Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: link
    • Member State: Germany
    • Common Name:link
    • Decision type: Supreme court decision
    • Decision date: 17/10/2012
    • Court: Federal Court of Justice
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff: Unknown (entrepreneur)
    • Defendant: Unknown (entrepreneur)
    • Keywords: consumer goods, defective sample, sales contract
  • Directive Articles
    Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 1, 3. Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 3, 2. Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 3, 3. Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 3, 3., - Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 3, 3., - Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 3, 3., -
  • Headnote
    The delivery of a non-defective product as a cure includes not only removal of the defect purchase item but also the installation of the defect-free replacement product. This interpretation, in accordance with the Directive, applies only to consumer good purchases (Section 474 Civil Code), not to purchase contracts between entrepreneurs or consumers.
  • Facts
    The plaintiff, who operates in the branch of sports ground construction, ordered EPDM-granulate for the manufacture of artificial turf pitches for a secondary school at the defendant in 2006 and 2007. After installation of this material, it turned out to be defective. The defendant provided the plaintiff with SBR-granulate free of charge. However, the defendant declined to remove the defective material and to build in the defect-free product. Thus, the plaintiff engaged another company to render these services.
    The plaintiff demanded damages amounting to a total of EUR 72,126.05, consisting of damages for removal/installation, disposal costs and claimed price difference between the initially delivered EPDM-granulate and SBR-granulate in a lawsuit at a regional court. The regional court granted the plaintiff only damages for the disposal of the defective granulate and rejected the appeal apart from that.
    The plaintiff now demands damages for removal of the defective granulate and installation of the replacement granulate at the Federal Court of Justice.
  • Legal issue
    The buyer has no legal claim to receive damages of the seller. At first, the seller was not responsible for the defective product. Rather, the manufacturer was responsible. Second, the obligation for the seller to remove the defective product und to install the non-defective product applies only in cases of consumer good purchases. In the present case, both plaintiff and defendant are entrepreneurs.
  • Decision

    Does delivery of a non-defective product as a cure include the removal of the defective product and the installation of the non-defective product?

    URL: http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=en&nr=62352&pos=0&anz=1

    Full text: Full text

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  • Result
    The lawsuit of the plaintiff was rejected.