Wir beraten Sie in allen Rechtsfragen über den gesamten »Lebenszyklus« Ihrer Immobilie.
Site search
The site searching phase will determine the success of your project. This is decision is crucial, in line with the principle that when it comes to real estate property only three things count: location, location, location.
Whether the location complies with the legal requirements, depends on the regional planning regulations, land-use plan and development planning. During this phase, it is even necessary to deal with questions regarding immission protection, development and traffic planning.
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Regional planning
We examine whether your project violates the regional planning regulations and initiate regional planning or derogation procedures on your behalf in cooperation with the local municipality or the authority responsible, in order to ensure that your project complies with the regulations. We offer you our assistance during the entire administrative procedure and liase with all public agencies. We furthermore represent you in the regional assembly and, if necessary, assist you to enforce these procedures through the courts.
Land-use planning
The extent to which your project is fundamentally permissible in terms of urban development is decided at the land-use planning level of the municipality or local government association (e.g. regional association FrankfurtRheinMain). We oversee any required amendment procedures on your behalf.
Development planning
If there are no building rights within the meaning of para. 34 and 35 of the German Construction Law Code, we guide you through the process of setting up a development plan, beginning with its preparation and culminating with its resolution. This includes project-related development plans with the involvement of public agencies and private citizens and proposals for consideration by the municipalities. The defence of development plans through requests for judicial review is also part of our portfolio.
Immission protection
Questions regarding immission control may necessitate important decisions even during the site searching phase. Especially statutory or non-statutory requirements concerning air, odour, tremor and noise levels must be considered as they could have an impact on the location.
Development planning
The extent to which your project is fundamentally permissible as regards urban development is decided at land-use planning level of the municipality or local government association (e.g. regional association FrankfurtRheinMain). We oversee any required amendment procedures on your behalf.
Traffic planning
As for access to important traffic routes we examine the possibilities and requirements for your project and negotiate with the authorities responsible.
Purchase
We support you in conducting reallocation processes, negotiations with the landowners, and draw up the contractual documents for the purchase.
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Reallocation process
Our team provides you with legal advice on compulsory or voluntary reallocation processes, from initiating the proceedings to representing you before the chamber for construction ground matters.
Negotiation with the landowners
Both during the reallocation process and during contract negotiations with the current landowner we negotiate on your behalf the terms of purchase for the property(ies) your project requires.
Notarial purchase agreements
We undertake the negotiation and drawing up notarial purchase agreements, including the purchase of shares in a fund and can rely on our notaries long-standing experience in this field.
Leasehold
If the landowner does not wish to sell, we offer to draw up leasehold contracts for you. Special requirements for leasehold on portions of land and bank expectations are taken into consideration as well as the term of lease appropriate for your project, reversionary clauses and specific features in redevelopment areas.
Rent/lease
In case the property sold is rented or leased, the purchaser enters the contractual relationship in place of the landlord or lessor. This principle applies equally to plots of land and portions of land as well as to residential and business premises. It furthermore applies to rental contracts, which only cover the usage of certain sections of the building - for example, using the outside wall for advertising purposes or the roof for operating photovoltaic systems.
The relevant legal provision (para. 566 of the German Civil Code) is not mandatory law. On the other hand, the principle that a purchase does not terminate the tenancy agreement is a guiding principle of tenancy law. Thus there are concerns about any derogation using standard terms in the light of para. 307 II of the German Civil Code. In general, however, a regulation deviating from the law through an individual agreement is permissible.
The relevant point in time for the entry of the purchaser to the tenancy agreement is the date of transfer of ownership, i.e. registering in the land register.
The tenant’s protection granted by para. 566 of the German Civil Code requires that the rented property was entrusted (i.e. transferred) to him before the transfer of ownership took place. For building leases the handing over the keys is sufficient.
The principles stated before also apply if the sale is carried out by an insolvency administrator or by auction, in which case the relevant point in time for entering the agreement is the acceptance of the bid. However, in the aforementioned cases the purchaser has a special right of termination.
Easement
Agreeing to a limited personal encumbrance in favour of the tenant serves to secure a long term commercial tenancy agreement from an early termination. A special right of termination exists, for instance, in the event of a compulsory auction or after the rented object was sold by an insolvency administrator.
We draw up a suitable security arrangement which links the easement to the tenancy agreement. This agreement determines the conditions under which the landlord may require the termination of the easement. We especially focus on a precise regulation of the content and extent of the right of use as well as the rank of the easement in the land register. Our notary’s office competently supports us during the process, as it has longstanding experience in this area. Within the context of a security arrangement the tenant is regularly granted a right of withdrawal, in case the easement is not registered within the agreed period of time laid down in the contract, is not ranked correctly or is not registered with the agreed content.
