Terms and conditions
This is a translation for your convenience. Pursuant to clause 1.4 the German version alone is authoritative.
GATL GmbH i.G. – General terms and conditions for analysis and testing services
Version 1.0, October 2026
1 Scope
1.1 The following general terms and conditions (GTC) of GATL GmbH i.G., Maximiliansstraße 30, 80539 Munich, Germany (“GATL”) apply to all services and deliveries of GATL. Deviating terms and conditions of the customer shall only apply if GATL has confirmed their validity in writing.
1.2 These GTC apply exclusively to entrepreneurs within the meaning of § 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), legal persons under public law and special funds under public law.
1.3 GATL is entitled to amend its GTC at any time with effect for the future. The GTC apply in their current version as published on the GATL website.
1.4 The GTC are published in a German and an English version, whereby the German version alone is authoritative and shall prevail in the event of contradictions or difficulties of interpretation.
2 Conclusion of contract
2.1 A contract for analysis, testing and other services is concluded when the customer accepts an offer from GATL without reservation, or when a written order confirmation from GATL is received, or when GATL begins to perform the service.
2.2 Amendments, ancillary agreements and supplements as well as any agreements on quality or the assumption of guarantees require an express written agreement in order to be effective.
2.3 Offers made by GATL are subject to change unless they are expressly designated as binding.
3 Subject matter of the services
3.1 The subject matter of the contract is the performance of the analysis and testing services specified in the offer or in the order confirmation on the sample material provided by the customer, together with the preparation of the associated test report.
3.2 Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the service need only exhibit the expressly agreed scope of testing, test procedures, standards and technical data; these constitute an assumption of a guarantee only where GATL expressly declares that it accepts liability for them irrespective of fault or where GATL expressly designates them as such; guarantee declarations must be made in writing in order to be effective. Descriptions and information in brochures, catalogues or similar documents as well as advertising statements do not constitute guarantee declarations by GATL. Unless otherwise provided by statutory regulations, GATL owes advice only to the extent that GATL has assumed it as a primary contractual obligation.
3.3 GATL owes the careful and professional performance of the agreed tests in accordance with the recognised state of the art as well as the accurate documentation of the findings obtained. GATL does not owe any particular test finding or test result.
3.4 The test results relate exclusively to the sample material actually examined. Conclusions regarding units not examined, the overall delivery or a batch are permissible only to the extent that this has been expressly agreed and is stated in the test report.
3.5 GATL is entitled to engage subcontractors and accredited partner laboratories in order to perform the services.
4 Cooperation of the customer and sample material
4.1 The customer provides the sample material to be examined to GATL at its own cost and risk. By handing it over, the customer warrants that it is entitled to provide the sample material and that no third-party rights conflict with the examination.
4.2 The customer shall provide GATL, without being asked and in full, with all information required to carry out the test, in particular details of the manufacturer, type, part number, origin and history of the sample material as well as of any known or suspected hazards emanating from it.
4.3 If the customer fails to provide the necessary cooperation or if the information provided is incorrect or incomplete, agreed deadlines shall be extended appropriately. Additional expenses incurred by GATL as a result shall be reimbursed by the customer.
4.4 The customer acknowledges that many test procedures alter, damage or destroy the sample material. GATL shall not be liable for alterations to, damage to or loss of the sample material that are associated with performing the agreed tests in accordance with the order.
4.5 After completion of the test, GATL shall keep the remaining sample material for three months from dispatch of the test report. Thereafter GATL is entitled to return it at the customer’s expense or to dispose of it properly, unless the customer has agreed otherwise in writing.
5 Performance, periods and dates
5.1 Periods and dates for services indicated by GATL are always approximate only, unless a fixed period or a fixed date has been expressly promised or agreed. Periods begin at the earliest upon receipt by GATL of the complete sample material and all required information.
