Custom-made furniture, kitchen or windows: missed deadline or defective work: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Classification: manufacturing to order is a contract for work; a sale-purchase applies only to a standard item (Civil Code of Georgia, Art. 629). Items made to an individual order cannot be returned without reason (Consumer Rights Law, Art. 14), so the rules on contract for work and consumer rights for services apply.
2. Delay: for delay or defect, give the seller a reasonable additional period in writing (Consumer Rights Law, Art. 18). After that you may have the work done by others at the manufacturer’s expense, reduce the price, or withdraw with damages (Art. 18). Under the Civil Code, withdrawal is available after an unsuccessful additional period (Civil Code, Art. 405). An additional period is not needed if it would be useless, or if the deadline was an essential term (Consumer Rights Law, Art. 18). If the consumer delays and loses interest in the performance, they may not claim a refund of the payment and expenses (Art. 18).
3. Money: after withdrawal, the advance is refunded (Civil Code, Art. 352). Damages caused by delay are recoverable (Civil Code, Art. 404). A penalty applies only if agreed in writing (Civil Code, Art. 418); there is no statutory daily penalty. A deposit (ბე) is returned double if the failure is due to the manufacturer (Civil Code, Art. 423).
4. Defect, wrong size: if something other than what was ordered was made, this is a defect (Civil Code, Art. 641). Incorrect installation by the seller is a defect (Consumer Rights Law, Art. 16). The manufacturer chooses whether to correct the item or make it anew (Civil Code, Art. 642). After that, you may claim a price reduction by the amount of diminished value (Civil Code, Art. 645), or withdraw.
5. Acceptance: if you accepted the work with a known defect and made no claim, you have no rights for that defect (Civil Code, Art. 652). Record defects in the act before paying the balance. Claims for defects are time-barred after one year from acceptance (Civil Code, Art. 655). Withdrawal is always possible without the manufacturer’s fault, but with payment for the work performed and damages (Civil Code, Art. 636).
6. Where to apply: the manufacturer (claim) → Competition and Consumer Protection Agency → court.
7. Evidence: contract with dimensions and deadline; payments (advance or deposit); correspondence about postponements; photos and measurements; act with remarks; claim with an additional period.
8. Pitfalls: demanding a “statutory penalty per day” without a written term; withdrawing immediately without a written additional period; paying the balance and signing an act without remarks; confusing an advance with a deposit.

Be sure to check

• an item made to individual order cannot be returned without reason — rights arise under the rules on contract for work and on poor-quality services
• delay: written additional period → withdrawal, refund of the advance, damages
• penalty only with a written term; there is no statutory daily penalty; deposit is returned double
• defect / wrong size: correction or remaking within an additional period → by others at the manufacturer’s expense, price reduction, withdrawal
• acceptance without remarks removes rights for a visible defect; the time limit for defects is one year