General Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions

Last updated: 4 October 2026

These General Terms and Conditions apply to services provided by Claas Hansen Marketingberatung, owner Claas Hansen, Münzplatz 10, 56068 Koblenz, trading under the registered trademark lightparc – hereinafter the “Contractor” – to businesses, legal entities under public law and special funds under public law – hereinafter the “Client”.

1. Scope

1.1 1.1 These General Terms and Conditions apply to contracts for web hosting, cloud hosting, domain management, technical website support, managed services, maintenance, migration, backups and platform coordination; planning, procurement, supply, configuration and integration of IT, network, storage, data protection, security, workplace and collaboration solutions; IT, cloud and technology consulting; and Strategy & Growth services, in particular marketing and go-to-market consulting, business development, product, portfolio, pricing and packaging consulting, and agreed interim or fractional management services; additionally e-commerce planning and implementation, communications consulting, event marketing, AI coaching and social media monitoring.

1.2 Services are provided exclusively to businesses within the meaning of section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), legal entities under public law and special funds under public law.

1.3 The nature, scope, limits, remuneration, contract term, support hours and any agreed service levels are set out in the respective proposal, order confirmation, service description or other individual agreement.

1.4 Individual agreements take precedence pursuant to section 305b BGB. Expressly agreed proposals, order confirmations, service descriptions and service level agreements additionally apply. In the event of a conflict, specific service agreements take precedence over these terms. A data processing agreement takes precedence within its data protection scope. Valid individual agreements take precedence regardless of their form.

1.5 The Client’s differing terms and conditions apply only if the Contractor has expressly agreed to their application in text form.

2. Formation of the contract

2.1 The Contractor’s proposals are non-binding unless expressly described as binding.

2.2 A contract requires matching declarations concerning the commissioned service. It may arise, in particular, through acceptance of a binding proposal or confirmation of an order. Starting work constitutes acceptance only where the Client has expressly commissioned the specific service and the essential contractual terms have been established. A contact enquiry or non-binding initial discussion alone does not create a paid engagement.

2.3 Information on the website does not constitute a binding guarantee of particular services, availability, storage capacity, response times or technical characteristics. The respective contractual service description is decisive.

3. Scope of services

3.1 The Contractor provides the hosting, cloud, domain, maintenance, migration, infrastructure, integration, consulting and coordination services agreed in the respective contract.

3.2 Services may include, in particular:

• Provision and management of web hosting environments
• Provision and management of cloud servers and cloud applications
• Domain registration and domain administration
• Setup and support of websites, shops and portals
• Monitoring and technical supervision
• Updates, maintenance and technical security measures
• Backups and recovery, where agreed
• Migration and modernisation of existing systems
• Planning, procurement, supply and integration of IT infrastructure
• Network, switching, routing, Wi-Fi and site solutions
• Storage, backup, data protection and security solutions
• Workplace, meeting and collaboration infrastructure
• Installation, commissioning, acceptance and technical documentation
• Technical provider and platform selection
• Coordination of participating technology and specialist partners
• Data protection-oriented IT and cloud consulting
• Marketing, positioning and go-to-market consulting
• Business development and partner strategy development
• Product, portfolio, pricing and packaging consulting
• Interim and fractional management within the agreed scope of responsibility

3.3 Services not expressly agreed are not part of the contract. This applies in particular to bespoke software development, legal advice, data protection officer services, permanent on-call availability, guaranteed recovery times and data archiving.

3.4 The Contractor may use technically equivalent or improved systems and procedures, provided that this does not materially impair the agreed use, security, compatibility, portability or level of protection, or cause additional costs for the Client. Changes materially affecting data location, jurisdiction, service levels, interfaces or licensing conditions will be communicated in advance; mandatory data protection consent requirements remain unaffected.

3.5 Consulting, Strategy & Growth and interim services are services rather than obligations to deliver a specific work product, unless a particular work product or specific result capable of acceptance is expressly agreed in the proposal. No particular economic, sales or market-related success is owed.

3.6 Recommendations and deliverables are based on information provided by the Client and the market and data situation available at the time of work. Business decisions and their implementation remain the Client’s responsibility unless a different assumption of responsibility is expressly agreed.

