GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS (GTC)
IT Services Lächele
im Hölderle 9, 72070 Tübingen | info@laechele.cloud | laechele.cloud
As of: March 2026
§ 1 Scope and Contracting Parties
1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") apply to all service agreements between IT Services Lächele (hereinafter "Service Provider") and its clients (hereinafter "Client"), provided that the Client is a business entity within the meaning of § 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB).
1.2 Conflicting, deviating, or supplementary general terms and conditions of the Client shall only become part of the contract if the Service Provider has expressly consented to their application in writing.
1.3 These GTC also apply to all future transactions with the Client insofar as these are of a similar legal nature.
§ 2 Conclusion of Contract and Scope of Services
2.1 All offers by the Service Provider are non-binding and subject to change. A contract is only concluded upon written order confirmation by the Service Provider or upon actual commencement of the service.
2.2 A free initial consultation serves solely for non-binding needs assessment and does not constitute a binding offer. It does not obligate the Client to enter into any further contractual relationship.
2.3 The scope of services is determined by the respective service description or the individual offer. Verbal ancillary agreements require written confirmation to be effective.
2.4 Contracts are concluded on a project basis. No ongoing service relationships are established unless expressly agreed in writing.
§ 3 Remuneration and Payment Terms
3.1 The agreed remuneration is set out in the respective offer or order confirmation. All prices are exclusive of applicable value-added tax where the Service Provider is subject to VAT.
3.2 Invoices are due for payment within 14 (fourteen) calendar days of the invoice date without any deduction. After this period, the Client shall automatically be in default without any further reminder being necessary.
3.3 In the event of default, the Service Provider is entitled to charge default interest at a rate of 9 percentage points above the applicable base interest rate pursuant to § 288 para. 2 BGB. The right to claim further damages is reserved.
3.4 The Service Provider is entitled to agree on reasonable advance payments for larger projects. The Client is not entitled to offset any payments against counterclaims unless such counterclaims have been established by final judgment or acknowledged by the Service Provider.
§ 4 Client’s Duty to Cooperate
4.1 The Client shall provide the Service Provider with all information, documents, and access required for the provision of services in a timely and complete manner.
4.2 Delays arising from insufficient or delayed cooperation by the Client shall not be attributed to the Service Provider. Any additional costs incurred as a result may be charged to the Client.
§ 5 Copyright and Intellectual Property
5.1 All works, concepts, drafts, texts, software, and other deliverables created by the Service Provider are protected by copyright and remain the property of the Service Provider until the agreed remuneration has been paid in full.
5.2 Upon full payment, the Service Provider grants the Client a simple, non-transferable right of use in the agreed deliverables for the contractually intended purpose. Further rights of use, in particular the right to modify or sublicense, require a separate written agreement.
5.3 The Client warrants that all materials, content, and information provided to the Service Provider are free of third-party rights or that the Client holds the necessary rights of use. The Client shall be solely liable for any infringements of rights arising from materials provided by the Client.
5.4 The Service Provider is entitled to reference the services rendered for portfolio and reference purposes, unless the Client asserts legitimate confidentiality interests.
§ 6 Contract Duration and Termination
6.1 Contracts are concluded on a project basis and end upon full delivery of the agreed services and acceptance by the Client, at the latest upon full settlement of the invoice.
6.2 The right to terminate for cause without notice remains unaffected. Cause exists in particular if the Client is in default with due payments exceeding one invoice and fails to make payment despite a reminder with a reasonable grace period.
6.3 In the event of premature termination by the Client without cause, the Client shall owe proportionate remuneration for services already rendered and costs incurred. In addition, the Service Provider shall be entitled to 30% of the remaining remuneration as liquidated damages, unless the Service Provider can demonstrate a higher actual loss.
§ 7 Limitation of Liability
7.1 The Service Provider shall be fully liable for damages arising from injury to life, body, or health, as well as for damages caused by wilful misconduct or gross negligence, and for breaches of essential contractual obligations (cardinal obligations).
7.2 In the event of a slightly negligent breach of cardinal obligations, liability shall be limited to the typically foreseeable damage.
7.3 Any further liability of the Service Provider for damages caused by slight negligence – regardless of their nature – is excluded. This applies in particular to indirect damages, loss of profit, and data loss.
7.4 The above limitations of liability do not apply where mandatory statutory liability provisions apply (e.g. under the German Product Liability Act).
§ 8 Data Protection
8.1 The Service Provider processes the Client’s personal data exclusively for the fulfilment of the contractual relationship and for compliance with statutory obligations, in particular commercial and tax-related retention obligations.
8.2 The processing of personal data is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection regulations, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
8.3 For further information on data processing and data subject rights, please refer to the Service Provider’s separate Privacy Policy, available at https://laechele.cloud/privacy-policy.
8.4 Where the Service Provider processes personal data on behalf of the Client in the course of service delivery, a separate Data Processing Agreement (DPA) pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR shall be concluded.
§ 9 Confidentiality
9.1 Both parties undertake to treat all confidential information obtained from the other party in the course of the cooperation with strict confidentiality and not to disclose it to third parties. This obligation shall survive the termination of the contractual relationship.
9.2 Excluded from this obligation is information that is or becomes publicly known, or that was known to a party prior to the conclusion of the contract without being subject to a duty of confidentiality.
§ 10 Final Provisions
10.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
10.2 The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from and in connection with this contract shall be the registered seat of the Service Provider, provided that the Client is a merchant within the meaning of the German Commercial Code (HGB).
10.3 Should individual provisions of these GTC be or become invalid or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. The invalid provision shall be replaced by the valid provision that comes closest to the economic purpose of the invalid provision.
10.4 Amendments and additions to these GTC require written form. This also applies to any waiver of the written form requirement itself.