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General contractor, subcontractor and building owner: who is liable for what

Building owner, general contractor and subcontractor: against whom defect and delay claims are directed and how liability for auxiliaries under sec. 1313a ABGB works.

BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte
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BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte

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1 July 2026 · Mag. Bernhard Brandauer, Rechtsanwalt

On a building site many hands are often at work: a general contractor who takes on the entire works, and beneath it numerous subcontractors for the individual trades. If a defect later appears or the build comes to a standstill, the central question for the building owner is whom they can turn to at all.

This article explains liability in the contractual chain between building owner, general contractor and subcontractor. The focus is on the liability for auxiliaries under section 1313a of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) and the principle that claims follow the contract. We also place general awarding and separate awarding side by side.

Those who know the right counterpart lose no time on the wrong addressee and secure their deadlines. From a lawyer’s perspective, claims rarely fail on the law but often because they are directed against the wrong party.

Place your situation

Against whom are your claims directed?

Answer one or two questions about your contract model and your concern. You receive an initial assessment of against whom your claim is directed.

Already know you want to get in touch? Go straight to the enquiry form.

01 Question 1

Who is your contractual partner for the building project?

What matters is whom you concluded the contract with. Your claims are directed in principle against your own contractual partner, not against its subcontractors.

All paths at a glance

Overview of all answers.

01

Under a general contractor agreement you direct defect claims against the general contractor.

If you have commissioned a general contractor with the entire works, it is your sole contractual partner. You direct defect claims from warranty and damages against it, even where the fault actually comes from a subcontractor. Under sec. 1313a ABGB the general contractor is liable for its auxiliaries as for its own conduct.

You have no direct claim against the subcontractor out of the general contractor agreement. Have it assessed whether repair, price reduction or damages is the right path and how to give notice of the defects in good time and with secured evidence.

02

For delay or failure of the general contractor swift and documented action matters.

If the general contractor does not meet deadlines or its failure is looming, you should document the delay clearly and call on it while setting a grace period. The consequences range from an agreed contractual penalty to withdrawal and damages. Here too the general contractor remains your point of contact, not the individual subcontractor.

Where insolvency of the general contractor threatens, speed is required, because outstanding remuneration claims of the subcontractors can affect your position. An early legal assessment clarifies which steps secure your claims and your building project.

03

With separate awarding each contractor is liable for its own trade.

If you have awarded each trade separately, several separate works contracts exist. Each contractor is liable to you for its own performance. The advantage is often lower prices and direct access to each contractor. The disadvantage is that you bear the interfaces and the coordination yourself.

Where defects arise at an interface, it is often disputed which trade is responsible. Secure the building process and the responsibilities with evidence. A legal assessment clarifies against which contractor your claim is directed.

04

A general contractor and separate awarding each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Before awarding, a comparison of the models is worthwhile. The general contractor bundles responsibility with one contractual partner and relieves you of coordination, but brings an insolvency and mark-up risk. Separate awarding can be cheaper and gives you direct access to each trade, but shifts coordination and the interface risk to you.

Which model fits depends on project size, your own building experience and appetite for risk. A legal assessment of the draft contracts secures above all the liability and security clauses.

The contractual chain in construction

Under the general contractor model you as building owner conclude a single works contract with the general contractor. This party undertakes to produce the entire works and in turn commissions subcontractors for the individual trades. There is no contract between you and the subcontractors.

A simple principle follows from this structure: your claims are directed against your contractual partner. Defects, delay or other disruptions of performance you assert against the general contractor. Whether it carries out the work itself or engages a subcontractor changes nothing about its responsibility towards you.

The subcontractor in turn stands in its own works contract with the general contractor. If a defect comes from the subcontractor’s trade, that is a matter between general contractor and subcontractor. For you as building owner the general contractor remains the addressee.

Liability for the auxiliary under section 1313a ABGB

Section 1313a ABGB forms the legal core. Whoever owes a performance to another and uses an auxiliary to perform it is liable for that auxiliary’s fault as for its own. The subcontractor is such an auxiliary of the general contractor.

