Since the summer, repairs of consumer goods in Germany have had a form with a European name: the European Repair Information Form. Anyone who repairs washing machines, e-bikes, smartphones or watches can send it to customers after a request, and in doing so commits to price, duration and conditions for 30 calendar days (Art. 245 § 3(2) EGBGB). The form is not mandatory. But a business that uses it has to follow fixed rules, and a business that charges for fault-finding has to state the cost beforehand. For the website of a repair business, this changes less than the headline “right to repair” suggests, yet it changes a lot in three places: on the repair page, in the request form and in the notice about diagnosis costs. This article explains what the new Article 245 of the Introductory Act to the German Civil Code (EGBGB) says, which eleven items the form requires and how a repair page collects the information you need to write a binding offer without lengthy back-and-forth.
What applies since July: a voluntary form
The legal basis is the German act transposing Directive (EU) 2024/1799 on promoting the repair of goods. It was issued in the Federal Law Gazette on 22 July 2026 (BGBl.
2026 I Nr. 212) and its repair provisions entered into force on the day after promulgation under Article 4(1). The act mainly amends sales law in the German Civil Code (BGB), introduces a repair obligation for manufacturers and replaces Article 245 EGBGB. That article now contains everything about the European Repair Information Form: who can use it, when and how it reaches the customer, what it must contain and what effect it has. The form itself is attached to the EGBGB as Annex 19, with fixed lines and explanations in square brackets that the business replaces with its own details (Annex 19 EGBGB).
The first paragraph makes clear that this is an option for businesses rather than a duty: repair businesses “can” use the European Repair Information Form (Annex 19) to conclude a repair contract with a consumer, in line with the rules of the article (Art. 245 § 1(1) EGBGB). The circle of businesses is wide. A repairer is any trader who provides a repair service, expressly including the manufacturer and the trader who sold the goods (Art. 245 § 1(2) EGBGB). That covers the household appliance workshop, the bicycle shop with a repair counter, the watchmaker, the phone repair service and the electrical retailer with an after-sales service. Voluntary does not mean non-binding, though: once a business provides the form, it cannot rely on agreements that deviate to the consumer's detriment from the rules on transmission, costs, content and binding effect (Art. 245 § 5 EGBGB). A clause such as “prices in the form subject to change” will not help.
Behind the German rule is the EU directive, which member states apply from 31 July 2026 (Directive (EU) 2024/1799). When the European Commission presented its proposal in March 2023, it pointed to the waste of working goods: according to the Commission, viable goods that are discarded prematurely result in 35 million tons of waste and 261 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU every year (European Commission 2023). The form is meant to make repair offers comparable: the same lines, the same order, a price or a ceiling. Customers see what a repair costs before they commit. For businesses, it is a template that anticipates many questions, provided the website already collects the right details with the request.
The eleven items in the form
Article 245 § 3(1) EGBGB lists what belongs in the form in eleven numbered points (Art. 245 § 3(1) EGBGB).
Annex 19 turns them into a table with two parts: Part I for the identity and contact details of the business, Part II for the repair itself. The information has to be clear and comprehensible, and it covers exactly the questions customers ask anyway:
- the identity of the repairer, meaning the name or company name as shown in the legal notice
- the address of the establishment, phone number, email address and any other online contact channels
- the item to be repaired, in practice the appliance, make and model
- the nature of the fault and the type of repair proposed
- the price or, where it cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the method of calculation and the maximum price
- the duration of the repair
- whether a temporary replacement item is available and what it costs, if anything
- the place where the customer hands over the item for repair
- ancillary services offered, such as removal, installation and transport, together with their costs
- the period of validity of the form
- any additional information
Two lines deserve special attention. For the price, the law allows a method of calculation with a ceiling where the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, for example labour time as needed plus parts up to a maximum amount. An open-ended “as required” without a maximum price does not meet the requirement. The annex asks for the duration as the time in days within which the business undertakes to carry out the service (Annex 19 EGBGB); if spare parts have to be ordered first, their delivery time belongs in that figure. The effort pays off: once the business has provided a complete and correct form, several information duties count as fulfilled, namely those on the main characteristics of the repair, identity and contact details, the price including the Price Indication Ordinance, and the arrangements and timing of the service (Art. 245 § 4 EGBGB). Instead of gathering mandatory details from several regulations, the business works through one fixed list.
