Legal Opinions

Construction contracts are difficult to manage because they involve uncertainties that are hard to predict. This structural uncertainty about the actual construction task results not only from uncontrollable factors such as ground or weather conditions. It also arises because the parties must define their mutual performance obligations before it can reliably be known, even with the greatest care, what effort will ultimately be required to achieve the contractually owed result. Drafting and performing construction and plant engineering contracts is therefore complex. The situation is compounded by gaps in the law and by problematic aspects of the VOB/B framework. An extensive and detailed body of case law has thus become the benchmark for applying the law in this field. The legal issues arising during the performance of construction contracts are correspondingly complex.

Assessment of such legal issues by an independent, neutral legal expert helps evaluate risks and develop robust courses of action. Particularly in international arbitration, neutral legal opinions are also often needed to explain to arbitrators and other participants from different jurisdictions the principles of the German law of obligations and the construction contract law as well as their application to the dispute.

Prof. Stefan Leupertz knows construction contract case law in detail. As a judge at the Federal Court of Justice from 2007 to the end of 2012, he helped shape it. For many years, he has also studied general obligations law and the law governing contracts for work and services (more here), as well as the operational and economic aspects of construction.

Dr. Paul Popescu has likewise published for many years on construction and architects’ law in leading legal publications (more here). Together with Prof. Leupertz, he has prepared numerous legal opinions and memoranda, including for submission in major arbitration proceedings.