3.7 For interim or fractional assignments, the role, decision-making powers, reporting lines, representation rights and responsibility for results arise solely from the individual agreement. Authority to represent the Client externally exists only where expressly granted.

3.8 Legal, tax or other advice requiring professional authorisation is not part of the services. Where such matters arise, the Client must engage suitable qualified professionals.

4. Use of hosting and technology partners

4.1 The Contractor may provide hosting, cloud, domain, data centre, network, storage, security, development, support, integration and consulting services itself or through carefully selected third parties. These may include hosting providers, cloud providers, data centres, registrars, distributors, manufacturers and technical or professional specialists.

4.2 The Contractor remains responsible to the Client for the services it has contractually undertaken. It assumes no further responsibility for services commissioned directly by the Client from a third-party provider.

4.3 Where services depend technically on third-party providers, their system requirements, service limits, maintenance windows and security requirements may affect delivery.

4.4 Significant partners and subcontractors used to deliver services will be transparently identified to the Client in the proposal, service description or data processing agreement, where required.

5. Availability and maintenance

5.1 A particular minimum availability is owed only where expressly agreed in the service description or a service level agreement.

5.2 Where no minimum availability is agreed, the Contractor provides ongoing services in accordance with the contractually intended purpose and the recognised state of the art. Without an express agreement, there is no entitlement to uninterrupted availability or particular response, fault resolution or recovery times.

5.3 Temporary restrictions may arise in particular from necessary maintenance, security updates, technical faults, attacks, overloads, internet disruptions or failures of participating infrastructure and technology providers.

5.4 Planned maintenance will, where possible, be announced in good time and performed during periods of expected low usage.

5.5 Urgent security or emergency measures may be carried out without prior notice where necessary to protect systems, customer data or other users.

6. Support and incident reporting

6.1 Support hours, contact channels, response times and priorities are set out in the respective service description.

6.2 Unless otherwise agreed, support is provided during the Contractor’s usual business hours.

6.3 The Client must report incidents promptly through the agreed contact channels and provide all information necessary for analysis.

6.4 A response time is the period until work on an issue begins. It does not guarantee complete resolution within that period.

6.5 Additional work outside the agreed scope is charged only under an existing remuneration agreement or following the Client’s prior approval of scope and remuneration. This applies in particular to additional effort caused by inaccurate information, Client interventions or external systems. No additional remuneration is charged for remedying the Contractor’s own breaches of duty. Statutory claims remain unaffected.

7. Domains

7.1 For domain registrations and transfers, the Contractor acts as a technical and organisational intermediary with registrars and registries.

7.2 Successful registration, transfer or permanent availability of a domain cannot be guaranteed.

7.3 The Client warrants that the requested domain and its use do not infringe third-party rights, statutory provisions or the allocation rules of the relevant registry.

7.4 The Client indemnifies the Contractor against justified third-party claims arising from unlawful domain registration or use for which the Client is responsible.

7.5 The Client must keep the contact information required for domain registration complete, accurate and up to date.

8. Backups and recovery

8.1 Backups are created only to the extent expressly agreed in the respective proposal or service description.

8.2 The relevant service description specifies bindingly which systems and data are backed up, backup intervals and retention periods, and the storage locations, safeguards, monitoring, testing and recovery services owed. Recovery and restart objectives apply only where expressly agreed.

8.3 Backups serve technical recovery following incidents. They do not replace legally or commercially required audit-compliant archiving.

8.4 The Client remains obliged to maintain appropriate independent backups of particularly important or business-critical data unless a different arrangement is expressly agreed.

8.5 Recovery necessitated by deletion, misconfiguration or other changes caused by the Client may be charged based on effort. This does not apply where recovery is necessary due to a breach of duty for which the Contractor is responsible.

8.6 Where regular recovery tests, immutable backups, an additional logically or physically isolated copy, or special encryption measures are owed, these services must be expressly identified in the proposal or service description.

9. Migrations and technical changes

9.1 For migrations, the scope, source system, target system, responsibilities, timetable, testing procedures and any rollback option are agreed individually.

9.2 The Client ensures that the data, applications, licences and content to be migrated may lawfully be used and transferred.

