Research On The Defect Liability Period In Engineering Contract

Through sorting out the problems of the judgment cases,there are some unclear and confusing concepts such as warranty period,defect liability period and quality guarantee period in the project contract for a long period.In practice,when the contract is concluded,the employer and the contractor confuse the return period of quality deposit with the warranty period,and the court wrongly decides that the quality deposit will be returned after the warranty period.In addition,if the parties do not specify the liability period for defects,the court automatically applies the maximum liability period of two years for defects,which leads to confusion in the judgment of the time for quality guarantee deposit repayment.At the same time,the judgment case of the Supreme Court did not clearly explain and distinguish the rights and obligations of the parties within the defect liability period and the rights and obligations of the parties falling into the warranty period beyond the defect liability period,so there is a state of unclear judgment of the rights and obligations of the parties.The causes are mainly as follows: First,the concept of defect liability period lacks legal basis.Although it is stipulated at the level of regulations,it still belongs to the parties’ agreement rather than compulsory application.Secondly,in 2013 and2017 versions of Construction Project Construction Contract(Demonstration Text),there are two concepts of defect liability period and warranty period simultaneously.The two concepts lead to misdirection in judicial practice.Again,the defects liability period errors from FIDIC defects notification period system,not fully consider the differences of Anglo-American law system and continental law system default relief means,for the FIDIC defects notification period the concept connotation is not yet clear,causing domestic contractors in foreign construction engineering practice to defects notification period,the defects liability period concept confusion and damaged the interests conflict with the developer.Therefore,it is suggested that the problem of defect liability period in project contract should be revised from the 2017 model text,and the quality margin should be renamed as defect liability guarantee,and the relationship between defect liability period and warranty period should be examined differently in the model text.Afterwards,the project quality assurance system is improved and the principle of responsibility division is clarified so as to construct the claim system within the defect liability period.Finally,from the perspective of justice,it is suggested that judges should interpret the agreement between parties from multiple perspectives: on the basis of respecting autonomy of will and judicial precedent,the interests of both parties should be balanced and public order and good customs should be considered.