1. These General Terms and Conditions apply to all contracts between H.I.S. Industrieschilder e.K. (hereinafter "Seller") and its customers (hereinafter "Buyer") for the delivery of industrial signs, nameplates, marking systems and related products.
2. These Terms apply exclusively to businesses within the meaning of Section 14 BGB (German Civil Code), legal entities under public law and special public-law funds. Contracts with consumers (Section 13 BGB) are not intended.
3. Conflicting terms or terms of the Buyer that deviate from these Terms are not recognized unless the Seller has expressly agreed to their validity in writing. These Terms also apply if the Seller carries out the delivery without reservation while aware of conflicting or deviating terms of the Buyer.
4. These Terms also apply to all future transactions with the Buyer, without this needing to be pointed out again in each case.
1. The presentation of products on the Seller's website does not constitute a legally binding offer, but rather a non-binding invitation to the Buyer to submit an offer.
2. By placing an order, the Buyer submits a binding offer to conclude a purchase contract. The Seller is entitled to accept this offer within 5 business days by way of an order confirmation or by delivering the goods.
3. Goods manufactured to individual customer specification (e.g. per drawing, text or layout specification) will only be produced after the Buyer has expressly approved the final proof. Change requests made after approval has been given may result in additional costs and extended lead times.
1. Prices are ex works, excluding packaging, plus the applicable statutory VAT.
2. Costs for packaging, shipping and transport insurance are shown separately and borne by the Buyer, unless otherwise agreed.
3. Unless otherwise agreed, invoices are due for payment without deduction within 14 days of the invoice date.
4. Should the Buyer default on payment, the Seller is entitled to charge default interest at the statutory rate (Section 288(2) BGB) and to make further deliveries under ongoing contracts conditional on advance payment or the provision of security.
5. The Buyer is only entitled to a right of set-off if its counterclaims have been legally established, are undisputed or have been acknowledged by the Seller. The Buyer may only exercise a right of retention insofar as its counterclaim is based on the same contractual relationship.
1. Stated delivery dates and periods are non-binding unless expressly agreed as binding. The delivery period begins upon dispatch of the order confirmation, but not before all technical details of execution have been fully clarified and, in the case of advance payment, not before receipt of payment.
2. Partial deliveries are permissible insofar as they are reasonable for the Buyer, in particular if the undelivered part continues to allow the Buyer substantial use of the overall delivery and no significant additional costs arise. Partial deliveries may be invoiced separately.
3. Should the Seller default, the Buyer is entitled to withdraw from the contract after setting a reasonable grace period with a threat of refusal, unless the Seller is not responsible for the delay. Further claims of the Buyer due to delivery delay are governed by Section 9 of these Terms.
4. The Seller is not liable for impossibility of delivery or delivery delays insofar as these are caused by force majeure or other events that were not foreseeable at the time the contract was concluded (e.g. operational disruptions, material or energy shortages, delays at upstream suppliers) and for which the Seller is not responsible.
1. The risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the goods passes to the Buyer upon handover to the carrier, freight forwarder or other person or entity designated to carry out the shipment, but at the latest upon the goods leaving the Seller's works or warehouse.
2. This applies irrespective of whether the shipment originates from the place of performance and who bears the freight costs. If dispatch is delayed due to a circumstance caused by the Buyer, the risk passes to the Buyer upon notification that the goods are ready for dispatch.
1. The installation, mounting or affixing of the delivered goods is – unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing – not part of the contract and is the Buyer's sole responsibility. This applies in particular to the proper fastening of signs, nameplates and marking systems to machines, components or other mounting locations.
2. The Seller assumes no responsibility for the suitability of the mounting location, substrate or fastening method chosen by the Buyer, nor for damage arising from improper installation by the Buyer or third parties commissioned by the Buyer.
1. The delivered goods remain the property of the Seller (retained goods) until full payment of all claims arising from the business relationship with the Buyer.
2. The Buyer is obliged to handle the retained goods with care and to inform the Seller immediately in writing if third parties access the retained goods (e.g. by way of seizure).
