Last update 01/ 2026
1.1 These general terms & conditions shall apply to all business relationships between Artlife GmbH (hereinafter referred to as Artlife) and its business partners (hereinafter referred to as "customer(s)").
The general terms & conditions shall only apply if the customer is an entrepreneur as defined by the German Civil Code (BGB), a legal person under German public law, or a special fund under German public law.
1.2 The general terms & conditions shall particularly apply to the temporary provision of exhibition stands and associated equipment (hereinafter referred to as "subject matter of the contract" or "subject matter"), regardless of whether the exhibition stands were constructed using modular systems or as custom-made products. These general terms & conditions shall, in their respective version, also apply as a framework agree-ment regarding the provision of exhibition stands and associated equipment for future contracts with the same customer, and Artlife shall not be required to notify the cus-tomer thereof in each individual case. In the event of changes to these general terms & conditions, Artlife will inform the customer immediately.
1.3 These general terms & conditions of Artlife shall apply exclusively. Any deviating, con-flicting or supplementary general terms and conditions of the customer shall only form part of the contract if and to the extent that Artlife approves their validity in writing. This requirement of approval is an absolute prerequisite which is also necessary in case Artlife provides services in full knowledge of the customer's general terms and conditions.
1.4 Individual agreements concluded with a customer in specific cases (including collat-eral agreements, supplements, and amendments) shall always take precedence over these general terms & conditions.
1.5 Legally relevant declarations and notifications made by the customer to Artlife after conclusion of the contract (e.g., setting a deadline to remedy defects, declaration of withdrawal or reduction) must be made in writing and require the written consent of Artlife to be effective.
2.1 All offers made by Artlife are subject to change and non-binding unless they are ex-pressly described as binding or contain a specific period of acceptance.
2.2 The customer's order for a specifically designated exhibition stand for a particular event shall be deemed a binding contract offer. In case Artlife does not respond within 5 days, the contract shall be deemed to have been concluded.
2.3 Artlife may declare acceptance of the order either in text form (e.g., by order confir-mation) or implicitly (e.g., by delivery or invoicing).
2.4 Artlife reserves the right to ownership and/or all copyrights to all offers, quotes, draw-ings, illustrations, calculations, brochures, catalogues, models, and other documents and aids provided by Artlife to the customer. The provisions on copyright and other rights according to Section 9 shall remain unaffected.
2.5 Details regarding the subject matter (e.g., weight, dimensions, utility values, load ca-pacity, tolerances, and technical specifications) as well as presentations (e.g., draw-ings, illustrations, pictures) provided by Artlife shall only be deemed to be approximate unless the usability for the contractually intended purpose requires exact information. They do not represent warranted characteristics, but descriptions and characterisa-tions of the subject matter. Common deviations and deviations that are necessary due to legal regulations or represent technical improvements, as well as the replacement of components with equivalent parts, shall be permissible to the extent that they do not impair the usability for the contractually intended purpose.
3.1 Artlife's compliance with its delivery and service obligations shall require the custom-er's timely and proper fulfilment of his contractual obligations. This includes the timely receipt of all documents to be supplied by the customer, the timely clarification and approval of plans, an unobstructed site, compliance with the agreed terms of payment and other obligations of the customer. If these requirements are not met in time or in full, the delivery period shall be extended accordingly.
4.1 Artlife shall deliver the subject matter of the contract at the agreed time or in good time so that it is available at the start of the event.
4.2 The time of delivery (4.1) does not constitute a guarantee promised by Artlife. Artlife shall not be liable for the impossibility of or any delay in delivery caused by force majeure or other events that were unforeseeable at the time of conclusion of the con-tract and are beyond the control of Artlife.
4.3 Upon delivery the customer is obliged to check the condition and completeness of the subject matter of the contract. In the event of any deviations in quantity and quality shall the customer immediately notify Artlife in writing. § 377 of the German Commer-cial Code (HGB) shall apply accordingly.
4.4 The customer may not refuse delivery due to minor defects.
4.5 Upon delivery of the subject matter the risk of accidental loss or damage is transferred from Artlife to the customer. The customer’s risk ends upon returning the subject mat-ter to Artlife.
