Billing hourly-rate work (Stundenlohnarbeiten): agreement, time sheets, invoice

When hourly rates apply at all

The rule is in § 2 para. 10 VOB/B: “Hourly-rate work is paid for only if it has been expressly agreed as such before it starts.” Anyone who works by effort without an agreement has a problem in a dispute. This applies especially to small extra jobs (“let’s just do it quickly”).

Hourly-rate work is not the same as a Nachtrag. A Nachtrag agrees work and price. Hourly-rate work is billed by effort, typically for smaller jobs that cannot be priced in advance. How a Nachtrag works is explained in Nachtrag in a construction contract.

How is it paid?

Under § 15 para. 1 VOB/B, the remuneration follows the contractual agreements. If there is no agreement, the customary remuneration applies. If that cannot be determined, the contractor’s expenses are billed:

• wage and salary costs of the site,
• wage and salary ancillary costs of the site,
• material costs,
• costs of facilities, tools, machines and mechanical plant,
• freight, haulage and loading costs,
• social fund contributions and special costs,

in each case with reasonable surcharges for overheads and profit (including the general entrepreneurial risk), plus VAT.

The rule applies accordingly if the client demands that the work be supervised by a foreman or another supervisor, or if supervision is required under accident prevention regulations (para. 2).

The four steps under § 15 VOB/B

1. Notify: The execution of hourly-rate work must be notified to the client before it starts (para. 3 sentence 1).
2. Keep sheets: Lists (Stundenlohnzettel) must be submitted of the working hours performed and of the effort to be paid separately (materials, standing time, freight and special costs), on each working day or weekly, unless otherwise agreed.
3. Have them countersigned: The client returns certified sheets without delay, at the latest within 6 working days of receipt. It can raise objections on the sheet or separately in writing. Sheets not returned in time are deemed acknowledged.
4. Bill: Hourly-rate invoices must be submitted promptly after completion, but at intervals of 4 weeks at most. § 16 VOB/B applies to payment (para. 4).

What belongs on the hourly-rate time sheet

VOB/B names the content only in general terms. In practice, the following has proved its worth:

• Construction project, date, order number or reference to the hourly-rate agreement.
• Names and qualifications of the employees deployed.
• Hours per employee and per day.
• Description of the activity: what exactly was done, where?
• Material and equipment, to the extent paid separately.
• Name and signature of the client or its authorised representative, with date.

The sheet is evidence. “Installation, 8 hours” is rarely enough in a dispute. “Pipe DN 50 in the cellar rerouted due to changed design of 12.10., 8 hours, 2 employees” is more likely to be.

If the sheets are missing

If hourly-rate work was agreed, but there are doubts about its extent because sheets were not submitted in time, the client can demand that, for the work provably carried out, a remuneration be agreed that is determined under paragraph 1 no. 2 for an economically justifiable effort in working time, materials, standing time, freight and special costs (§ 15 para. 5).

This means: you do not lose the claim, but you must prove it and the client can cut the amount.

Typical mistakes

• No prior agreement on hourly-rate work.
• No notification before starting.
• Sheets collected instead of submitted daily or weekly.
• Signature missing or from the wrong person.
• Invoice after months instead of at least every 4 weeks.
• Hourly rate and Nachtrag mixed up: the same work is billed twice.

In the payment plan and in the billing

Hourly-rate work appears in the Schlussrechnung (final invoice) as a separate item or is billed in between under para. 4. Show it there separately from contract items. This makes checking easier within the meaning of § 14 VOB/B (see Schlussrechnung under VOB/B).

Frequently asked questions

Sources and status

• § 2 para. 10 VOB/B – remuneration
• § 15 paras. 1 to 5 VOB/B – hourly-rate work (2016 version, checked against the statutory text in the BauWalker corpus)
• § 16 VOB/B – payment (referred to)
• Stand: 19.10.2026.
• Quotations of statutory text are given in translation; the German wording is authoritative.