Storage contract

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The storage contract is regulated in German law in § 467 to § 475h HGB . It is a corporate custody business regulated by special law . It is to be distinguished from the rental contract ( § 535 ff. BGB ), from the safekeeping ( safekeeping contract , § 688 ff. BGB) and from the transport-related interim storage.

Storage contract in German law

Overview

The storage contract is a consensual contract , ie it is irrelevant whether the goods are actually stored. The depositor can request the goods to be returned at any time ( Section 473 HGB). He then has to pay the storage fee by the end of the contract.

The warehouse keeper maintains storage, transshipment and delivery warehouses as a commercial service for industrial and trading companies. In addition, his work has always served public tasks in important supply areas, e.g. B. when the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) instructs the warehouse keeper to store grain and other foodstuffs. The legal provisions of the German Commercial Code (HGB) on warehouse business are specified, supplemented or waived in practice by general terms and conditions. In particular, the General German Forwarding Conditions - ADSp - can apply to storage by a freight forwarder (provided that the ADSp has been effectively agreed).

The warehouse business is defined in Section 467 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) by the two characteristics "storage" and "keeping". Storage means that the warehouse keeper has to make the storage space available. These can be storage rooms, warehouses and open spaces. Keeping means that the warehouse keeper takes the stored goods into his care. This duty of care and care is the focus of the storage contract.

Differentiation from the logistics contract

Contrary to popular usage, the storage contract cannot be equated with a logistics contract . The latter usually goes well beyond pure storage, i.e. H. includes not only storage but also other "services" such as B. Picking and / or packaging of the goods. In contrast to the storage contract and the freight contract , the logistics contract has not yet been regulated independently in German law.

Important contract details

Contract points that are of major importance prior to the conclusion of a storage contract include: a .:

  • Type and quality of the goods
  • the quantities delivered in a certain period of time
  • the duration of the storage. In principle, the depositor can request the goods to be returned at any time.
  • The different conditions of shelf life such as B. stackable, dangerous goods according to ADR etc.
  • the conclusion of a storage insurance
  • the weight per pallet or goods to be stored
  • the type of packaging (wood, shrunk, IBC , pallet, euro, lattice box, ...)
  • The warehouse papers to be issued (see below)
  • The opening times of the camp
  • The treatment regulations such. B. moisture or heat, as well as the forklift regulations that specify the stacking properties
  • The individual storage rooms
  • The warehouse receipt: This certifies that the warehouse keeper has received the goods.
  • compensation

Storage papers (warehouse receipts, etc.)

Furthermore, the warehouse keeper promises to store and deliver the goods at the same time. This can be used to issue a warehouse receipt and a warehouse receipt. However, the following documents are of greater importance :

  • The warehouse receipt (also delivery note , entrepotschein , historically: warrant ) is a security , namely a approved order paper of § 363 HGB ( accompanying paper ). It is a document issued by the warehouse keeper in which the warehouse keeper undertakes to deliver the goods he has stored to the person who presents him with the warehouse receipt. Its mandatory content is listed in § 475c HGB, according to which the place and date of issue, name and address of the storer, name and address of the storer, place and day of storage; the usual designation of the type of goods and the type of packaging (for dangerous goods must contain their designation as provided for in the dangerous goods regulations, otherwise generally recognized), number, characters and numbers of the packages as well as gross weight or the otherwise specified quantity of the goods. It is to be signed by the warehouse keeper. In favor of the legitimized owner of the warehouse receipt, it is presumed according to § 475d HGB that he is the person entitled from the warehouse receipt. The legitimate owner of the warehouse receipt is entitled to request the warehouse keeper to deliver the goods ( Section 475e HGB); for this purpose, the warehouse receipt must be presented to and handed over to the warehouse keeper (Section 475e Paragraph 2 HGB). The warehouse receipt applies to the legal relationship between the warehouse keeper in the legitimate owner of the warehouse receipt, while the storage contract is decisive for the legal relationship between the warehouse keeper and the depositor (Section 475d (3) HGB).
    • Name warehouse receipt ( Rektapapier ): The stored goods are only given to the person named on the warehouse receipt. It can only be transferred by assignment . In the case of an assignment, only the right to surrender is transferred, not ownership of the goods.
    • Order warehouse receipt ( order paper ):As a traditional paper, this certificate iseasier to transfer than the registered warehouse receipt. For this purpose, at least one endorsement is attached, and the owner, legitimized by a complete chain of endorsements, is also the owner of the stored goods ( Section 475g HGB). Since July 1998 every warehouse keeper has been able to issue an order warehouse receipt. Thecertificates for order warehouse keepers previously issuedby the district president resulted from the order warehouse certificate ordinance of December 1931, which has been repealed since July 1998.
  • The Fiata Warehouse Receipt (FWR) is issued to foreign warehouses. It has a similar task to the order warehouse receipt. It may only be issued by warehouse keepers who are members of the BSL , a sub-organization of FIATA .