5.1 Cabins and lockable furniture are not burglar-proof. The locking mechanisms only serve as privacy screens. Artlife therefore recommends customers to order standard security. Customers are also advised to take out an appropriate insurance in accord-ance with Section 7 for both the subject matter as well as the exhibits or similar items. Artlife shall not be liable for items left at the stand.
5.2 In case the customer provides materials or documents for the manufacture of the subject matter of the contract, the customer guarantees that the manufacture and delivery of the subject matter based on these materials and documents does not in-fringe any third-party property rights. Artlife is not obligated to verify whether the in-formation and documents provided by the customer for the production and delivery infringe any property rights of third parties. The customer undertakes to indemnify Artlife against all possible claims for damages or other claims by third parties upon first request and to compensate for all damages arising from the infringement of prop-erty rights.
6.1 The customer is obliged to treat the subject matter of the contract with care. The cus-tomer must not glue, nail or paint anything onto the subject matter or damage it in any other way. Any alterations or modifications to the subject matter of the contract require the written consent of Artlife.
6.2 In the event of loss or damage to the subject matter or parts thereof, the customer shall notify Artlife immediately.
6.3 The customer is obliged to return the subject matter to Artlife immediately after the event has ended. Items left behind at the stand will be disposed of without compen-sation.
6.4 The customer shall be responsible for the care and supervision of the entire subject matter of the contract from the time of delivery until the end of the event. The time for the transfer of risk shall be agreed upon separately in each specific case. If the cus-tomer violates his duty of care and supervision, he shall compensate Artlife for any damages incurred as a result.
6.5 The customer must take all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent damage to or theft of the subject matter of the contract from the time of delivery to the customer until the return of the subject matter to Artlife.
6.6 The provision of the subject matter to third parties is only permitted with the written consent of Artlife.
7.1 The customer shall be liable for loss of or damage to the subject matter of the contract in accordance with the statutory provisions. The customer shall be liable for any loss of and damage to the subject matter culpably caused by him, his employees, agents, or exhibition items and equipment, and shall compensate Artlife for all necessary ex-penses incurred for the manufacture, replacement, or repair of the subject matter. Artlife recommends the customer to take out insurance for the subject matter of the contract against loss, damage, and vandalism at his own expense.
8.1 The subject matter of the contract or parts thereof does not necessarily consist of new goods. This particularly applies to modular exhibition stands. Insignificant signs of wear and tear shall therefore not be deemed as defects.
8.2 Unless these general terms & conditions provide otherwise, Artlife shall be liable for any violation of contractual or non-contractual obligations in accordance with the stat-utory provisions.
8.3 Artlife shall be liable for damages, on whatever legal ground, in cases of intent and gross negligence. In cases of simple negligence Artlife shall only be liable for
a) damages resulting from injury to life, limb or health; and
b) damages resulting from the violation of a material contractual obligation (obliga-tions whose fulfilment is essential for the proper execution of the contract and on whose compliance the customer regularly relies and may rely on). In this case, however, the liability of Artlife shall be limited to compensation for foreseeable, typically occurring damages.
8.4 The limitation of liability according to Section 8.3 shall not apply if Artlife has deliber-ately concealed a defect, given a guarantee or warranted a characteristic of the subject matter of the contract. The same applies to claims under the German Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG).
9.1 The design documentation, the planning, drawing, manufacturing and assembly doc-uments, as well as the design and the concept description, remain the intellectual property of Artlife. The customer is not entitled to reproduce the aforementioned doc-uments, use them for his own purpose or pass them on to third parties without the written consent of Artlife. Furthermore, the customer is not entitled to make replicas from these documents, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.
9.2 If the customer violates the obligation under Section 9.1, he shall pay a contractual penalty of 50% of the remuneration agreed between the parties for the subject matter concerned, but in no case less than EUR 10,000. The contractual penalty shall be offset against any claim for damages. Further claims, particularly the claim for injunc-tive relief, shall remain unaffected.
9.3 Even after payment of the agreed remuneration, the copyrights and associated rights to the documents referred to in Section 9.1 and to the work produced shall remain with Artlife.