Bound for 30 calendar days: what it means for pricing
Legally, the completed form is not a brochure but an offer in the sense of contract law.
A European Repair Information Form that contains the required details is an offer to conclude a repair contract with the content stated in the form, as Art. 245 § 3(2) EGBGB puts it. The business is bound by this offer for 30 calendar days after the consumer receives it, and it may set a longer period of validity (Art. 245 § 3(2) EGBGB). If the customer accepts within that time, the repair contract is concluded on exactly the terms stated in the form. A higher price is then only possible if both sides agree to it anew. For pricing, this means the figure has to hold for a little over four weeks. If spare-part prices rise during that time, the business absorbs the increase when the maximum price was set too tight. Three adjustments help. First, a maximum price that includes a realistic range for parts. Second, a precise description of the proposed repair, so it is clear what the price covers and what it does not. Third, the validity as a fixed date in the form rather than a bare number of days; the business calculates the date from the day of sending and adds a buffer, because the binding period runs from receipt by the customer.
The maximum price is the most important line
Name diagnosis costs before the first step
Many faults cannot be judged over the phone.
For this case, the law allows paid fault-finding: if a diagnostic service, including an on-site or remote check, is needed to determine the fault, the repair and its cost, the business can require the consumer to bear the necessary costs (Art. 245 § 2(2) EGBGB). The condition is in the second sentence of the same provision: the repairer informs the consumer about the cost of the diagnostic service before providing it and before handing over the European Repair Information Form. Anyone who inspects first and then invoices the fault-finding has got this order wrong; a fee that only appears in the order confirmation or on the invoice also comes too late. This matches a long-standing rule of German contract-for-work law: a cost estimate is, in case of doubt, not to be paid for (§ 632(3) BGB). Anyone who wants to charge for inspecting and calculating must therefore agree on it clearly beforehand, with or without the European form. The website is where this information appears first: on the repair page, directly above the submit button of the request form and in the reply to the request. Whether the fee is credited against an order belongs in the same sentence. For repairs in the customer's home, the right of withdrawal comes into play as well; what applies to urgent repairs that the customer explicitly requests is explained in Withdrawal on the website.
Scroll table sideways
| Situation | What applies | What the website says about it |
|---|---|---|
| Fault-finding needed, form planned | Diagnosis costs may be charged, information before the diagnosis (Art. 245 § 2(2) EGBGB) | Amount or method of calculation and whether it is credited against an order |
| Cost estimate without agreement | In case of doubt not to be paid for (§ 632(3) BGB) | Whether a cost estimate is charged is clear before the request |
| Form sent | Offer, binding for 30 calendar days from receipt (Art. 245 § 3(2) EGBGB) | How long offers are valid and how the customer accepts |
| Repair without form, estimate exceeded | Expected substantial excess to be notified without delay (§ 649 BGB) | Note that extra work is discussed with the customer first |
| Emergency at the customer's home on explicit request | No right of withdrawal for the urgent repair itself (§ 312g(2) BGB) | Describe the emergency service separately from the scheduled repair |
What the repair page should show
The form comes after the request. The repair page before it decides whether a request arrives at all and whether it contains the details that let you fill in the form without follow-up questions. Six things belong on the page, and almost every one of them matches a line of the European form:
Appliances and brands
Which appliances you repair, which brands and up to what age. If you do not take televisions, say so; it saves both sides a request that cannot lead anywhere.
Procedure in steps
Request, reply, diagnosis if needed, offer by email, acceptance, repair, collection. Customers who know the procedure know when to expect an answer.
Cost of fault-finding
Amount or method of calculation for the diagnosis and whether it is credited against an order. This notice belongs before the diagnosis, not on the invoice.