5.2 GATL shall not be liable for impossibility of performance or for delays in performance insofar as these are caused by force majeure or other events unforeseeable at the time the contract was concluded (e.g. operational disruptions of any kind, difficulties in procuring materials or energy, transport delays, strikes, lawful lock-outs, shortages of labour, energy or raw materials, difficulties in obtaining necessary official permits, pandemics and epidemics, official measures) for which GATL is not responsible. Where such events make performance substantially more difficult or impossible for GATL and the hindrance is not merely of temporary duration, GATL is entitled to withdraw from the contract. In the case of hindrances of temporary duration, the performance periods shall be extended or the performance dates postponed by the period of the hindrance plus an appropriate start-up period. Insofar as the customer cannot reasonably be expected to accept the service as a result of the delay, the customer may withdraw from the contract by immediate written declaration to GATL.
5.3 GATL is entitled to render partial services if the partial service can be used by the customer within the scope of the contractual purpose, the performance of the remaining commissioned services is ensured and the customer does not incur any significant additional expense or additional costs as a result.
6 Prices and terms of payment
6.1 Prices are in EUR plus statutory value added tax and plus shipping, packaging and customs costs for the return of the sample material. Statutory value added tax is shown separately.
6.2 Invoicing takes place after the test report has been sent. The invoice amount is due for payment within 30 days of receipt of the invoice. The granting of a discount is furthermore conditional upon the customer’s account showing no other overdue invoice amounts.
6.3 If the customer is in default, GATL is entitled to charge default interest at a rate of 9 percentage points above the applicable base interest rate. GATL reserves the right to assert further damages.
6.4 Set-off against counterclaims of the customer or the retention of payments on account of such claims is only permissible to the extent that the counterclaims are undisputed or have been established as final and absolute or arise from the same order under which the service in question was rendered.
6.5 GATL is entitled to render outstanding services only against advance payment or the provision of security if, after conclusion of the contract, GATL becomes aware of circumstances which are liable to substantially reduce the customer’s creditworthiness and which jeopardise payment of GATL’s outstanding claims by the customer under the respective contractual relationship.
7 Test reports and rights of use
7.1 The customer receives a simple right of use of the test report, unlimited in time and place, for its own business purposes. All further rights to the test reports, methods, procedures and evaluations remain with GATL.
7.2 Test reports may only be passed on, reproduced or published in full and unaltered. Extracts, summaries and paraphrased reproductions require the prior written consent of GATL.
7.3 Use of the name, trademark or logo of GATL for advertising purposes, in particular advertising with test results, requires the prior written consent of GATL.
7.4 GATL retains test reports for ten years from dispatch and will provide the customer with a further copy on request within this period.
8 Warranty
8.1 GATL warrants that the services are free from material defects and defects of title and that the agreed tests are carried out in accordance with the agreed procedures and the recognised state of the art.
8.2 A reference to standards generally constitutes a more detailed description of the scope of testing and does not constitute an agreed quality of the service on the part of GATL, unless such an agreement on quality has been expressly made.
8.3 GATL shall not be liable for defects of which the customer is aware or is unaware due to gross negligence at the time the contract is concluded, nor for defects based on the customer having provided incorrect, incomplete or late information or unsuitable sample material.
8.4 The services must be examined carefully immediately upon receipt of the test report. With regard to obvious defects or other defects which would have been recognisable upon an immediate, careful examination, the services shall be deemed approved by the customer if GATL does not receive a written notice of defects within seven working days of receipt of the test report. With regard to other defects, the services shall be deemed approved by the customer if GATL does not receive the notice of defects within fourteen working days of the point in time at which the defect became apparent.
8.5 In the case of a justified notice of defects, GATL shall first be obliged and entitled, at its option to be exercised within a reasonable period, to rectify the defect or to repeat the test concerned, insofar as suitable sample material is still available for this purpose. In the event of failure, that is to say the impossibility, unreasonableness, refusal or unreasonable delay of subsequent performance, the customer may withdraw from the contract or reduce the remuneration appropriately. In the case of insignificant defects the customer has no right of withdrawal.
8.6 GATL shall bear or reimburse the expenses necessary for the purpose of examination and subsequent performance in accordance with the statutory provisions and these GTC if a defect actually exists. Otherwise GATL may demand compensation from the customer for the costs incurred as a result of the unjustified request to remedy a defect if the customer knew or could have recognised that no defect actually existed.
