Construction works contract

A fixed price gives the client budget certainty and passes the risk of deviations to the contractor, who usually prices it in. Unit rates based on actual quantities are more precise, but the final amount is known only at completion. For a budget-based price, whether the budget was designated guaranteed and complete is crucial to whether the price can be exceeded at all. We choose the model according to the maturity of the project documents and which side you are on.

The party that approved it, with proof. The most expensive construction disputes arise from work verbally approved on site but never recorded in a written variation. We therefore name the persons authorised to approve changes, prescribe the change-order form and response period, and expressly state that no additional payment is due without approval. For contractors, we also establish how to initiate a change so the client cannot simply ignore it.

This is precisely why payment must not depend solely on a signed record without a further safeguard. Otherwise, refusing to sign becomes a means of postponing the entire payment. We define who convenes acceptance and how, when the client must attend, what happens if it does not, and that minor defects and incomplete items not preventing use are not grounds for refusal: they are listed with a rectification deadline. Under the Slovak Commercial Code, the subject of the work must be inspected as soon as practicable after handover. In a particular dispute concerning agricultural work, the Regional Court in Banská Bystrica linked this duty to handover of the entire work; the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic rejected the appeal on points of law (5Obdo/5/2024). This does not generally exclude inspection of parts of the work. We determine the effects of partial handover according to the contract and the nature of the performance.

The contract says what should have happened. The diary records what actually happened: when the site was handed over, cooperation was missing, weather caused obstacles or a hidden obstruction appeared. In an extension-of-time or variation dispute, it is usually your strongest evidence. We therefore define who keeps it, how entries are made and when the other party must respond, so silence does not work against you.

They are different and cannot be left to chance. A contractual penalty is paid at the agreed rate regardless of actual loss. Under the commercial regime, unless otherwise agreed, the creditor has no additional right to damages for loss covered by the penalty. We therefore expressly address whether damages exceeding the penalty can be claimed and whether overall liability is capped. Otherwise, the penalty may become a limit you did not know existed.

Yes, at a fundamental level. In Slovakia, works contracts between businesses are governed by the Commercial Code (§ 536 et seq.), while Czechia has a unified works contract regime in the Civil Code (§ 2586 et seq.), without separate civil and commercial regimes. Differences arise particularly in budget-based pricing, acceptance and defects. If you build on both sides of the border, we align both versions so they have the same meaning.