A practical guide to Dutch building contracts

Table of Contents
Preface v

1 The law of contract and obligations in general
1.1 Contract Law 11
1.1.1 The contract 11
1.1.2 Freedom of contract 12
1.1.3 Binding force of agreements 12
1.1.4 No prescribed form 13
1.1.5 Requirements to be met by contracting parties 13
1.1.6 Nullity 13
1.1.7 Incapacity 15
1.1.8 Disqualification 16
1.1.9 Representation 16
1.1.10 Requirements for the creation of a legally valid and inviolable contract 17
1.1.11 Creation of a contract, pre-contractual negotiations 20
1.1.12 General Terms and Conditions 21
1.2 Law of Obligations 29
1.2.1 Rights in the event of non-fulfilment of an obligation 29
1.2.2 Failure 29
1.2.3 Default 31
1.2.4 Notice of default 31
1.2.5 Rescission 33
1.2.6 Unforeseen circumstances 35
1.3 Special agreements 36
1.3.1 Introductions 36
1.3.2 Building contract models 37

2 The Contract with a Consultant (The New Rules 2011)
2.1 Introduction 41
2.2 Components of the contract 43
2.3 The client’s obligations 44
2.3.1 The duty to cooperate 45
2.3.2 Duty to warn 45
2.3.3 Payment 45
2.4 The consultant’s obligations 46
2.4.1 Acting as a good and careful contractor 46
2.4.2 State of the art 46
2.4.3 Legally practicable design 46
2.4.4 Duty to inform and duty to warn 47
2.4.5 Schedule 47
2.4.6 Compulsory insurance 47
2.5 The consultant’s liability 48
2.5.1 Liability criteria 48
2.5.2 Limitations of liability 51
2.6 Contract-specific matters 56
2.6.1 Remuneration 56
2.6.2 Power of representation 57
2.6.3 Ownership and copyright 58
2.7 End of the contract 59
2.7.1 Termination 59
2.7.2 Rescission 62

3 The Building Contract (UAC 2012)
3.1 Introduction 63
3.2 Components of the contract 64
3.2.1 The UAC 2012 and the building contract 64
3.2.2 The specification 64
3.2.3 The UAC 2012 and the specification: order of precedence 64
3.3 The client’s obligations 65
3.3.1 Payment 66
3.3.2 Responsibilities for design and execution 67
3.3.3 Enabling execution to take place 69
3.3.4 Supervision 70
3.4 The contractor’s obligations 73
3.4.1 Execution of the works 74
3.4.2 Duty to warn 75
3.4.3 Final completion of the works on time 77
3.5 Liability following final completion 81
3.5.1 Defects liability period 81
3.5.2 The contractor’s liability following final completion 83
3.6 Contract-specific subjects 85
3.6.1 Additions and omissions 86
3.6.2 Changes in the specification 86
3.6.3 Quantities 88
3.6.4 Unforeseen cost-increasing circumstances 90
3.6.5 Building materials and supplies 90
3.7 End of the contract 93

4 Early contractor involvement
4.1 Introduction 97
4.2 Contracts within the early contractor involvement model 100
4.2.1 The coordination agreement 100
4.2.2 The contract with the architect/consulting engineer 100
4.2.3 The contract with the co-designing contractor and the other members of the design team 101
4.3 The client’s role 102
4.4 The task of the Design Team 103
4.4.1 In general 103
4.5 Duty to warn 103
4.6 The design team members’ liabilities 104
4.6.1 Liability in general 104
4.6.2 Limitation of liability 105
4.7 Quotations, price negotiations and the contract for works 106
4.7.1 Agreement on price 108
4.8 End of the contract 108

5 Integrated Contracts (UAC-IC 2005)
5.1 Introduction 111
5.1.1 General Terms and Conditions 112
5.2 Components of the contract 112
5.3 The client’s role 114
5.3.1 Passive and active involvement on the part of the client 114
5.3.2 The duty to cooperate 115
5.3.3 Independent auxiliary persons 117
5.3.4 Payment terms and penalties/bonuses 119
5.3.5 Representation 120
5.3.6 The client’s liability under the UAC-IC 2005 122
5.4 The contractor’s role 122
5.4.1 Compliance with the requirements 123
5.4.2 Duty to warn 126
5.4.3 Representation 126
5.5 Liability 126
5.5.1 Liability for defects following completion 127
5.5.2 Liability for damage 128
5.6 Contract-specific matters 129
5.6.1 Permits and licences, exemptions, decisions, authorisations and statutory requirements 129
5.6.2 Soil conditions 133
5.6.3 Variations 136
5.6.4 Quality assurance 137
5.6.5 Reimbursement of costs and extension 141
5.6.6 Intellectual property rights 144
5.7 End of the contract 144
5.7.1 Suspension 145
5.7.2 Rescission and termination 145

6 Procurement Law
6.1 Introduction 147
6.2 Sources of procurement law 148
6.2.1 International conventions 148
6.2.2 European Directives 149
6.2.3 Principles of procurement law 150
6.2.4 National Law 151
6.2.5 Case Law 152
6.3 Who must apply the rules on procurement? 152
6.4 Which works must be put out for tender 153
6.4.1 Public works contract 153
6.4.2 Threshold value 154
6.5 The procurement procedures 156
6.6 How a procurement procedure works 158
6.6.1 Specifications of the tender 159
6.6.2 Exclusion grounds, selection and award criteria: selecting a bidder and selecting a bid 160
6.6.3 The end of the procurement procedure 161
6.7 Legal protection 162

About the authors 165
Further reading 167
Website recommendations 169