For you this means: where the subcontractor causes a defect or damage, the general contractor must answer for it. You therefore do not need to break down which party specifically acted, but turn to your contractual partner. This considerably eases enforcement.

The general contractor cannot exonerate itself by saying it selected a careful subcontractor. Liability for auxiliaries is aimed precisely at the principal answering for the persons it uses to perform. Internal fault of the general contractor is not required for this.

No direct claim against the subcontractor

Because there is no contract between you and the subcontractor, you have no direct warranty claim against it out of the building contract. A reach-through along the contractual chain is in principle not provided for. The general contractor can, however, recover from its subcontractor by way of recourse.

An exception exists where the general contractor assigns to you its warranty claims against the subcontractor. Such an assignment is occasionally agreed, for example where the general contractor fails. Then you can pursue the assigned claims directly against the subcontractor.

This is to be distinguished from liability in tort. Where a subcontractor causes damage to your property through unlawful and culpable conduct, a claim in damages comes into consideration even without a contract. Whether such a path carries is a question of the individual case and belongs in a legal assessment.

Two awarding models

General awarding and separate awarding compared

Which model fits depends on the project, building experience and appetite for risk. The overview places the key differences.

General contractor and separate awarding from the building owner’s perspective
Criterion General contractor Separate awarding
Contractual partner A single contractual partner for the entire works Several contracts, one contractor per trade
Point of contact for defects The general contractor, also for sub-performances (sec. 1313a ABGB) The respective performing trade for its own performance
Coordination Lies with the general contractor Lies with the building owner, including interface risk
Typical risks Mark-up on the price, insolvency of the general contractor Allocation of interface defects, higher own effort

Mixed forms are possible. Decisive for your claims remains whom you concluded the respective contract with.

A practical tip: keep the building contract, the schedule of works and the entire correspondence in order, and direct every notice of defects to your contractual partner. This avoids claims being lost against the wrong party. If you would like to discuss your case, you can arrange an initial consultation (EUR 72).

What you should do as a building owner

First clarify whom you concluded the contract with. That is your opposing party. Direct notices of defects and demands in writing to this partner and set a reasonable period for repair. A notice to the wrong party does not preserve your rights.

Document the building process, the responsibilities and the correspondence from the outset. Particularly with several parties, the evidence position decides whether a defect can be allocated to a specific trade. An orderly file saves laborious clarification later.

Where insolvency of the general contractor threatens or responsibility is disputed, early legal advice is sensible. A legal assessment quickly clarifies against whom your claim is directed and how to secure it. An overview is provided on our focus page on the construction contract and remuneration.

Frequently asked questions

General contractor, subcontractor and liability.

Can I sue the subcontractor directly for a defect? +

Out of the general contractor agreement you have no direct claim against the subcontractor, because you have no contract with it. Your opposing party is the general contractor, who under sec. 1313a ABGB is liable for its subcontractors. A direct claim comes into consideration only where the claims have been assigned to you or where damage in tort exists.

Is the general contractor also liable for its subcontractors’ mistakes? +

Yes. Under sec. 1313a ABGB the general contractor is liable for the fault of its auxiliaries as for its own. It cannot rely on having selected a careful subcontractor. For you as building owner it remains the point of contact.

Is separate awarding or a general contractor better? +

That depends on the project. The general contractor bundles responsibility and relieves of coordination, but brings a mark-up and insolvency risk. Separate awarding can be cheaper and gives direct access to each trade, but shifts coordination and the interface risk to the building owner.

Further reading

Related topics around liability and the building contract

Construction contract and remuneration

The focus page on the works contract, from the duty to perform to the remuneration claim under the ABGB.

Construction defects and warranty

Which rights you have for defective performance and in which order they apply.

The contractor’s duty to warn

When the contractor must point out concerns and what consequences a breach triggers.

Remuneration claim and refusal of payment

When you may withhold remuneration and how to react to an excessive claim.

Topics
general contractorsubcontractorliabilityABGBconstruction contract

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