The next interim invoice has arrived. A lot has happened on the construction site, but the amount claimed cannot be immediately allocated. You must now combine two questions: which service is being invoiced, and which rules apply to your specific contract? A general instalment plan from the internet does not reliably answer either.
The contract model comes before the invoice
§ 650i BGB describes the consumer construction contract (Verbraucherbauvertrag) as an obligation of a contractor towards a consumer to build a new building or to carry out substantial conversion work. Whether the specific contract falls under this must be assessed according to its actual scope. Not every order on a private residential building is treated the same here across the board. [RAHMEN]
A developer contract (Bauträgervertrag) additionally includes the transfer of the land or heritable building right. For it, § 650u paragraph 2 expressly excludes, among other things, § 650m paragraph 1. [MODELL] The 90-per-cent limit explained below is therefore not used as a universal payment schedule for a developer purchase. Conversely, this exclusion does not mean that § 650m is indiscriminately excluded in all paragraphs.
What should the statement explain?
§ 632a links instalments to the value of services rendered and owed under the contract and requires a statement that enables a rapid and secure assessment. For services not performed in accordance with the contract, the provision contains a right to refuse an appropriate part of the instalment. The concrete amount is not derived here from a blanket internet percentage. [LEISTUNG]
In practice, the invoice is therefore linked to the agreed service, confirmed changes and the comprehensible state of performance. A photo of a finished room does not automatically explain the entire scope invoiced. In case of uncertainty, the specific item is assessed technically and legally, rather than paying everything prematurely or rejecting the entire claim across the board.
The individual invoice and the total sum
For instalments under § 632a within the relevant consumer construction contract framework, § 650m paragraph 1 limits the total sum to 90 per cent of the agreed total remuneration, including the additional remuneration described there. Paragraph 2 provides for a five-per-cent security for the timely completion without material defects with the first instalment payment in principle and governs further details. [SCHUTZ]
In a simplified fictional example, the relevant total remuneration remains €300.000. Ninety per cent is €270.000. Already made instalments of €250.000 and a new claim of €30.000 would together amount to €280.000. The difference is worth a concrete inquiry; the example is not a payment instruction. Even below an overall limit, the individual claim must be justified.
From three documents to a verifiable status
Keep the contractual basis, proofs of performance and the complete payment history to date together. A security commitment is assigned with its actual content, not merely ticked off on the basis of its heading. Planned supplements (Nachträge) and changes already in effect remain separate.
Where there is a significant discrepancy or an ongoing deadline, the specific claim needs an appropriate specialist review in good time. The purpose of the preparation is that this review can begin without searching for scattered invoices. Construction progress, payment claim and security are interconnected; none of the three points is replaced solely by the reassuring impression of a busy building site.