9.3 The Client must review migration results from a business perspective within the agreed period or, otherwise, a reasonable period, and report identified errors clearly. Where a work product capable of acceptance is agreed, acceptance follows the procedure set out in the proposal or project plan.

9.4 Additional effort caused by legacy systems, outdated software, missing documentation or unsupported components may be charged separately following prior agreement.

9.5 Changes to the agreed scope, architecture, dates or acceptance criteria are documented as a change request. Before implementation, the Contractor informs the Client of foreseeable effects on effort, remuneration, timing and risks. Implementation follows the Client’s approval in text form.

9A. IT infrastructure, hardware deliveries and integration

9A.1 The respective proposal specifies whether the Contractor supplies hardware, software or licences in its own name, procures them as a subcontractor, or merely arranges a contract with a third-party provider. Where it acts as an intermediary, the third party becomes the Client’s contractual partner; where it supplies in its own name, the Contractor remains the contractual partner for the agreed service.

9A.2 Delivery dates are subject to timely and correct delivery to the Contractor, provided that the Contractor arranged procurement carefully and in good time and is not responsible for the delay. The Contractor promptly informs the Client of foreseeable delivery delays. The Client’s statutory rights remain unaffected.

9A.3 Partial deliveries and technically equivalent replacement components are permitted where reasonable for the Client and where they do not materially impair agreed functions, compatibility, security requirements or service levels. Price changes or material architectural changes require prior consent.

9A.4 The Client provides the agreed site, power, network, cabling, climate control, access and security conditions in good time. Additional effort resulting from missing or unsuitable conditions is remunerated separately following prior agreement.

9A.5 Where installation, configuration or integration is agreed as a work product capable of acceptance, the Contractor notifies the Client when it is ready for acceptance. The Client reviews the work within the agreed period or, otherwise, a reasonable period, and declares acceptance or identifies material defects. Minor defects do not prevent acceptance.

9A.6 Supplied goods remain the Contractor’s property until full payment of the remuneration owed under the respective order. Additional manufacturer, licence, usage and support terms become part of the contract only if made available to the Client before contract formation and validly agreed. Subsequent changes require a separate agreement unless a validly agreed amendment mechanism applies.

9B. E-commerce, websites, marketing, AI coaching and monitoring

9B.1 Website and shop projects expressly define the system, functions, interfaces, migration, content, tests, acceptance criteria and operating services. Implementation does not automatically include ongoing maintenance, additional interfaces, legal advice or adaptation to subsequent legal changes. This does not restrict agreed functions or statutory defect rights.

9B.2 Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the Client remains the shop operator and the contracting party of its end customers. It is responsible for product and pricing information, mandatory legal information, legal texts, payment and shipping terms and legal approval of its offer. The Contractor is responsible for compliant technical implementation of the contract and agreed support. B2C describes the Client’s sales channel; this does not create consumer contracts between lightparc and the Client’s end customers.

9B.3 Accessibility, privacy functions, consent management, security updates and licensing requirements are considered during requirements definition and specified where commissioned. Mandatory statutory duties and professional duties to advise remain unaffected.

9B.4 AI coaching develops knowledge and applied working practices; no specific productivity increase is guaranteed. Monitoring analyses concern agreed sources, search terms, languages and periods. Complete market coverage or statistical representativeness is owed only where expressly agreed. Automated classifications are professionally reviewed to the agreed extent; identifiable data gaps and methodological limitations are disclosed.

10. Client cooperation duties

10.1 The Client provides all information, data, access credentials, contacts, decisions and approvals required for delivery promptly, completely and accurately.

10.2 Access credentials must be kept confidential and protected by suitable passwords and, where available and reasonable, multi-factor authentication.

10.3 The Client promptly informs the Contractor of identifiable security incidents, unauthorised access, malware, data losses or other technical irregularities.

10.4 The Client must not make changes to managed systems that could impair operations, security or maintainability without first informing the Contractor.

10.5 Absent or late cooperation may affect agreed dates to the extent that it actually impedes delivery. The Contractor informs the Client of foreseeable consequences and takes reasonable steps to limit them. Additional remuneration is governed by clause 6.5; statutory claims relating to a failure to cooperate remain unaffected. This clause does not impose responsibility on the Client independently of the statutory requirements.