Price examples
Typical repairs with a price range, such as a battery replacement or a new pump. Only prices that really apply, with a note on parts and call-out charges.
Replacement and extra services
Is there a loan appliance, collection or removal on site, and what do they cost? The form asks exactly this in lines of its own.
Hand-over and contact
Where the customer hands over the item, at what times and how they reach you: address, phone, email. These are fixed lines of the form as well.
Price examples are not mandatory and do not replace the form, but they filter: anyone who sees the range for a display replacement sends a request with realistic expectations. Prices on the website follow the familiar rules for final prices and “from” prices, summarised in Pricing and advertising claims without legal risk. In XICflow, prices belong in the “Pricing table” block; every package with a recognisable price also produces a machine-readable price entry, so only enter prices there that actually apply on the page (XICflow documentation). If you promote repair with environmental arguments, check the wording as well: stricter competition rules apply to general claims such as “environmentally friendly”, as explained in Environmental claims on your website. Concrete statements such as “we replace the bearing instead of the whole drum” are safer and usually more convincing.
The repair request: fields that fill the form
A good repair form asks for exactly what the business needs to reply, and nothing more. The European form itself is the yardstick: every detail in Part II that has to come from the customer should already be in the request.
The business adds price, duration and validity; only the customer knows the item, the fault, the hand-over place and whether they want a replacement. That results in a short list:
Item Dropdown washing machine, dishwasher, fridge …
Make and model Text from the rating plate, if at hand
What is faulty? Multi-line text symptoms, error code, since when
Purchased on Text warranty claim or paid repair?
Bought from us? Checkbox
Hand-over Dropdown workshop, collection, on-site repair
Replacement wanted Checkbox
Preferred date Text
Name, email, phone name and email required
Diagnosis costs Checkbox “I have read the cost notice”The fields “Purchased on” and “Bought from us?” have a practical reason: if the purchase is still within the statutory warranty and the business sold the appliance itself, this is not a case for a paid repair but for subsequent performance; more on that below. The “Hand-over” dropdown answers the line on the hand-over place, the “Replacement” checkbox the line on a temporary replacement item. The diagnosis-cost checkbox records in the request whether the customer has read the notice. Photos of the rating plate or the fault are often helpful; ask for them in your reply, because a file upload is not one of the XICflow field types. In XICflow, you build this request with the “Form” block: you set the label and field type yourself and decide which fields are required. You can choose single-line text, email, phone, number, dropdown, multi-line text, checkbox and consent, and a form can hold up to 40 custom fields (XICflow documentation). Checkboxes appear in the request as yes or no, and extra fields are listed with their label in the inbox and in a column of their own in the export. Name, email, item and fault are enough as required fields; model, purchase date and preferred date stay optional, so that people who cannot find the rating plate right now can still send a request. How to get labels, required fields and error messages right is described in Contact forms that turn visitors into leads.
From request to form on a durable medium
The completed form is not a download on the website.
A business that uses it provides it to the consumer free of charge on a durable medium, within a reasonable period after the request and before the consumer is bound by their contractual declaration (Art. 245 § 2(1) EGBGB). German civil law describes a durable medium as one on which the recipient can keep or store a declaration addressed to them personally so that it remains accessible for an appropriate period, and which reproduces it unchanged (§ 126b BGB). Typically, that is a PDF attached to an email or a printout. A page on the website that the business can change at any time generally does not qualify. A blank sample for orientation may sit on the repair page, but it does not replace the form with the details of the specific appliance. That results in a procedure in six steps:
- The request arrives through the form on the repair page and lands in the inbox with the status “New”.
- The business checks the details and clarifies open points by email or phone, with photos if needed.
- If a diagnosis is needed, it states the cost before inspecting the item and arranges the appointment.
- It then sends the completed form as a PDF by email, with a fixed validity date.
- The customer accepts within the period of validity, by reply email, signature or at hand-over.
- The repair is carried out on the terms of the form; form and acceptance go into the job file.
