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Contractor Defect Claims in Germany: 2 or 5 Years 2026

Last updated: 4 September 2026 · Reading time approx. 8 minutes

The basement ceiling was insulated in 2021, and now there are damp patches. The first question is not who is to blame, but whether the claim still exists at all. German law gives defect claims against a contractor two standard limitation periods — two years and five years — and which one applies turns on a single term: Bauwerk, a building or structure. This article shows where the line runs, on which day the clock starts, what stops it and the three mistakes that regularly cost owners their claim after a renovation.

Two years or five — the switch is called Bauwerk

The governing provision is § 634a (1) BGB (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, the German Civil Code). It does not distinguish by the size of the invoice or by the trade, but by what was worked on.

Type of workProvisionPeriod
Producing, maintaining or altering a thing — and the planning or supervision for it § 634a (1) no. 1 BGB two years
Work on a building (Bauwerk) — and the planning or supervision for it (architect, structural engineer) § 634a (1) no. 2 BGB five years
Everything else that falls under neither number § 634a (1) no. 3, § 195 BGB standard period: three years
The maintenance contract is the classic trap. § 634a (1) no. 1 BGB names „Wartung" — maintenance — expressly alongside production and alteration. The annual boiler service is therefore normally a two-year matter, even though the boiler itself is fixed in the building. If you use the same firm for both, two different clocks are running.

The statute does not say when work counts as being done „on a building". The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) applies three cumulative points: the work must be permanently and firmly installed, its installation must amount to a fundamental renewal of the building equivalent to new construction, and it must serve the building, that is, perform a function for it. A new heating system, a re-covered roof, an insulated façade or the replacement of every window will typically qualify. Re-doing a silicone joint, a coat of paint or repairing a single component typically will not.

In between lies a genuine grey zone, which is exactly why this question reaches the courts at all — the decision on a photovoltaic system on a hall roof is set out below. For practice it yields one uncomfortable but useful rule: never assume the five-year period applies. Anyone who plans their defect notices around the two-year mark is right in both cases.

The clock starts with acceptance — not with the invoice

„Die Verjährung beginnt in den Fällen des Absatzes 1 Nr. 1 und 2 mit der Abnahme" — limitation begins with acceptance of the work (§ 634a (2) BGB). Not with the invoice date, not with payment, not with the last day on site. That matters because acceptance can occur without a signature and without a written record; how that happens is set out in our article on acceptance of tradesmen's work. If you do not know the date, you do not know the deadline either.

The period is calculated under the general rules: the day of acceptance itself does not count (§ 187 (1) BGB), and the period ends at the close of the day whose number corresponds to the day of acceptance (§ 188 (2) BGB).

Acceptance onTwo years endFive years end
15 March 2021close of 15 March 2023close of 15 March 2026
30 September 2022close of 30 September 2024close of 30 September 2027
2 January 2024close of 2 January 2026close of 2 January 2029

So record the acceptance date together with the invoice — not instead of it. In RenoDiary both hang off the project, and therefore off the property they belong to.

What you can demand within the period

§ 634 BGB lists the customer's rights exhaustively, and their order is not a matter of taste:

Three mistakes that cost the claim

1. Accepting despite a known defect — without a reservation

Anyone who accepts a work although he knows of the defect keeps the rights to cure, self-remedy, rescission and reduction only „if he reserves his rights in respect of the defect on acceptance" (§ 640 (3) BGB). One line in the record — which defect, subject to all rights — later saves an expert opinion.

2. The burden of proof flips on acceptance

Before acceptance the contractor must prove that he performed without defects. Afterwards § 363 BGB applies: whoever has accepted „a performance offered to him as performance" bears the burden of proving that it was incomplete or different from what was owed. So photograph the condition at acceptance — not once the dispute has started.

3. Talking does not automatically stop the clock

Many owners rely on the idea that „we are still in discussions" halts limitation. That is only true while negotiations about the claim are genuinely ongoing: § 203 BGB suspends limitation „until one party or the other refuses to continue the negotiations", after which limitation occurs „at the earliest three months after the end of the suspension". If the firm breaks off contact, only those three months remain — and anyone who never documented the exchange cannot prove the suspension.

Concealment extends the period — but not without limit

If the contractor fraudulently concealed the defect, the standard limitation period of three years applies instead of the two- or five-year period (§ 634a (3) sentence 1, § 195 BGB). It begins only at the end of the year in which the claim arose and you learned of the circumstances or should have learned of them but for gross negligence (§ 199 (1) BGB) — with a hidden defect, possibly years after acceptance. Two limits apply: for buildings, § 634a (3) sentence 2 BGB provides that limitation does not occur „before expiry of the period specified there", so the five years are a floor, not a ceiling; and the long-stop limits of § 199 BGB cap the other end, for claims such as cure ten years from when they arose (§ 199 (4) BGB).