11. Permitted use

11.1 The Client may use the provided services only in accordance with statutory provisions and contractual agreements.

11.2 In particular, the following are prohibited:

• Unlawful or criminal content
• Infringement of copyright, trademark or personality rights
• Sending unsolicited bulk email or spam
• Distributing malware or malicious software
• Attacks on systems, networks or other users
• Abusive use of computing, storage or network resources
• Circumvention of technical safeguards

11.3 The Client is responsible for the content it provides and publishes and for its lawfulness.

12. Suspension of services

12.1 The Contractor may temporarily suspend services or access in whole or in part where there are specific indications of unlawful activity, malware, spam, attacks, significant security risks or threats to other systems.

12.2 In the event of payment default, suspension is permissible only under the statutory conditions for withholding performance and after prior notice allowing a reasonable period to remedy the default. Its scope and consequences must be proportionate to the arrears; the Client’s legitimate interests, particularly access to and preservation of data, must be considered. Statutory duties to release data and facilitate switching remain unaffected.

12.3 The Contractor will inform the Client before suspension and provide an opportunity to remedy the issue unless immediate action is necessary to avert danger.

12.4 Suspension is lifted once its cause has ceased and safe resumption of operation is possible. Any necessary, separately chargeable restoration work is agreed in advance unless immediate action is required to limit damage.

13. Data protection and processing on behalf of the Client

13.1 Both parties comply with the applicable data protection provisions.

13.2 Where the Contractor processes personal data on the Client’s behalf, the parties enter into a data processing agreement pursuant to Article 28 GDPR before that processing begins.

13.3 The Client remains responsible for the lawfulness of the processing it initiates, information duties, legal bases, deletion periods and safeguarding data subject rights.

13.4 The Contractor uses appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data processed on the Client’s behalf.

13.5 Subprocessors are engaged in accordance with the data processing agreement.

14. Consulting, strategy and interim services

14.1 The Contractor’s consulting services may address technical, organisational and commercial aspects of hosting, cloud operations, data security and provider selection, as well as marketing, go-to-market, business development, partner business, product and portfolio strategy.

14.2 The Contractor does not provide legal advice or act as a lawyer or external data protection officer unless expressly agreed with appropriately qualified partners involved.

14.3 Legal review and approval of contracts, privacy policies, consents, data processing agreements and other legal documents remain the responsibility of the Client or its legal advisers.

14.4 Where deliverables are created under a consulting assignment, the Client receives, after full payment, a non-exclusive right of use without time or territorial limitation for the agreed contractual purpose, unless the proposal provides otherwise. Pre-existing methods, templates, models, know-how and generally reusable solution components remain with the Contractor. Editable working files, raw data, source materials and editable templates are owed only where expressly agreed. Rights to third-party materials are governed by the relevant licence terms.

14.5 The Client reviews recommendations and deliverables for suitability for its specific organisation, legal framework and business decisions. Economic success, particular market shares, revenues or conversion rates are not guaranteed.

14.6 The Client is responsible for the factual accuracy of product, service, price, competitor and company information it provides. Publications, campaigns, advertising claims and other communications require the Client’s approval unless a different approval arrangement is agreed.

14.7 The Client ensures that texts, data, trademarks, images and other materials it supplies may lawfully be used. It indemnifies the Contractor against justified third-party claims based on an infringement attributable to the Client in those materials or binding instructions. The Contractor promptly informs the Client of asserted claims and coordinates the defence with it.

14.8 Costs for advertising placements, media, market research, software, travel, production and external specialists are incurred or passed on only where agreed or approved by the Client in advance in text form.

14.9 The Contractor may use suitable automated or AI-assisted tools to support analysis, research, conceptual work and drafting. Confidential or personal data may be transferred only to systems contractually suitable for that purpose and compliant with data protection requirements. Deliverables are professionally reviewed before handover. Exclusive protection or exclusive rights in purely automatically generated components are not warranted.

14.10 Interim and fractional assignments are carried out as independent engagements. Integration into the Client’s work organisation or subjection to instructions beyond the agreed professional responsibility is not owed. Actual delivery must reflect the agreed independent activity. Corporate body and management decisions remain with the Client unless a valid authorisation or different individual agreement exists.

