unternehmensnachfolge-anwalt.at
Mag. Bernhard Brandauer, Rechtsanwalt
How to organise the substitute, office wind-up, estate administration and document archive after an Austrian civil engineer dies.
When an Austrian civil engineer dies, Section 22 of the Austrian Civil Engineers Act 2019, ZTG 2019, governs the professional wind-up of the office. The Federal Chamber of Civil Engineers appoints a substitute for this purpose. The substitute manages the office under his or her own responsibility, in the name and for the account of the estate or the heirs who have received the estate, and receives access to documents stored in the civil engineers' document archive.
This special rule concerns the civil engineering office itself. It does not decide questions about GmbH shares, articles of association or other estate assets. The professional office wind-up and the remaining estate issues therefore need separate checks from the outset.
The check sorts appointment, responsibility and document-archive access. You can send the result with the key details to the firm.
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The answer separates the appointment of the substitute from ongoing responsibility and archive access.
Check whether the Federal Chamber of Civil Engineers has already appointed a substitute. Section 22 ZTG 2019 provides for the appointment for the office wind-up. The President of the Federal Chamber issues the appointment by decision.
The substitute manages the office under his or her own responsibility and for the account of the estate or the heirs who have received it. The substitute's own professional activities must be kept strictly separate. Prepare an asset statement at the beginning and the end.
The Federal Chamber must enable the substitute to access the stored documents. The substitute uses his or her own seal or electronic signature and identifies the function as substitute and the work for the estate or the heirs who have received it.
Under Section 22(1) ZTG 2019, the Federal Chamber of Civil Engineers appoints a substitute when a civil engineer dies. The Chamber takes account of a testamentary disposition by the deceased. If there is none, it considers the wishes of an authorised representative of the estate under Section 810 of the Austrian General Civil Code.
The substitution is permitted only to the extent covered by the substitute's professional powers. Those powers must therefore be compared with the tasks of the deceased's office before work begins. The President of the Federal Chamber makes the appointment by decision.
The appointed substitute manages the deceased's office in full and under his or her own responsibility. The work is carried out in the name and for the account of the estate or the heirs who have received the estate. This makes the statutory role distinct from informal support provided to individual relatives.
The substitute must also follow the Federal Chamber's instructions. Ongoing work therefore requires a structured record of open assignments, deadlines, files, invoices and contacts so the office can be continued or wound up in an orderly way. The estate and the professional office administration remain connected, but they are separate issues for review.
Other regulated businesses have their own rules. The articles on transferring an Austrian medical practice and succession in a driving school address those separate professional regimes.
Section 22(4)(3) ZTG 2019 requires a strict separation between the substitute's own professional activities and the activities for the office being administered. The separation covers assignments, assets, documents, billing and communication with clients.
The substitute must also prepare an asset statement at the beginning and at the end of the appointment. In practice, this creates a traceable opening position and a documented closing position. Outstanding fees, third-party funds, expenses, equipment, documents and other assets should be allocated clearly to the relevant area.
The asset statement is an instrument of the professional office wind-up. It answers the professional question of the opening and closing position. It does not replace a separate inheritance or corporate-law accounting of the estate.
The Federal Chamber of Civil Engineers must enable the substitute to access documents stored by the deceased in the civil engineers' document archive. This allows the archived documents required for the office wind-up to be included in the orderly process.
The substitute uses his or her own seal, electronic certification signature or electronic civil engineer signature. The substitute must indicate that the work is being performed in that function for the estate or the heirs who have received it. The documents should therefore make the role and the account for which the work is done clear.
Archive access is tied to the professional activity provided for by the Act. It does not create general access to any documents and does not replace the review of which documents are needed for a particular assignment.
An orderly closing requires an up-to-date list of ongoing and completed matters, the documented asset position and the allocation of documents. The closing position should show which tasks were completed, transferred or left open.
The appointed substitute is entitled to remuneration. The Federal Chamber determines the amount. Section 22(7) ZTG 2019 refers to a share of the operating performance of the managed office and sets a limit of 65 percent. This is a statutory ceiling for the determination, not an automatic flat fee.
For the heirs and any further office management, record who was appointed, which powers apply, which matters remain open, how the document archive was included and which asset position existed at the beginning and the end.
The Federal Chamber of Civil Engineers appoints the substitute for the office wind-up. The President of the Federal Chamber makes the appointment by decision.
The substitution is permitted only within the professional powers of the appointed substitute. Those powers must fit the tasks of the office.
The substitute manages the office in the name and for the account of the estate or the heirs who have received it. The substitute's own professional activities must be kept separate.
The Federal Chamber must enable the substitute to access documents stored by the deceased in the civil engineers' document archive.
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