Preparing acceptance: defects list, documents and minutes

Acceptance goes more smoothly when everything lies in one place before the date: the contract, open items, evidence and documentation. On the day itself you record defects by voice and photo, allocate them to trade and room, and keep a list from which you track the rectification. The AI prepares this. Whether something is a defect, whether reservations are declared and what is signed, you decide. The legal consequences are for a lawyer to clarify in the individual case.

What acceptance is in law

Only the basic outlines follow, with references. Whether and how they apply in your case depends on the contract (as of November 2026).

Under section 640(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB), the client must accept a work produced in accordance with the contract, unless the nature of the work rules acceptance out. The client may not refuse acceptance because of insignificant defects. Under subsection 2, a work is also 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. Where the client is a consumer, that consequence arises only if the contractor, together with the request for acceptance, drew the client’s attention in text form to the consequences. If the client accepts a defective work although aware of the defect, it keeps certain rights only if it reserves them at acceptance (subsection 3). These are the rights to supplementary performance, to remedy the defect itself and claim reimbursement of the necessary expenses, to withdraw from the contract and to reduce the price (section 634 nos. 1 to 3 BGB). That is why the reservations in the minutes matter.

If the VOB/B (German standard contract terms for construction works) has been agreed, section 12 regulates acceptance. What is meant here is the 2016 version, which stands unchanged in the 2019 complete edition of the VOB. The source is an unofficial reproduction. If the contractor requests acceptance after completion, the client must carry it out within 12 working days, unless a different period has been agreed (paragraph 1). The client may refuse acceptance because of significant defects until they have been remedied (paragraph 3). Formal acceptance takes place if a contracting party requests it. The findings are then set down in writing at a joint meeting. The record must include any reservations about known defects and about contractual penalties, as well as any objections by the contractor, and each party receives a copy (paragraph 4). If no acceptance is requested, the work is deemed accepted 12 working days after written notice of completion. If the client has taken it into use, it is deemed accepted 6 working days after use began, unless otherwise agreed. The client must make reservations about known defects or about contractual penalties by those points in time at the latest (paragraph 5).

Statute and the VOB/B attach further consequences to acceptance. In the cases of section 634a(1) nos. 1 and 2 BGB the limitation period for defects claims begins with acceptance (subsection 2), and under section 12(6) VOB/B risk passes to the client with acceptance, insofar as the client does not already bear it under section 7. If the client refuses acceptance and names defects, the client must, on the contractor’s request, take part in a joint record of the condition, which is to be dated and signed by both parties (section 650g(1) BGB). If the client does not appear for the appointment, the contractor may make the record alone, unless the client’s absence was not their responsibility and was reported without delay (subsection 2). This article is not legal advice. How all this affects a particular case is for your lawyer to clarify.

What comes together before the date

The minutes on the day are only as complete as the preparation. You should assemble:

• the contract with specification, variations and programme,
• the list of open items from the site diary, defects list and meeting minutes,
• evidence the contract calls for, such as test reports, certificates or operating instructions, and the as-built documents,
• details of earlier defect notices and delay notices, so that on the day you know what has already been communicated,
• a template for the acceptance minutes with room for defects, reservations and objections.

The AI searches your files for the sources and lists what is missing. How the list of open items arises from meeting minutes is explained in Tracking open items: a list from meeting minutes with AI. On notices before the date, see Preparing delay and concern notices under the VOB/B.

Recording on site by voice and photo

On the walk-round you speak in a fixed order: location, trade, finding, with one photo per defect. The approach is described in Site diary and defects: record them by voice and photo. The AI turns the note into text and allocates it to the trade and room from your lists. What is not in the list it leaves open instead of guessing.

An example with invented data: “House B, first floor, room 1.07, painter, Example Ltd. Paint on the window reveal uneven, photo seven.” That becomes an entry with a running number, location, trade, firm, description and photo.

The photo records the condition, and the AI does not interpret it. Whether an entry is a significant or an insignificant defect or none at all is judged by the site manager, not the AI.

The minutes and the follow-up list

A draft of the minutes is produced from the entries, ordered by trade and room. It contains the defects found with photos, a section for reservations and one for objections. On the day the site manager and the client go through the points, adding and deleting. Who signs the minutes and how depends on the contract. What is taken up as a reservation, you decide.

After the date the follow-up list is made from the minutes: for each defect a number, location, trade, firm, deadline, status and date of completion. The AI can remind you of deadlines and summarise the position by firm. You set the deadline, and you send the notice to the firm yourself, because it can have legal effect. A defect counts as done only when the site manager has checked the rectification, ideally with a photo after the remedial work.

Limits

The AI assesses no defect, gives no legal advice and signs nothing. It knows only what is in your documents. If there is no signal on site, the recording has to cache locally and send later, so test that. Mishearings of names and numbers show up only at the check. Data and photos belong on a platform that can be operated in line with the GDPR, not in a consumer chat service. Do not photograph people where it can be avoided, and take advice from your data protection officer.

What you can do now

1. Decide which documents belong with every acceptance, and collect them in one place before the date.
2. Check in the contract whether formal acceptance has been agreed and whether the VOB/B applies.
3. Build minutes with fixed fields for defects, reservations and objections, and have your lawyer look them over once.
4. Set up lists for buildings, floors, rooms, trades and firms so that the allocation works on the day.