1. There is a defect when the subject matter of the contract is not in the condition resulting from the requirements of the contract and this is due to circumstances for which the subcontractor is responsible.
2. What follows from the agreement depends on an interpretation of the contract with all its annexes, specifications, descriptions, drawings, etc.
3. In total subcontracting, there are many legal sources that must be taken into account when checking whether the requirements of the contract are fulfilled, including the purpose of the builder, whether there are adequate analyzes if the functional requirements of TEK 17 are resolved in a different way than that provided by the supervisor, etc.
4. Although the total contractor has the obligation to notify if he sees errors during the construction period, it is primarily at the time of the takeover that one must decide whether the contract work is in accordance with the contract or not.
5. All faults and shortcomings total-/ general contractor looks or should have looked at the takeover must be advertised over. Otherwise, the right to make a deficiency claim is lost.
6. Deficiencies discovered after takeover must be advertised “within a reasonable time” (the relative time limit for complaints) which in professional circumstances amounts to only a few weeks.
7. The absolute deadline for complaints is five years from the date of the takeover. After this, the total/general contractor cannot advertise. Exceptions to this apply to defects corrected during the complaint period. For such remedies, a new complaint period of five years runs, but in any case limited to one year after the end of the absolute complaint deadline.
8. The deadlines for complaints do not apply if it can be assumed that the defects are due to gross negligence or intent on the part of the subcontractor.
9. Remember that the provisions of the statute of limitations that imply that a claim may be (or become) obsolete even if the defect is advertised in good time.