15. Remuneration and payment terms

15.1 Remuneration is set out in the respective proposal or contract. All prices are net of applicable statutory VAT.

15.2 One-off setup, migration or project services may be invoiced separately from recurring hosting or cloud services.

15.3 Unless otherwise agreed, invoices are payable without deduction within 14 calendar days of the invoice date.

15.4 Usage-based costs, excess consumption, additional storage, licences, domains and third-party services may be passed on according to actual usage or commissioning where the underlying prices or calculation methods were agreed or transparently communicated before commissioning. External costs not already agreed require the Client’s prior approval in text form.

15.5 Statutory provisions apply in the event of late payment. The Contractor may withhold further services that are not security-critical until outstanding amounts are settled.

16. Price adjustments for ongoing services

16.1 The Contractor may adjust prices for ongoing services to the extent that costs relevant to delivery demonstrably change after contract formation. This applies in particular to prices charged by data centres, cloud providers, registrars, software manufacturers, energy, network, licensing or security providers. This clause does not permit an independent increase in the calculated profit margin.

16.2 A price adjustment is communicated to the Client in text form at least six weeks before it takes effect.

16.3 If the total price of the affected ongoing service increases by more than five per cent, the Client may terminate that service extraordinarily up to the date the increase takes effect. The notice will draw attention to this termination right.

16.4 Cost reductions are taken into account where they correspondingly and permanently reduce the calculation basis for the respective service.

17. Term and termination

17.1 The contract term and ordinary notice period are set out in the respective proposal or contract.

17.2 Unless a different term is agreed, ongoing hosting, cloud and maintenance contracts are concluded for an indefinite period and may be terminated on four weeks’ notice to the end of a month.

17.3 Different registration, minimum or renewal periods may apply to domains, licences and third-party services where identified in the proposal or service description.

17.4 The right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause may include significant security or legal violations, continuing payment default or serious breach of material contractual duties.

17.5 Notices of termination require at least text form.

18. End of contract, switching providers, data export and deletion

18.1 The following provisions additionally apply to data processing services within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act). Mandatory statutory rights of the Client to switch, port, retrieve and delete remain unaffected. For other services, these provisions apply only insofar as transferable in view of their nature and subject matter.

18.2 The Client may give notice in text form of switching to another provider or its own IT infrastructure, or request deletion of exportable data and digital assets on termination of the affected data processing service. The notice period for initiating switching is no more than two months; shorter agreed periods remain unaffected.

18.3 The Contractor enables switching or porting without undue delay within a transition period of no more than 30 calendar days after the relevant notice period expires; an extension is permitted only under clause 18.4. It reasonably assists the Client and authorised third parties, exercises due care to maintain business continuity, continues contractual functions or services, discloses known continuity risks and maintains a high level of security throughout switching, transfer and retrieval in accordance with applicable law.

18.4 If the 30-calendar-day transition period cannot technically be met, the Contractor informs the Client within 14 working days of receiving the switching request, explains the technical infeasibility and specifies an alternative transition period not exceeding seven months. The Client may extend the transition period once for a period it considers appropriate.

18.5 Before contract formation, the service description or a binding portability schedule exhaustively identifies the categories of exportable data and digital assets, export procedures, formats and technical limitations, and any excluded categories of internal data. Trade secret exceptions must not prevent or delay switching. Export includes at least all data exportable under the Data Act. Unless more specific requirements apply, export uses a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

18.6 After completion of the transition period, the Contractor keeps exportable data and digital assets available for retrieval for at least a further 30 calendar days unless a longer period is agreed or required by law. The Client cooperates promptly in determining the target system, recipient, authentication and secure transfer method.

18.7 After successful completion of switching and expiry of the retrieval period, exportable customer data and digital assets are completely deleted. A longer retrieval period may be agreed. Mandatory statutory retention duties remain unaffected; affected data is limited to the legally required scope, restricted against other uses and deleted once the obligation expires.

18.8 Up to and including 11 January 2027, only costs directly related to switching and actually incurred may be charged for legally required switching activities. From 12 January 2027, no switching charges are levied for these activities. Additional services beyond statutory switching obligations may be remunerated separately following prior commissioning and disclosure of pricing.

