Terms & Conditions

The following General Terms and Conditions – hereinafter referred to as "GTC" – apply to all legal transactions between Mihai Arnautu / Arnautu Keramik as "CONTRACTOR" and his contractual partner – hereinafter referred to as "CUSTOMER".

All documents of the Contractor, such as models, drawings, and plans, remain his property. It is prohibited to pass these on without the Contractor's consent. It is also prohibited to use these documents for work not performed by the bidding Contractor.

Unless otherwise agreed, the prices (excluding hourly rates) include delivery of materials to the construction site and installation work.

The tender prices are based on the quantities specified for each item. If the service to be performed is significantly changed after conclusion of the contract, the parties will agree on the new prices in advance.

Changes in material prices after conclusion of the contract that are beyond the contractor's control must be reported to the customer or their representative immediately and entitle the contractor to pass these costs on.

If the working conditions listed below are not met, the contractor will notify the customer and may suspend work until the conditions are met. The customer cannot assert any rights against the contractor arising from any resulting delays. The contractor may invoice their costs in accordance with these GTC.

Measures for occupational safety and health protection not expressly mentioned in the offer must be ensured by the client.

The erection of dust barriers and protective walls must be commissioned and paid for as a separate service, unless otherwise agreed in the contract.

Flawless execution of various tasks can only be guaranteed at a temperature above 10°C. This temperature must be ensured at the work site by the client, unless otherwise agreed with the contractor.

Any necessary weather protection for outdoor work must be paid for or provided by the client.

For time and materials work, travel time, vehicle costs, and material transport will be charged.

Standard tools are included in the hourly rate.

Machinery and equipment will be billed separately.

The measurement specifications of standards SIA 118/248, 118/246, and 118/244 apply to invoicing.

The client must provide all necessary documents and data in a timely manner so that the contractor can commence work within the agreed timeframe.

The contractor must be notified promptly of any delays, such as incomplete preparatory work, excessive moisture in the substrate, insufficient temperatures at the work site, etc.

The contractor should inform the client immediately if they discover during the course of work that they cannot complete the work on time.

If a deadline cannot be met for reasons beyond the contractor's control, the client is not entitled to terminate the contract or claim damages.

Work interruptions that are unforeseeable by the contractor and attributable to the client entitle the contractor to invoice the resulting additional costs.

The quoted prices for wall and baseboard coverings are based on a base coat prepared by the client, unless the type of substrate is specified, and for floor and stair coverings, on a cement screed or thin-bed cement screed prepared by the client.

If inaccuracies in the substrate need to be compensated, this work will be charged additionally. Small mosaic coverings, coverings with calibrated tiles, and large-format tiles require a higher degree of surface accuracy of the substrate.

Wherever possible, samples should exhibit all characteristics and properties of the respective tile materials. The firing process cannot guarantee that the color shade and manufacturing dimensions (caliber) of the delivered tile material will exactly match those of the sample in question (SIA 248, Art. 4.1.2.5).

The first measurement is free of charge if moisture measurements (CM device) are required before tile installation. Further measurements will be invoiced (SIA 118/248, Art. 2.2 or 2.3).

Absolute color uniformity of rigid joints cannot be guaranteed for technical reasons (SIA 118/248, Art. 6.7). Even when using the same jointing material, color differences may occur between the joint sample and the finished surface (SIA 248, Art. 4.3.2.2).

The installer of the tile coverings provides no warranty whatsoever for cracks in the tile coverings or for tile detachments caused by deformation or subsequent cracking of the substrate and which are not defects in the installer's work (SIA 118/248, Art. 6.3).

Joints made with deformable sealants are excluded from the warranty, as they require maintenance (SIA 118/248, Art. 6.6). Joints made with deformable sealants do not guarantee the watertightness of the covering and only serve as a joint sealant (SIA 248, Art. 2.4.2).

The contractor will leave the work site swept clean and the coverings will be sponge-cleaned (SIA 118/248, Art. 2.2). The cleaning of work areas, access areas, storage areas, and surrounding areas is either included as a special service in the contract and to be compensated accordingly, or must be carried out by the client.

Even when using water-impermeable tile and jointing materials, it should be noted that completely waterproof coverings cannot be created (SIA 248, Art. 2.2.4).

The client is advised to keep sufficient spare tiles for any future repair work, as these must be requested and compensated for separately.

The contractor will provide the client with the relevant instructions for cleaning and maintaining the ceramic, natural, and artificial stone coverings.

Based on the contractor's written payment requests, the contractor is to be compensated for up to 90% of the work performed by means of progress payments.

14 days from the date of issue, partial payments and the final invoice are due, or according to the contractually agreed payment terms.

The agreed payment terms are in no way affected by complaints regarding any construction defects.

The contractor may proceed in accordance with Article 107 of the Swiss Code of Obligations if the client fails to fulfill their obligations.

Acceptance is carried out by a joint inspection of the completed work. As a rule, a report on the results of the inspection is drawn up.

If no or only minor defects are found, the work is considered accepted. The contractor must remedy any defects within a mutually agreed period.

Acceptance will be postponed if significant defects are found during acceptance. The contractor must remedy the defects within a mutually agreed period. After the defects have been remedied, the affected components will be accepted again.

The work is considered accepted without formal acceptance upon its use by the client. Any defects must be reported to the contractor in writing within 10 days. Warranty rights for apparent defects are forfeited if these are not reported within this period.

Upon acceptance, the work passes into the care and risk of the client. The warranty period begins on the date of acceptance.

The provisions of SIA Standard 118 apply.

After the two-year notification period has expired, the contractor warrants the work to be free from defects for a further three years. According to SIA Standard 118, any defect discovered must be reported to the contractor immediately.

The contractor's warranty is void for damage resulting from a lack of or improper maintenance.

The contractor assumes no warranty whatsoever for the quality of materials supplied by the client (SIA 118/248, Art. 6.8).

Swiss law applies.

Disputes shall be settled before the ordinary courts at the contractor's place of business in Basel.