9.4 Artlife shall be entitled, at its own expense and without the customer's specific con-sent, to create and publish its own graphical material of the subject matter provided and to use such material for advertising purposes. In this respect, the customer grants Artlife exclusive, unlimited and unrestricted rights of use and exploitation in terms of time, content and location for all known and unknown types of use and media in con-nection with the provision of the subject matter. This also includes the right to use the graphical material created, regardless of quantity and form, for advertising or other purposes.
10.1 Unless expressly indicated otherwise, the prices stated in the quotation or price lists are net prices.
10.2 Unless otherwise agreed, the prices constitute the remuneration for the provision of the subject matter for the duration of the event, including the costs for its delivery and removal as well as costs for any necessary assembly or disassembly work.
10.3 The invoice amounts are payable in accordance with the terms of payment specified in our quotation or order confirmation. Unless otherwise agreed upon in writing, the payment term shall be 14 (in words: fourteen) days from the date of invoice, without any deductions. The date Artlife receives the payment shall be deemed the date of payment.
10.4 Upon expiration of the payment term under Section 10.3, the customer will automati-cally be in default. During the period of default, interest shall be charged on the invoice amount at the applicable default interest rate. Artlife explicitly reserves the right to claim further damages caused by any default.
10.5 The customer shall only be entitled to set-off or retention rights insofar as a claim has been legally established or is undisputed.
10.6 Artlife shall be entitled to perform or render outstanding services only against advance payment or provision of security whenever Artlife, after conclusion of the contract, becomes aware of circumstances which are likely to significantly reduce the custom-er's creditworthiness, or which jeopardise the payment of any outstanding claim.
11.1 Cancellation
Should the client cancel the order after it has been placed, flat-rate cancellation fees will be charged as follows: Once an order has been placed, it is binding and we commit to project planning, block capacities, reserve personnel, transport and re-sources, hotels (and much more), and generally refrain from accepting other pro-jects covering the same period. The closer the start date of the planned project gets, the higher these reservation and opportunity costs become and the less likely it is that we can find other customers for the scheduled dates/period. The cancellation fees reflect these costs fairly and transparently and avoid time-consuming individual invoices.
Depending on the time remaining until the agreed start date for the assembly, we therefore charge as follows:
• From the date of placing the order: A flat rate of 15% of the order total
• Up to 60 calendar days prior assembly: A flat rate of 25% of the order total
• 59 to 30 calendar days prior assembly: A flat rate of 40% of the order total
• 29 to 14 calendar days prior assembly: A flat rate of 70% of the order total
• Less than 14 calendar days prior assembly: A flat rate of 90% of the order total
The client shall remain entitled to prove that we have incurred no damage or significantly less damage than mentioned. Further statutory rights shall remain unaffected.
11.2 Withdrawal
Artlife shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract if the customer fails to make payments due under this contract and Artlife has set a grace period of 5 days for payment. Artlife shall also be entitled to withdraw from the contract if the customer violates an obligation arising from the contract to respect the rights, legal goods and interests of Artlife, and Artlife can no longer be reasonably expected to adhere to the contract.
12.1 These general terms & conditions and all legal relationships between Artlife and the customer shall be governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.
12.2 In case the customer is a commercial trader as defined in the German Commercial Code (HGB), a legal person under public law or a special fund under public law, the exclusive – also international – place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising directly or indirectly from the contractual relationship shall be the registered office of Artlife in Hofheim, Germany. However, Artlife shall be entitled to bring a claim at the customer's general place of jurisdiction.
12.3 If individual provisions of these general terms & conditions or a concluded contract become wholly or partially invalid or inapplicable, or if there are unintended omissions in the general terms & conditions or the contract, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. Any invalid, inapplicable, or incomplete provision shall be re-placed with an appropriate provision that, to the extent legally permissible, comes closest to what the contracting parties intended or would have intended in accordance with the spirit and purpose of these general terms & conditions if they had taken this aspect into consideration when concluding the contract.
12.4 In case of doubt the German version of these general terms & conditions shall prevail.