18.9 Before contract formation and throughout the contract term, the Contractor provides the Client with information on available switching and porting procedures, formats, data categories, technical limitations, applicable infrastructure jurisdictions and measures to protect against unlawful international access in the relevant service description or currently accessible supplementary documentation.

18.10 Domains are cancelled, transferred or released from the Contractor’s administration according to the Client’s instructions. Required authentication codes are provided after the contractual conditions are met.

18.11 The Contractor supports the exit strategy relevant to the commissioned services and provides the necessary information. The contract for the affected data processing service is considered terminated upon successful completion of switching. If only deletion is requested, it is considered terminated upon expiry of the applicable notice period. The Client is notified of termination. Retrieval, deletion and other surviving duties remain in force.

19. Service disruptions and defects

19.1 The Client must promptly report identifiable disruptions or defects with a clear description.

19.2 In the event of justified complaints, the Contractor is first given an opportunity to remedy the disruption or defect within a reasonable period.

19.3 Where a disruption or defect demonstrably results from uncoordinated changes by the Client or its third parties, responsibility and claims are determined by the respective causation and applicable law. Claims arising from breaches attributable to the Contractor and liability under clause 20 remain unaffected.

20. Liability

20.1 The Contractor has unlimited liability for damage arising from injury to life, body or health, intent and gross negligence, fraudulently concealed defects, expressly assumed guarantees, and under the German Product Liability Act and other mandatory statutory provisions.

20.2 For a slightly negligent breach of a material contractual duty, the Contractor is liable only for damage typical of the contract and foreseeable when it was concluded. Material contractual duties are those whose fulfilment makes proper performance of the contract possible and on whose observance the Client may regularly rely.

20.3 Otherwise, liability for slight negligence is excluded to the extent permitted by law.

20.4 The preceding liability provisions apply to data loss. A breach attributable to the Client of specifically agreed or statutory backup duties is taken into account only under the statutory rules on contributory fault in section 254 BGB. Backup and recovery duties assumed by the Contractor and unlimited liability under clause 20.1 remain unaffected.

20.5 The above limitations of liability apply correspondingly to the Contractor’s legal representatives, employees, persons engaged in performance and subcontractors.

21. Force majeure

21.1 Neither party is liable for delays or disruptions caused by force majeure or other unforeseeable events outside its reasonable control.

21.2 These may include natural events, war, terrorism, government measures, pandemics, strikes and large-scale power or network outages. Cyberattacks, disruptions of central internet services or data centre outages constitute force majeure only insofar as they could not have been avoided despite appropriate state-of-the-art protection and precautions and do not originate within the affected party’s sphere of responsibility.

21.3 Where possible, the affected party informs the other of the nature and expected duration of the impairment. Agreed deadlines are extended by the duration of the impediment plus a reasonable restart period.

22. Confidentiality

22.1 Both parties treat as confidential all information recognisably confidential, trade secrets, access credentials, system information and security configurations received during their cooperation.

22.2 Confidential information may be used only to perform the respective contract and disclosed only to persons who require it for that purpose.

22.3 Statutory disclosure and retention duties remain unaffected.

22.4 Confidentiality obligations do not apply to information demonstrably already lawfully known to the receiving party, publicly known or becoming public without breach of contract, independently developed, or lawfully obtained from a third party authorised to disclose it.

22.5 Confidential documents and data must be returned or deleted on request after the contract ends, unless statutory retention duties or legitimate documentation interests prevent this. Confidentiality duties continue for five years after the contract ends; trade secrets are protected for as long as they meet the statutory requirements for a trade secret.

23. Use as a reference

The Contractor may use the Client’s name, trademark or logo as a reference only with the Client’s prior consent. Consent once granted may be revoked for future use.

24. Text form

Contractual declarations, approvals, termination notices and other communications may be made in text form, in particular by email, unless a stricter form is required by law or contract.

25. Final provisions

25.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

25.2 The place of performance is Koblenz unless the nature of the agreed service requires otherwise.

25.3 Where the Client is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, Koblenz is the place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from the contractual relationship, to the extent legally permitted.

25.4 If individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions are or become invalid, the remaining provisions remain effective. Statutory provisions apply in place of the invalid provision.