The standards relating to the right to refuse acceptance (Section 640 (1) sentence 2 BGB, Section 12 (3) VOB/B) state that acceptance of the work may not be refused due to insignificant defects. There is no statement on the required degree of completion of the work as a prerequisite for acceptance.

However, the question of what degree of completion the work must have reached in order to be considered ready for acceptance is very important, particularly in the case of plant construction, which is usually very complex.

Answering the question of whether there is a significant defect is very difficult, especially in often very complex plant construction. The absence of major defects is the decisive prerequisite for acceptance. The latter has considerable legal and practical significance: the start of the warranty periods is regularly linked to this. In addition, the due date of a considerable part of the agreed remuneration generally depends on acceptance.