Performance obligations can be classified, in accordance with various criteria, into similar categories governed by common rules.
The most common classification is based on the subject of performance, distinguishing between deliveries, services, omissions, and permissions.15
Delivery is an active act through which a specific part of property is transferred from one party’s legal sphere to another’s. Depending on the type of property involved, deliveries can be monetary deliveries, in which the subject is money; or non-monetary deliveries, in which the subject is a type of property other than money.
Example: A and B conclude a contract in which A undertakes to deliver EUR 50.00 to B, and B undertakes to return it within six months. – monetary obligation
A and B conclude a contract in which A undertakes to deliver his car to B, and B undertakes to return it within six hours. – non-monetary obligation
Service is an active act involving the performance or execution of a task or work that does not result in the transfer of property.
Example: A undertakes to paint the apartment of B.
Omission is a passive act—refraining from performing certain actions. Permission is also a passive act but differs from omission in that the debtor, whose obligation is permission, must tolerate certain intrusions into their legal sphere.16
Example: A undertakes to allow B to use his car. – permission
A undertakes not to use B’s car anymore. – omission
Performance can be one-time, instantaneous or continuous.
Example: Marko must pay EUR 5,000 by 1 September 2024 for the purchase of a new computer. – one-time performance
Ana must pay rent for her apartment every month until the end of the lease agreement (e.g., 5 years). – ongoing performance
Furthermore, contractual obligations can be classified based on the independence or dependence of performance. Most obligations are independent, but some may be dependent (accessory) on the validity of another, fundamental obligation.17 Depending on the subject of performance, obligations can be divided into generic (genus) and specifically determined items (species).
Example: Klara must pay her income tax on time every year in the country where she is employed. – generic obligation
Matej must return the borrowed book War and Peace to Jan by the end of the month. – specifically determined obligation
If there is a choice regarding performance, obligations can be alternative or facultative. There are also divisible and indivisible obligations. Divisible obligations are those for which the subject of performance can be divided, allowing for partial performance without losing value (e.g., monetary obligations), while indivisible obligations do not allow for such division.18
General characteristics common to all types of obligations, including contractual ones, are the equality of subjects and the relativity of obligations, meaning that the rights and obligations within a specific legal relationship are effective only between the parties involved. Business or contractual obligations also have additional characteristics, specifically the voluntariness of entering into the business obligation and autonomy in determining the content of the contractual relationship.19
