Searching a contract: deadlines and duties as an AI-built list

Anyone who signs a design or construction contract takes on a long list of dates and duties scattered across many pages. An AI can prepare an overview from it: one line per deadline or duty, with clause, page and wording. It finds and quotes. Effectiveness, interpretation and consequences are for the project lead and a lawyer to assess, and the list is not legal advice.

What belongs in the list

Five groups are enough for the preparation. The clauses from the VOB/B (the German standard contract terms for construction works) appear here only as examples of source references. Part B of the VOB contains general contract terms for the execution of construction works, so it mainly appears in construction contracts. Whether it has been agreed in your contract is stated in the contract. For a design contract that does not cover construction works, those clauses do not fit without further ado and serve only as examples. The 2016 version is cited. I knew of no newer version of Part B in November 2026; Part A was revised in 2026. The text comes from an unofficial reproduction of the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

• Dates and execution periods. Under VOB/B section 5(1), individual deadlines in a programme only count as contractual deadlines if the contract expressly says so. The list should therefore show which dates are in the contract itself and which only in the programme.
• Duties to notify. Under section 4(3), the contractor must notify concerns about the method of execution in writing without delay and if possible before the work starts. Under section 6(1) it must notify a hindrance in writing without delay (how such letters are prepared is covered in Preparing delay and concern notices under the VOB/B). If it fails to do so, it can rely on the hindering circumstances only if the client obviously knew of the fact and its hindering effect.
• Duties to cooperate. This covers everything the client has to supply or decide, such as documents, approvals or access to the site. They are often in the contract, but seldom in one place.
• Contractual penalty. Where contractual penalties are agreed, sections 339 to 345 of the BGB (German Civil Code) apply under VOB/B section 11. If the client has accepted the work, it can claim the penalty only if it reserved the right at acceptance (VOB/B section 11(4), likewise section 341(3) BGB).
• Acceptance. Under VOB/B section 12(1), the client carries out acceptance within 12 working days if the contractor requests it after completion; a different period can be agreed. Under paragraph 5 the work is also deemed accepted without a request: 12 working days after written notice of completion, or 6 working days after the client starts using it, unless agreed otherwise. Section 640(2) BGB provides that the work is deemed accepted if the contractor has set a reasonable period for acceptance after completion and the client does not refuse acceptance within that period, stating at least one defect. Towards consumers, a notice in text form is also required.

This is statute and contract wording, not interpretation. Which of it applies to you depends on the contract. Your lawyer clarifies that.

What a line looks like

The following example uses invented contract data: a design contract between an invented Musterbau GmbH as client and an invented Beispielplan office for a new building called “Haus Muster”. The clauses and dates do not exist in this form.

Group	Content	Source (clause, page)	Wording (extract)	Check status
Date	Submission of preliminary design	Clause 4(1), page 6	“The preliminary design is to be submitted by 15.03.2027.”	checked in original
Cooperation	Ground investigation report	Clause 5(2), page 7	“The client provides the ground investigation report by 15.02.2027.”	unchecked
Notification	Concerns	Clause 8(3), page 9	“Concerns are to be notified in writing without delay.”	unchecked
Contractual penalty	Delay of preliminary design	Clause 11(1), page 12	“0.2 % of the fee for the work stage per working day”	checked in original

The wording is what matters. Without it you have a summary that you must either believe or look up. With it, the line can be opened in the original within a minute. The column “check status” shows what someone has already seen.

1. Read in contract Text with page numbers from the original
2. Extract passages Wording with clause and page AI prepares
3. Match quotations A program searches each quote in the text
4. Sample check A person opens passages in the original
5. Assessment Project lead and lawyer

Text version of the graphic

• 1. Read in contract: Text with page numbers from the original
• 2. Extract passages: Wording with clause and page (the AI prepares)
• 3. Match quotations: A program searches each quote in the text
• 4. Sample check: A person opens passages in the original
• 5. Assessment: Project lead and lawyer

The risk of invented source references

A language model can write a plausible reference that does not exist: a clause that reads differently, a page with something else on it, a deadline with the wrong date. Why this happens and how to secure answers is covered in the article Why AI answers need a source reference. For a contract list, three rules follow.

First, the model extracts the wording word for word from the contract text before it summarises anything. Anthropic’s documentation recommends this for long documents. It also advises supporting claims with a quotation and withdrawing them if no quotation is found. The same page states that such methods reduce hallucinations but do not eliminate them.

Second, a program, not the model, checks whether every quotation appears as a character string in the contract text and on the page given. If it does not find the quotation, the line is marked “source not confirmed” and does not enter the list. This is a job for a fixed program, because a model that checks itself can make the same mistake twice.

Third, a person takes samples from the original. Every deadline, amount and duty you may later rely on is checked individually. For the remaining lines a selection is enough. How large it should be is an assumption that you set in a pilot on your own contracts and adjust after the first measurement. This article cannot give a figure that applies to everyone.

What stays with you

The list shows where something is written. It does not say whether the clause is effective, whether a deadline is actually running in the project, or whether the contract fits with later changes or variations. Instructions, minutes and emails that move dates are not in the contract either. The project lead reads the lines and decides what goes into the project’s deadline control. For legal questions, for example about the contractual penalty, your lawyer is involved.

Contracts contain prices and details about the parties. They are processed only on a platform that can be operated in line with the GDPR, not in a consumer chat service. Your data protection officer clarifies that. If several contracts sit in a searchable filing system, the set-up from Searchable project files helps.

What you can do now

1. Choose a closed contract with manageable deadlines and file it as text with page numbers.
2. Decide the columns of the list: group, content, source, wording, check status.
3. Draw up the list by hand once and compare it with an AI version. Note every difference.
4. Decide which lines are always checked against the original, and keep the check status in the list.