Work was carried out recently on the Austrian house. You are now selling and want to pass on to the buyer any possible claims against the contractor. You place invoices in the handover folder. That, however, still does not answer the question important to the buyer: which rights actually exist, who can exercise them and what has already been done?
Making the original contract findable
Our editorial recommendation: link principal, contractor, the specific service provided and the affected part of the building. Collect the contract, invoice and any available performance or acceptance documents. The invoice alone may not describe all the agreed characteristics and conditions.
Also mark an ongoing defect case. Which observation was reported when? What did the contractor actually declare or do? An agreed re-inspection date and a completed remedy should be documented separately. The article does not assess any technical fault.
Distinguishing documents from assignment of claims
§ 1392 ABGB describes assignment as the transfer of a claim with acceptance and the addition of a new creditor. § 1394 relates the assignee’s rights to the existing rights of the assignor in the transferred claim. [ABGB-1392] [ABGB-1394]
A handover of documents is therefore not simply treated as a checked transfer of every possible claim. Have it clarified which claims exist at all, are transferable and how a desired transfer can be specifically structured. This article does not create an assignment declaration.
Do not derive new rights from a new folder
The buyer should receive the actual status of claims. An existing limitation, an earlier settlement or an already completed resolution is not erased by a new owner’s name. Mere passing on does not create a new warranty period confirmed by this article.
Questions about deadlines and actions already required should be clarified by experts in good time. This article does not state a general deadline for all repairs nor a reliable effect of a private defect notification. Keep the declarations actually made.
An invented still-open roof case
A seller reported a recurring issue after a recent job. The contractor wants to inspect it. The house buyer initially receives only the paid invoice and assumes that they can then exercise all rights unchanged themselves.
The seller has the complete case and the desired transfer of claims reviewed. The parties then clarify who will continue to work with the contractor on what basis and which documents are needed for that. A claim already satisfied or a non-existent guarantee is not newly promised.
Assess your own purchase contract separately
Possible claims against the contractor do not automatically replace the examination of the seller’s obligations under the house purchase. § 922 ABGB provides a separate legal starting point for this in the case of a transfer for consideration. [ABGB-922] Which agreement and which factual situation apply in the specific purchase is not decided by this article.
In the end there should be a comprehensible record of performance and an expert clarification of the allocation of rights. The buyer receives more than a stack of invoices, and the seller’s side promises neither an unchecked transferability nor a blanket discharge from their own contractual duties under the purchase contract.