performance
In case of war, industrial action, civil commotion, or in any other event of force majeure, the Proprietor may interrupt or reorganise the work agreed under the contract as appropriate if and where performance thereof becomes impossible. In case of interruption, the Proprietor’s remuneration shall be adjusted in accordance with any expenditure and wage saved for the time of interruption.
7. Remuneration
a) The Proprietor’s remuneration shall become due and payable immediately after invoicing, and shall be settled within a period of five (5) days.
b) The customer shall be deemed in default as defined in Section 286, Subsection 3 of the German Civil Code unless remuneration is paid to the Proprietor within a period of thirty (30) days after an invoice has been received and become due and payable. Such legal consequences will be pointed out specifically in every invoice sent to a customer who is a consumer as defined in Section 13 of the German Civil Code. If the customer incurs in any default, the Proprietor will invoice default interests as set forth in Section 288 of the German Civil Code from the time the default begins.
c) When a payment made by the customer is insufficient for settling the total debts, interests and costs accumulated, such payment shall be credited by the Proprietor as defined in Sections 366, 367 of the German Civil Code.
d) For any long-term contractual relationship which concerns any recurring service, an invoice shall be issued by the Proprietor not later than by the fifth day of the month following upon the month accounted for.
e) Any service exceeding the contractually agreed scope of services, e.g., for having been ordered separately by the customer after contract conclusion, can be invoiced by the Proprietor immediately after its completion and irrespectively of any existing long-term contractual relationship providing for any recurring service.
f) No set-off against any own claim against the Proprietor shall be allowed to the customer unless to the extent any such claim has been established by a final judgement or is not disputed by any of the parties.
g) The Proprietor’s contractual obligations shall be suspended in the event of any default on the customer’s part. In such event, the customer may not invoke any liability claim by alleging any failure of the Proprietor to perform its contractual obligations. Such Proprietor failure to perform its contractual obligations shall not exempt the customer from its obligations to pay either.
h) If the customer cancels any appointment agreed with the Proprietor, the customer shall pay 80% of the remuneration agreed provided that such cancellation is received by the Proprietor by way of a statement transmitted in text form, i.e., either in writing or via e-mail, and not later than 48 hours prior to the appointment agreed. If the customer cancels less than 48 hours prior to an appointment agreed, the customer shall pay the full compensation to the Proprietor. Nonetheless, the Proprietor shall allow the crediting against such an amount of any remuneration the Proprietor obtains by accepting any other order, or maliciously refrains from obtaining.
8. Liability
a) The Proprietor shall be liable for any loss or damage culpably caused within the scope of contract performance by its legal representatives and/or by any personnel assigned by the Proprietor. Accordingly, the Proprietor shall not assume liability unless exclusively for intent or gross negligence. The Proprietor confirms that it has a valid professional indemnity insurance.
b) The amount of the Proprietor’s liability for every single damage event shall be limited to:
Personal injury: up to EUR 3,000,000.00
Property damages: up to EUR 3,000,000.00
Economic loss: up to EUR 3,000,000.00
Within the scope of the contractually agreed risks of liability, the following amounts of insurance have been agreed in addition:
Damage to leased property by fire or explosion: up to EUR 1,000,000.00
Activity damage: up to EUR 3,000,000.00
Risks of key loss: up to EUR 3,000,000.00
c) The customer shall agree to notify the Proprietor of any liability claim in text form, i.e., either in writing or via e-mail, and without any delay. The customer shall provide assistance to the Proprietor in complying with the latter’s duty to avert, minimize or mitigate any loss or damage.
9. Adjustment of remuneration
a) The remuneration agreed shall be based on the Proprietor’s price list as applicable at the time of signing the contract, on the collective and outline collective agreements as applicable at the time of signing the contract, and on the statutory provisions in the area of social insurance legislation as applicable at the time of signing the contract.
b) If any change occurs in collectively agreed wages and salaries, if any other collective agreement is made, or if there is any change to social security contributions each after signing the contract between the customer and the Proprietor, and have any immediate effect on the costs and/or on-costs of labour, the remuneration agreed can be modified by the Proprietor upon a written request and while providing evidence of the reasons thereof.
c) The collective and outline collective agreements concluded between the building cleaner trade in the corresponding pay scale area and the competent trade unions shall be the decisive document for determining whether and to what extent a change has occurred in wages and salaries.
d) Any change in prices agreed on the basis of any newly concluded collective bargaining agreement shall take effect, at the earliest, from the day which has been negotiated by the parties to any such collective bargaining agreement. No request received later than three months after the conclusion of a collective bargaining agreement may be taken into account unless from the first day of the month of receipt onwards. The receipt of a request to change shall be acknowledged in writing to the requesting party while indicating the date of receipt; the date appearing on the incoming mail stamp shall prevail in case of doubt.
e) No adjustment of remuneration may be agreed unless, at the earliest, one year after the commencement of the contract.
10. Change in the scope of services
a) Any work not included in the subject matter of the agreement concluded between customer and Proprietor, i.e., any additional and/or extra work performed upon request will be invoiced on a separate basis.
b) Any amendment to the scope of services to be made by adding any new or omitting any existing task shall be notified in writing by the customer in good time, i.e., not less than four weeks prior to the planned entry into effect thereof. Any claim to obtain a reduction in fees shall lapse to the corresponding extent if any such reduction in the work to be performed is not notified or not notified in good time.
11. Contractual period and termination
a) A contract providing for any one-off service to be carried out by the Proprietor shall terminate upon the proper performance of such service by the Proprietor as defined in the contract, and upon the customer’s acceptance.
b) A contract providing for any recurring service to be carried out by the Proprietor shall be deemed concluded for an indefinite period of time unless as otherwise agreed by the parties thereto. A probationary period of three months may be agreed. A period of notice to terminate of one (1) month to the end of a month shall apply during the probationary period.
c) After the end of the probationary period, a long-term contractual relationship providing for any recurring service may be terminated by either contracting party subject to a notice period of three months toward the end of a month.
d) Notice to terminate a long-term contractual relationship may be given for good cause by either party thereto subject to the provisions set forth in Section 314 of the German Civil Code.
e) No termination shall be valid unless made in a written form. The time at which a notice to terminate is received by the recipient of such notice shall prevail for determining the observance of the period of notice.
12. Venue and place of performance
The venue and place of performance applicable in case of business dealings among merchants entered in a commercial register and in business dealings among legal entities under public law shall be Berlin, Germany.
13. Non-solicitation clause
The contracting parties shall be forbidden from enticing away any personnel either by themselves or through any third party and from receiving any job application from any personnel employed by the corresponding other contracting party. For the parties to the contract, the foregoing provision shall survive the termination of the contractual relationship for a period of twelve months. In the event of any infringement of this non-solicitation clause, the customer shall agree to pay to the Proprietor a contract penalty equivalent to three (3) net monthly salaries of the corresponding employee.
14. Final provisions
a) Should any individual provision(s) of a contract or agreement concluded by and between customer and Proprietor be or become invalid, whether fully or in part, or should a contract or agreement concluded by the parties be incomplete, the contractual relationship shall be maintained in its other respects. The contracting parties shall agree, in that event, to replace any such ineffective provision by a legally effective provision which, as far as effective under law, comes as close as possible to the economic purpose intended by the ineffective provision.
b) No contract or agreement between customer and Proprietor including any amendment or supplement thereto shall be effective unless drawn up in a written form. The foregoing shall also apply to any revocation of such written-form requirement.