A contract clause will not help the firm then. Under § 639 BGB the contractor cannot rely on an agreement excluding or restricting his liability for defects „to the extent that he fraudulently concealed the defect or gave a guarantee as to the quality of the work". Conversely: a voluntary guarantee is an additional promise alongside the statutory limitation rules, not a substitute for them.

VOB/B: the contract can move the deadlines

The statutory periods apply as long as nothing else has been validly agreed. In construction work the Vergabe- und Vertragsordnung für Bauleistungen Teil B (VOB/B), the German standard building contract terms, is frequently incorporated — a body of standard business terms with its own rules on defect liability, expressly mentioned in § 310 (1) sentence 3 BGB. What matters for the review of individual clauses is whether the VOB/B is incorporated „ohne inhaltliche Abweichungen insgesamt", that is, as a whole and without substantive deviation. For you this means one thing, but consistently: before applying any deadline from this article to your case, check whether your contract refers to the VOB/B. If it does, its limitation rules govern, not the table above.

What this means for renovation planning

Defect liability is not a legal footnote but part of the calculation. Three practical consequences:

  1. Record the acceptance date per trade. A renovation involving six trades runs six separate periods — the roofer's does not end on the same day as the painter's.
  2. Inspect deliberately before the period ends. A walk-through in the last six months before expiry costs nothing and is the only moment at which a quietly developing defect still costs someone other than you.
  3. Keep the paperwork. Invoice, acceptance record and defect notices are at the same time the evidence for acquisition-related production costs towards the tax office. Whatever you end up paying yourself lands in the maintenance reserve — which should budget for the years after the warranty period runs out.

What the courts have decided

Two decisions of the VII. Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) shape the practice: one on when the five-year period applies, the other on what you actually get reimbursed.

BGH, judgment of 2 June 2016 – VII ZR 348/13

Retrofitting a photovoltaic system onto the roof of a tennis hall falls under the five-year period of § 634a (1) no. 2 BGB where the system „zur dauernden Nutzung fest eingebaut wird", its installation amounts to a fundamental renewal of the hall equivalent to new construction, and the system serves the hall by performing a function for it. That the system does not supply the hall with electricity is expressly irrelevant. For owners: even a retrofitted installation can be work on a building — and the answer turns on how it was installed, not on the name of the trade.

BGH, judgment of 22 February 2018 – VII ZR 46/17

The Senate expressly departed from its previous case law: a customer who keeps the work and does not have the defect remedied „kann im Rahmen eines Schadensersatzanspruchs statt der Leistung (kleiner Schadensersatz) […] seinen Schaden nicht nach den fiktiven Mängelbeseitigungskosten bemessen" — he cannot measure his loss by notional repair costs. A quotation for a repair that is never carried out no longer supports the claim. If you want the defect remedied, ask for an advance under § 637 BGB; if you keep it, you must show the reduction in value. In practice: repair and invoice — or reduce. Do not budget on a quote for work you will never commission.

Frequently asked questions

Is there not always a five-year warranty on tradesmen's work?

No. Five years apply under § 634a (1) no. 2 BGB to work on a building. For producing, maintaining or altering a thing it is two years under no. 1. Which number applies is decided by the type of work, not by the size of the invoice.

Does the period restart if the firm has carried out a repair?

Not automatically. § 634a BGB ties the start to acceptance, and a repair is not a fresh acceptance of the whole work. Whether and to what extent a repair affects limitation depends on the individual case — so do not rely on it, rely on the original acceptance date.

What about defects that appear shortly before the period ends?

You must assert the claim within the period; merely notifying the firm does not stop limitation. Negotiations suspend it under § 203 BGB, after which at least three months remain. If that is not enough time, the other suspension rules of German limitation law come into play — this is the point at which legal advice is cheaper than a lost claim.

Am I still liable to my tenant regardless?

Yes. The period running against the contractor says nothing about your obligation under the tenancy to keep the flat in contractual condition. A time-barred claim against the firm does not relieve you towards the tenant — it merely shifts the cost to you permanently.

Does an offered guarantee count on top?

Yes, a guarantee is an independent promise. Under § 639 BGB a contractor who has given a quality guarantee cannot rely on a liability-limiting agreement. It does not replace the statutory limitation rules but sits alongside them — read its conditions before relying on it.

Acceptance dates, invoices and deadlines per property

RenoDiary brings projects, contractor invoices and maintenance dates together per property — so the acceptance date is still findable when you need it years later.

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Sources

This article offers general orientation and does not replace individual tax or legal advice within the meaning of § 3 StBerG (Steuerberatungsgesetz, the German Tax Advisory Act). Whether a service counts as work on a building and whether a claim is time-barred depends on the individual case; the dates in the deadline tables are worked examples.