Which contractual party bears the risk of breakage of glass is depending on agreed quality
> October 2014

In its recent order, the German Federal High Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) maintains its opinion regarding the question as to who has to bear the inevitable risk of breakage of glass. The court considers the question within the framework of examining the agreed consistency under the right of warranty. The parties to this legal proceedings dispute about the question who has to bear the costs for the renewal of a steel and glass front after several panes have broken without any visible external impact.

The Court states that the Higher Regional Court Hamm has not sufficiently dealt with the question whether the parties had agreed that the function of the panes was that they are not allowed to break unless this is due to any external impacts.

In concrete terms, this means in practice: If a pane breaks without any external impact and if the non-breaking has not been agreed, this does not necessarily imply that the agreed quality has deviated and thus proven to be defective. Breakage of glass constitutes an immanent risk of a glass fronts.

Contact: