Sending of notifications of defects via e-mail not sufficient
> February 2015
Frankfurt Regional Court has ruled that sending of a notification of defect regarding a VOB [German Construction Contract Procedures] contract via e-mail only extends the period of limitation if it is personally signed or is sent with an e-mail signature.
This means that the Regional Court takes up its judgment from 2012, which was confirmed by Frankfurt Higher Regional Court.In the case which was submitted for a decision, a two-year period of limitation applied. The client had made a complaint regarding a defect in a refrigerating unit. There was no further correspondence. The defect was not remedied. Three years later, the client requested the manufacturer of the refrigerating unit (contractor) to remedy the defect. However, the contractor refused and invoked the period of limitation. The client then remedied the defect by way of substitute performance and then sued the contractor for reimbursement of costs.
The regional court agreed with the contractor and followed the argumentation that rights to claim under warranty have become statute-barred. The notification of the defect in 2010, which was only sent via e-mail, did not fulfil the formal requirements contained in Art. 13 Paragraph 5 No. 1 Sentence 2 VOB/B [German Construction Contract Procedures]. This means that an extension of the period of limitation was not affected.
This legal opinion is not undisputed. However, as a precaution, all notifications of defects under VOB contracts for work should be prepared and served in writing if there is any risk involved with regard to the period of limitation.