8.7 The limitation period is determined exclusively in accordance with clause 11.
9 Industrial property rights
9.1 GATL warrants in accordance with this clause that its services are free from industrial property rights or copyrights of third parties. Each contracting party shall notify the other contracting party in writing without delay if claims are asserted against it for infringement of such rights.
9.2 In the event that the service infringes an industrial property right or copyright of a third party, GATL shall, at its option and at its own expense, either modify the service in such a way that no third-party rights are infringed while the service continues to fulfil the contractually agreed functions, or obtain the right of use for the customer by concluding a licence agreement with the third party. If GATL does not succeed in doing so within a reasonable period, the customer is entitled to withdraw from the contract or to reduce the remuneration appropriately. Any claims for damages by the customer are subject to the limitations of clause 10 of these GTC.
9.3 If the sample material provided by the customer or a test instruction specified by the customer infringes the rights of third parties, the customer shall indemnify GATL against all third-party claims arising from the performance of the test in accordance with the order.
10 Liability
10.1 GATL shall be liable for damages exclusively in accordance with these conditions:
In principle, GATL shall be liable
– for intentional or grossly negligent conduct and
– for the culpable breach of material contractual obligations.
10.2 Material contractual obligations are those contractual obligations whose fulfilment is essential to the proper performance of the respective contract and on whose observance the respective contracting party regularly relies and may rely. In the event of a slightly negligent breach of a material contractual obligation, GATL’s liability is limited to the damage which is foreseeable and typical for the type of transaction in question.
10.3 In terms of amount, GATL’s liability in the event of a negligent breach of a material contractual obligation is furthermore limited in total to the order value of the respective individual agreement, whereby the maximum amount of damage to be compensated for all cases of damage caused negligently within one calendar year may not exceed EUR 100,000.00 (one hundred thousand euros).
10.4 Insofar as GATL’s liability for damages is excluded or limited in accordance with the above provisions, this also extends to the personal liability of its bodies, employees and other staff, representatives and vicarious agents and also applies to statutory liability in tort (in particular §§ 823 et seq. BGB including any rights of recourse pursuant to § 840 BGB, § 426 BGB).
10.5 Liability for damage arising from injury to life, limb or health and liability pursuant to §§ 1, 4 of the German Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG) remain unaffected.
11 Limitation period
11.1 Claims for damages by the customer based on a culpable injury to life, limb or health or on intent or gross negligence on the part of GATL or its legal representatives or vicarious agents, as well as on defects fraudulently concealed, shall become time-barred within the statutory periods. The same applies where GATL has assumed a guarantee for the quality of the service.
11.2 All other claims of the customer shall become time-barred within one year of receipt of the test report.
12 Confidentiality and data protection
12.1 GATL shall treat as confidential all information of the customer made available to it in the course of the order, the test results and the test reports, and shall not make them accessible to third parties unless this is necessary in order to perform the order or a statutory or official obligation to disclose exists. This obligation shall continue to apply after the end of the contractual relationship.
12.2 GATL processes personal data in accordance with the applicable data protection provisions, in particular the provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Insofar as GATL processes personal data on behalf of the customer, GATL shall create the necessary legal basis for this and shall, where required, conclude data processing agreements pursuant to Article 28 GDPR. Details of the processing of personal data on our website can be found in our privacy policy.
13 Legally compliant conduct
13.1 Legally compliant conduct is a matter of course for us and a prerequisite for cooperation with our customers. A breach by the customer of its obligation to act in a legally compliant manner exists if it becomes known that the customer, its legal representatives or employees have been convicted of economic crimes in a business context. Economic crimes are deemed to include in particular fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation, money laundering, corruption, insider trading and tax and insolvency offences. In particular, the customer must also comply with national and international export laws and observe sanctions imposed and will ensure that corresponding obligations are passed on within the supply chain.
13.2 On the basis of its contractual duties of loyalty and within the scope of its legal possibilities, the customer will inform GATL of any such convictions.
13.3 GATL is entitled, subject to the conditions of § 314 BGB, to terminate the contract for good cause if the customer breaches the obligations described in paragraph 1 of this clause.
14 Final provisions
14.1 The place of performance and the place of jurisdiction for all disputes between the parties arising from the contractual relationship is Munich.
14.2 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
14.3 Should individual provisions of the above conditions be or become invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.