Lien

According to Section 475b of the German Commercial Code, the warehouse keeper has a right of lien on the stored goods to the depositor

  • because of all claims based on the storage contract, as well as
  • due to all undisputed claims from other storage, freight and forwarding contracts concluded with the depositor.

Section 475b (1) of the German Commercial Code (HGB) corresponds to the provisions on statutory lien in freight and forwarding law.

Section 475b (2) of the German Commercial Code (HGB) also states that the warehouse keeper is entitled to the right of lien against the authorized person (= legitimate owner) from an order warehouse receipt transferredby endorsement . However, the right of lien "only" extends to claims that are identifiable from the order warehouse receipt and / or claims that were known to the entitled person when the warehouse receipt was purchased or that remained unknown due to gross negligence.

The lien exists as long as the bearing holder has the material in his possession, in particular as long as it means bill of lading , charging note or stock certificate may have here above ( § 475b para. 3 HGB).

liability

The liability of the warehouse keeper and his people for loss of or damage to the stored goods is determined in accordance with Section 475 of the German Commercial Code.

  • It is a custody liability for suspected fault on the part of the warehouse keeper from the time the goods are taken over to their delivery. This liability also applies to the warehouse keeper if he has stored the goods with a third party in accordance with Section 472 (2) HGB ( Section 475, Clause 3 HGB).
  • The warehouse keeper can only exonerate himself from this liability with the evidence to be provided by him that the same damage could not have been averted even with the care of a prudent businessman ( § 347 HGB) ( § 475 sentence 2 HGB).
  • Extent of liability:
    • The liability of the warehouse keeper is not limited by law!
    • However, the warehouse keeper is only liable for damage to goods, including financial losses, if these are caused by the loss of or damage to the goods.
  • The regulations on the liability of the warehouse keeper are dispositive (= changeable) also through general terms and conditions (GTC). The ADSp should be mentioned here as a classic different terms and conditions. Limitations of liability of the warehouse keeper towards consumers ( § 13 BGB) are - as always - only possible to a very limited extent (see § 305 ff. BGB).

Statute of limitations

Claims from the storage contract expire within one year according to § 439 HGB. In the event of total loss, the statute of limitations begins at the end of the day on which the warehouse keeper reported the loss to the depositor or, if a warehouse receipt was issued, to the last legitimate owner of the warehouse receipt known to him ( Section 475a HGB).

Switzerland

In Switzerland , the storage contract is known as a deposit contract .

See also

from a legal point of view:

from a business perspective:

literature

to German law:

  • Wieske, Thomas, transport law recorded quickly. 3rd edition, Berlin Heidelberg 2012, publisher: Springer, (Chapter 5: The warehouse business).
  • Baumbach / Hopt, HGB. Comment. 37th edition 2016, Verlag CH Beck, ISBN 978-3-406-67985-8 .
  • Koller, Ingo, transport law. Comment. 9th edition, Munich 2016, Verlag CH Beck, (commentary on §§ 467 ff. HGB).
  • Olaf Hartenstein, Fabian Reuschle (ed.): Handbook of the specialist lawyer for transport and forwarding law. 3rd edition, Cologne 2015, Verlag Carl Heymanns, (Chapter 8: Storage law).
  • Valder: GTC control in special cases - in warehouse law (PDF; 500 kB), transpr 2010, 27 (published among other things on the website of the "German Society for Transport Law eV" [DGTR]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ warehouse . In: Brockhaus' Kleines Konversations-Lexikon . 5th edition. Volume 2, F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1911, p.  6 .
  2. ↑ Albert Bayerdoerffer: The warehouse and Warrant system. Jena 1878, p. 2 ff.
  3. ↑ SR220, Art. 482 C