We advise you fully in terms of examining all possibilities for the arrangement and are pleased to represent you during negotiations with contracting parties or financing credit institutions.
Contaminated land
Depending on the previous use of a property, detailed regulations for examining and decontaminating contaminated land and for the distribution of costs are necessary. We have years of experience in this area, which dates back before the inception of the federal law for ground protection (Bundesbodenschutzgesetz). Furthermore, we are always up-to-date on the latest court decisions.
Development planning
During this phase all utilities (drinking water, sewage, gas, digital services etc.) must be considered. We support you with the help of our networkers in different specialist engineering fields.
Planning
We guide you through planning permission proceedings and provide legal advice especially regarding immission protection and warding off lawsuits brought by neighbours.
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Planning permission proceedings
We take care of your planning permission proceedings, from examining whether your building documents are complete and approvable, to examining whether building permit fees or the requirements of the authorities are correct. We furthermore defend your planning permission against lawsuits brought by neighbours, both in summary and principle proceedings.
Immission protection (disruption)
Whether during planning permission proceedings or during original approval procedures concerning immission protection we ensure that the use of your property is in conformity with statutory immission requirements. This comprises obtaining the requisite planning approval including for hazardous incident companies.
Warding off lawsuits brought by neighbours
We are specialised in defending permission granted against lawsuits brought by neighbours and environmental organisations. This includes both alternative dispute resolution as well as litigation before the civil and administrative courts.
Construction
During the construction phase of your property we provide highly specialised legal advice.
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Tendering and award procedures
Legal regulations are part of every tendering procedure. Here it is important to set the right course in order to avoid conflicts. This especially applies to publicly awarded contracts, as in this case the contract is usually made through an award of contract on the basis of the tendering procedure.
Mistakes made while setting up the tendering procedure can seldom be fixed later on in the process. KKP provides legal advice to public contracting authorities and tenderers in all questions regarding award procedures, in carrying out award procedures and in securing legal protection.
Architectural and engineering contracts
KKP provides legal advice in all questions concerning architect law, especially in drawing up and negotiating architectural contracts, engineering contracts and master planner contracts, as well as in questions of fees (billing in accordance with the German fee structure for architects and engineers [HOAI]) and liability.
We represent clients as well as architects both out-of-court and during litigation.
Building contracts
KKP provides you with legal advice in drawing up and negotiating all types of building contracts (specific building jobs, main contractor agreements and general transfer contracts).
Due to our long-standing experience in providing legal advice for different kinds of construction projects (from detached houses to shopping centres), we know what is important when drawing up a contract.
Project management contracts
The project manager acts as the representative of the owner and is the key link between builder and parties involved in the construction.
KKP provides legal advice to owners as well as to project managers by drawing up and negotiating project managment contracts and implementing them in the course of the construction project.
Since the billing of the project manager does not have to comply with the German fee structure for architects and engineers (HOAI), his fees can be freely agreed upon. Due to his position as the link between the owner and the architect in particular, the definition of the scope of his services must be given particular attention in order to avoid double commissioning.
Follow-up management
Amendments are an every day occurence in the construction business. Nevertheless amendments often result in conflicts, due to mistakes being made both at the time of application as well as in the course of their examination. Such mistakes can be avoided through correct legal advice.
As KKP provides legal advice to both principals and contractors, we are familiar with both sides and can therefore provide advice in a way which avoids or at least minimises the possibility of conflict. For us the obligation to cooperate on the construction sight is more than just a lip service.
Warranty
Unfortunately the completion of the construction project is often the beginning of long disputes about the quality of the service of the parties involved in the construction process. KKP supports you as the principal to enforce your warranty claims both in and out of court.
We also support you as the contractor when confronted with a notice of defects. In both cases it is important to respond to the warranty claims in the right way. Due to our close networking with construction experts from different areas, we can arrange suitable experts on numerous technical questions.
Operation
During the operating phase, we support you in the following areas: tenancy agreements, easements, building encumbrances, settlements with neighbours
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Tenancy agreements
We provide legal advice in all questions regarding commercial and residential tenancy law, especially in the area of drafting tenancy agreements. In doing so it is very important for us to draft and customize tenancy agreements according to your needs and interests. We also conduct any necessary contract negotiations with you or on your behalf with pleasure. Our specialised consultancy and representational support extends to the leasing and renting of buildings and other building surfaces - for the purpose of installing and operating photovoltaic systems, for instance.
Are your tenancy agreements up-to-date?
We review your tenancy agreements and support you in drafting amendments in order to adjust to changes of actual and legal circumstances or a change of interest. Mistakes made in the original contract (e.g. loopholes or misleading wording) can hereby be corrected. Furthermore we can prevent early termination of commercial tenancy agreements through the other contracting party in the absence of a written form requirement - a task which often presents itself in practice after the Federal Court of Justice has declared clauses to correct the absence of the written form to be null and void.