3. The Buyer is entitled to resell or process the retained goods in the ordinary course of business. In this case, the Buyer hereby already assigns to the Seller all claims arising from the resale in the amount of the final invoice amount; the Seller accepts this assignment. The Buyer remains authorized to collect the claim as long as it properly meets its payment obligations.
4. In the event of processing or combination of the retained goods with other items not owned by the Seller, the Seller is entitled to co-ownership of the new item in proportion to the invoice value of the retained goods relative to the other processed items.
5. If the realizable value of the security exceeds the claims to be secured by more than 10%, the Seller is obliged, at the Buyer's request, to release the corresponding security.
1. The Buyer's warranty rights presuppose that it has properly fulfilled its inspection and notification obligations owed under Section 377 HGB (German Commercial Code). Obvious defects must be reported in writing without delay, at the latest within 7 business days of receipt of the goods; hidden defects must be reported in writing without delay after their discovery. If this obligation is breached, the goods are deemed approved.
2. In the case of a justified, timely and properly formatted notice of defect, the Seller shall, at its discretion, provide a remedy by repair or replacement delivery (subsequent performance). If subsequent performance fails or is refused by the Seller, the Buyer may, in accordance with the statutory provisions, reduce the purchase price or – in the case of more than minor defects – withdraw from the contract.
3. The warranty period is 12 months from the passing of risk. This does not apply insofar as the law mandatorily prescribes longer periods per Sections 438(1) No. 2, 445b BGB (structures and items for structures, recourse claims within the supply chain).
4. No warranty is given for defects resulting from normal wear and tear, improper handling, storage, installation or use by the Buyer or third parties, from external influences (e.g. mechanical damage, weathering, chemical exposure outside the specified resistance), or from defective design, text or layout specifications provided by the Buyer.
5. For goods manufactured to customer specification whose final proof was expressly approved by the Buyer (see Section 2(3)), the Seller is not liable for defects arising from the approved proof itself (e.g. spelling, dimensional or layout errors in the file approved by the Buyer).
6. Claims for intent, fraudulent concealment of a defect, and in the case of an express guarantee as to the condition of the goods, remain unaffected.
1. The Seller is liable without limitation for damages arising from injury to life, body or health based on a negligent or intentional breach of duty, as well as for other damages based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by the Seller, its legal representatives or vicarious agents.
2. In the case of simple negligence, the Seller is only liable for the breach of a material contractual obligation (cardinal obligation), the fulfillment of which makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance the Buyer may regularly rely. In this case, liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract.
3. Liability under the Product Liability Act and any liability arising from the assumption of a guarantee remain unaffected by the above limitations.
4. Any further liability of the Seller – regardless of the legal nature of the claim asserted – is excluded. Insofar as the Seller's liability is excluded or limited, this also applies to the personal liability of its employees, staff, representatives and vicarious agents.
The Buyer may not refuse to accept deliveries due to minor defects. The assertion of warranty rights per Section 8 remains unaffected by this.
1. Drawings, logos, texts and other templates provided by the Buyer remain the property of the Buyer; the Buyer warrants that it is entitled to use them for the purposes of order processing and indemnifies the Seller against third-party claims for infringement arising from the use of such templates.
2. Print templates, etching or embossing tools, layout files and similar working materials created by the Seller in the course of order processing remain – even if separately invoiced – the property of the Seller, unless expressly agreed otherwise. They are retained for the Buyer's reorders; there is no entitlement to their release.
1. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
2. The place of performance for all obligations arising from the contractual relationship is the Seller's registered office in Tangstedt, unless otherwise agreed.
3. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this contractual relationship is – insofar as the Buyer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special public-law fund – the Seller's registered office. However, the Seller is also entitled to sue at the Buyer's general place of jurisdiction.
4. Should individual provisions of these Terms be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected. The invalid provision shall be replaced by the applicable statutory provision.
Last updated: 24 August 2026 · H.I.S. Industrieschilder e.K. · Schulstr. 14 · 22889 Tangstedt, Germany