Austrian law provides for a two years warranty period as a protection against the delivery of defective movable goods. The provisions on warranty are not mandatory for B2B contracts. Parties can therefore deviate from it and include a waiver for warranties in their B2B contract.
However, there are limits to this: as stated in the Austrian Civil Code, contracts are to be interpreted according to the parties’ intent (§ 914 ABGB), and courts must consider all circumstances surrounding the drafting and conclusion of the contract. In case of doubt, waivers are to be interpreted restrictively as the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) confirmed again in a recent decision (8 Ob 9/19k). Such restrictive interpretation requires that a waiver of warranty cannot apply if a defect was maliciously concealed or to the extent a party has explicitly or even just implicitly promised certain product qualities.
For B2C contracts, the statutory two years warranty period is mandatory.