In XICflow, the “Requests” tab collects submissions per website with name, date received, email address, phone number, message and all custom fields; with “New”, “Read” and “Archived” you record what has been handled (XICflow documentation). Every new request can also go by email to an address of your business. The reply address is that of the person who wrote in, so clicking “Reply” goes straight to them, and that is exactly the reply to which you attach the form as a PDF. By default, requests are kept for 180 days and then deleted automatically (XICflow documentation). Form and acceptance therefore belong in your own job records, because they document the content of the repair contract; the CSV export secures the request data beforehand. How quickly the reply should come and which text modules help is described in Responding to enquiries.
If you also sell: repair under warranty and twelve months
Many repair businesses also sell: bicycles, household appliances, watches. If the business sold an item to a consumer itself and a defect appears, the repair is not a paid service but subsequent performance under the statutory warranty.
Here, too, the July act changed something: before carrying out subsequent performance, the trader informs the consumer that they can choose between remedying the defect and delivery of a defect-free item, and that a repair extends the original limitation period once by twelve months (§ 475(4) BGB). The extension itself is set out in § 475e(5) BGB. It applies to purchase contracts from 31 July 2026; older purchases remain subject to the previous law (Art. 229 § 72 EGBGB). For the website, this means that a complaint and a paid repair are two different routes. If both run through one page, ask for the purchase date and place of purchase, and answer complaints with a note on the right to choose and the extension. What separate routes for existing customers look like is shown in Service forms for existing customers.
Manufacturer duties, independent workshops and the EU platform
The BGB also contains a new repair obligation for manufacturers. It covers goods from the product groups in Annex II of the directive that a consumer has bought and for which the consumer has no warranty rights (§ 479a BGB).
In the version applicable from 31 July 2026, Annex II lists eleven product groups, including household washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerating appliances, vacuum cleaners, mobile phones and tablets, and goods with batteries for light means of transport (Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Annex II). The eleventh group, domestic local space heaters, was added later by the Commission (Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/74). Manufacturers must publish indicative prices for typical repairs of these goods on a freely accessible website (§ 479d(2) BGB). Two sentences matter for independent workshops. The manufacturer may not refuse a repair solely because an earlier repair was carried out by other repairers or other persons (§ 479b(2) BGB). And it may not hinder independent repairers from using original, second-hand, compatible or 3D-printed spare parts, provided these parts comply with the law (§ 479e BGB). Your repair page can therefore state openly which parts you work with and what that means for price and duration. On top of this comes a European online platform for repair where consumers are meant to find repairers. The Commission develops the common online interface for it by 31 July 2027, and registration is voluntary for repairers (Directive (EU) 2024/1799). A listing there does not replace your own repair page: the platform helps people find you, while your website explains procedure, prices, diagnosis costs and hand-over. Car repair shops serving private customers face many of the same questions; how the appointment request works there is shown in Car repair shop website.
Roadmap for the repair page
- Decide whether you use the European form, for all repairs or only for larger jobs
- Create a template with the eleven items of Annex 19, with legal-notice details and a fixed validity date
- Set the diagnosis costs: amount or method of calculation, credited against an order or not
- Write the repair page with appliances, procedure, diagnosis costs, price examples, replacement and hand-over
- Build the request form with item, model, fault, purchase date, hand-over and a notice on diagnosis costs
- Set up notifications so that the form goes out within a reasonable period after the request
- Handle complaints about items you sold separately and mention the right to choose and the extension
- Add frequently asked questions: what does fault-finding cost, how long is the offer valid, is there a loan item?
- Keep form and acceptance in your job records and export request data before the retention period ends
With XICflow, you assemble all of this from existing blocks: “Steps” for the procedure as a numbered sequence, “Pricing table” for price examples, “Announcement” for the sentence on diagnosis costs, “FAQ” for frequent questions, where the block also supplies the page's FAQPage schema, and “Form” for the request (XICflow documentation). The features available for this are listed in the overview of services; the path from draft to published page is described in How it works. For visitors to find the repair page at all, a link to it belongs on the first screen of the homepage; what else should be there is explained in Building the homepage.