Where problems arise during your current tenancy agreement due to conduct contrary to the terms of the contract, insolvency of the other contracting party or through a planned rent increase, we provide you with legally secure and interest-based solutions.
While processing the terminated tenancy, we particularly support you in questions regarding a persisting landlord’s lien on objects of the tenant.
Finally, we also support you in the area of enforcement. Especially in the context of an eviction, we may be able to help you save a huge amount of money through consulting and selecting the type of enforcement (buzzword: “Berliner Räumung”. In this case only the lock of the front door is replaced, instead of removing all the contents).
Easement
Agreeing to a limited personal encumbrance in favour of the tenant, serves to secure a long term commercial tenancy agreement from early termination. A special right of termination exists, for instance, in the the event of a compulsory auction or after the rented object was sold by an insolvency administrator.
We draw up a suitable security which links the easement to the tenancy agreement. This agreement determines the conditions under which the landlord may require the termination of the easement. We especially focus on a precise regulation of the content and extent of the right of use as well as the rank of the easement in the land register. Our notary’s office competently supports us during the process, as it has longstanding experience in this area. Within the context of a security arrangement the tenant is regularly granted a right of withdrawal, in case the easement is not registered within the agreed period of time laid down in the contract, is not ranked correctly or is not registered with the agreed content.
We advise you fully in terms of examining all possibilities for the arrangement and are pleased to represent you during negotiations with contracting parties or financing credit institutions.
Building encumbrances
We advise you and draft building encumbrances of all kinds including rights of way (walkway, driveway) boundry distance, parking lots, cable or pipeline supplies etc which may be required during planning permission proceedings and negotiate the same with the building authorities and where appropriate with third parties.
Settlements with neighbours
We put an amicable solution of disputes between neighbours before litigation through the courts. We are confident that we can solve your neighbour’s resistance to your project with creative contractual agreements which we will draft and negotiate on your behalf.
Selling
Due diligence, purchasing agreement, contaminated land
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Due Diligence
When purchasing and selling property, either through the purchase of real estate or the sale of a company, we gather all relevant data for the buyer and seller of the property and prepare the data in such a way that a legally secure purchase decision is possible.
Purchasing agreement
We undertake the negotiation and drawing up notarial purchase agreements including the purchase of shares in a fund and can rely on our notaries long-standing experience in this field.
Contaminated land
Depending on the previous use of a property, detailed regulations for examining and decontaminating contaminated land and for the distribution of costs are necessary. We have years of experience in this area, which dates back before the inception of the federal law for ground protection (Bundesbodenschutzgesetz). Furthermore, we are always up-to-date on the newest court decisions.
Mediation und außergerichtliche Streitbeilegung
Es gibt in allen Lebensbereichen Situationen, beispielsweise in Unternehmen oder in innerfamiliären Konstellationen, dort bedarf es einer Klärungshilfe durch Dritte, weil man selbst oder die Beteiligten den Blick für das Wesentliche verloren haben. Der Gang zum Gericht ist meist nicht der richtige Weg, um solche Situationen deeskalierend und überzeugend für die Zukunft aufzulösen.
Mediation hingegen ist das ideale Mittel, solche Situationen zu einem befriedigenden Resultat zu führen und eine außergerichtliche Einigung zu erzielen.
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Mediation und außergerichtliche Streitbeilegung
Mediation ist ein strukturiertes Verfahren, bei dem der Mediator als neutraler Vermittler oder Moderator zwischen den Parteien fungiert und mit diesen zusammen eine Vereinbarung zur Streitbeilegung erarbeitet, die von allen Beteiligten als fair, akzeptabel und nachhaltig empfunden wird.
Das Verfahren ist grundsätzlich ergebnisoffen. Ziel der Mediation ist es, die sachliche Eigenwahrnehmung seiner Bedürfnisse zu gewinnen und ein objektives Verständnis für die Situation der Gegenseite aufzubauen. Darauf aufbauend ist der Weg dann freigemacht, für das kreative Finden von tragfähigen gemeinsamen Entscheidungen mit Hilfe des Mediators.
Dieser Ansatz der Mediation unterscheidet sich somit von allen anderen Verfahren der Streitbeilegung. Nicht ein Dritter entscheidet, sondern die Parteien in Eigenverantwortung.
Wir unterstützen Sie gerne beim Auflösen konfliktbehafteter Sachverhalte. Nach einer Situationsanalyse wählen wir aus verschiedenen Methoden diejenige aus, die Sie am Effektivsten zum Ziel führen wird.
