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SBZSoftware Bauzeit

Construction law in the software

Built on VOB/B and BGB.Checked against the textbook case.

In SBZ, obstructions, time extensions and claims follow the rules every German site manager knows: § 6 VOB/B for time, § 642 BGB and § 2 VOB/B for money. Time and money are answered separately, disruption by disruption, in working days.

Time extension
+26 WD
Extra cost, basic case
€6,781.36
Extra cost, variant
€8,407.36

Kladow museum case from the Handbuch Bauzeit. SBZ arrives at the same days and amounts, to the cent.

The legal bases

Every legal basis calculates differently. So does SBZ.

Different days, different surcharges, different conditions: SBZ knows the legal bases and applies to each exactly the rules it requires.

  • § 6 Abs. 1 VOB/B

    A contractor who is obstructed must notify the client in writing without delay, unless the obstruction is obvious.

    Obstruction notice (Behinderungsanzeige) from the disruption inquiry, as PDF or by e-mail. Date, channel and recipient are recorded. If the notice is missing, SBZ flags the disruption.

  • § 6 Abs. 2, 4 VOB/B

    More time when the cause lies in the client's risk area or is force majeure. The deadline extends by the duration of the obstruction.

    Soll' method in working days, in the project calendar with the public holidays of the federal state. The contractor's own delays never enter SOLL'.

  • § 642 BGB

    Compensation when the client fails to cooperate and staff and equipment stand idle. Only for the period of default of acceptance.

    Counts working days only from the contractor's own readiness to the end of the obstruction. Rates from the original calculation, plus overhead and profit.

  • § 2 Abs. 5, 6 VOB/B

    A new price for changed or additional work. The extra time is part of it.

    Time claim from the disruption's share of the time extension, separate from the technical claim. Rates from the original calculation, plus overhead and profit.

  • § 2 Abs. 8 Nr. 2 VOB/B

    Refund for work done without an order, if it was necessary and matched the client's presumed will.

    Charged with company overhead but without risk and profit, because it is a refund, not a price.

  • § 6 Abs. 6 VOB/B

    Damages only when the client culpably breaches a duty. Providing the site and the access is only an Obliegenheit, not a duty.

    Reserved in the obstruction notice and available as its own legal basis, without risk and profit.

Force majeure gives time but no money. SBZ does not create a claim for disruptions caused by force majeure or by the contractor's own risk area.

Three conditions

More time only when all three are met.

SBZ checks them for every disruption and shows what is still missing before you claim the time extension.

  1. 01

    Client's risk area

    The cause lies with the client or is force majeure.

    In SBZ

    The disruption inquiry asks for the risk area: client, neutral or contractor.

  2. 02

    Actually obstructed

    The contractor was ready to work, and the cause stopped or slowed the work.

    In SBZ

    Link to the affected activity, date of readiness, critical path and float in the bar chart schedule.

  3. 03

    Notified or obvious

    The client knew about it, through a written notice or because the obstruction was obvious.

    In SBZ

    Notice with date, channel and recipient, or marked as obvious.

Result: the deadline extends by the lost working days, § 6 Abs. 2, 4 VOB/B.

Soll' method

Four steps for every disruption, documented so anyone can follow.

The delay report shows each disruption with its own share of the time extension, so the client and expert witnesses can check every single day.

  1. 01SOLL

    Take the plan

    The contract schedule with all dependencies, optionally imported from MS Project or Excel.

  2. 02Proof

    Record the disruption

    What happened, when it started, when it ended. Backed by daily reports, photos and the disruption inquiry.

  3. 03SOLL'

    Add it to the plan

    SBZ moves every dependent activity in the project calendar and reads off the new end date.

  4. 04IST

    Compare with IST

    IST comes from the daily reports. Own delays appear as a forecast, separate from the time extension.

Delay report in SBZ with the Soll' method step by step

The textbook case

Kladow museum: four disruptions, checked to the cent.

Part 3 of the Handbuch Bauzeit works through a new building with four disruptions. SBZ arrives at the same working days and amounts at every step. The case runs as an automated test on every change to the software.

Project
Museum extension, Kulturpark Kladow (Berlin)
Contract
VOB/B, claims priced from the original calculation
Planned
06 Apr to 02 Nov 2021
Actual
15 Apr to 08 Dec 2021

Basic case

  • I

    Site handed over 9 days late

    Client

    +7 WD§ 642 BGB€2,212.41

  • II

    Glass-break alarms requested afterwards

    Client, one part contractor

    +10 WD§ 2 Abs. 5, 6 VOB/B€4,568.95

  • III

    Havel flood blocks the access road

    Force majeure

    +9 WDnone€0.00

Variant: disruption I with a second cause, disruption IV added

  • I

    Foundation subcontractor also hired too late: money for only 4 of 7 WD

    Client and contractor

    +7 WD§ 642 BGB€1,264.23

  • IV

    Sewer trenches, material carried by hand, absorbed with overtime

    Client

    0 WD§ 2 Abs. 8 Nr. 2 VOB/B€2,574.18
Time extension
+26 WD
Basic case I to III
€6,781.36
Variant
€8,407.36

Handover date step by step

  1. Contract

    02 Nov

  2. + Disruption I

    11 Nov

  3. + Disruption II

    25 Nov

  4. + Disruption III

    08 Dec

IST also ends on 08 Dec. SOLL' and IST agree, so the analysis is plausible.

What the case shows

  • Force majeure gives time but no money.
  • Time and money can count different days. For § 642 BGB, only days after the contractor's own readiness count.
  • A delay inside the float does not move the end date. Only the critical path counts.
  • Own delays give neither time nor money, but they make the rest credible.

Source: Roquette, Viering, Leupertz, Handbuch Bauzeit, Part 3, case study. Simplified textbook case, net amounts, company overhead 8 %, risk and profit 3 %. The technical claim for the glass-break alarms comes on top and is not included.

SBZ implements the rules of the VOB/B and the BGB and provides the documentation your lawyer or expert witness needs. It does not replace the legal assessment of the individual case.

See your next obstruction in SBZ.

In the demo we show the disruption inquiry, the Soll' method and the claim on a real schedule.

Request a demo