Global Arbitration Review中国建设工程仲裁问答专章•第四期

信息来源：建领城达所　 时间：2021-09-16　 作者：建领城达所

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上海建领城达律师事务所主任周吉高律师受Global Arbitration Review（《环球仲裁评论》，简称GAR）邀请，为该杂志撰写中国建设工程仲裁问答专章。内容涵盖了建设工程合同履行、法律救济、仲裁程序等57个与中国建设工程仲裁实践密切相关的重要法律问题。建领城达根据中国大陆地区的现行法律规定、司法解释以及司法实践主流观点，对全部问题逐一作出了细致、专业、准确的回答，以期为境外的企业、律师以及仲裁员快速熟悉、了解中国建设工程仲裁法律实务提供指引和参考。“建领城达”公众号将对中国建设工程仲裁专章问答的全部内容进行分期推送，本文为第四期，以飨读者！

Liquidated damages and similar pre-agreed sums (‘liquidated damages’) 违约赔偿金和类似的预先约定的金额(“违约赔偿金”)

Q23： To what extent are liquidated damages for delay to the completion of the works treated as an exhaustive remedy for all of the employer’s losses due to (a) delay to the completion of the works by the contractual completion date; and (b) delays prior to the contractual completion date (in the absence of, say, interim milestone dates with liquidated damages for delay attaching to them)? What difference does it make if any critical delay is caused by the contractor’s fraud, wilful misconduct, recklessness or gross negligence? If so, what constitutes such behaviour and can it be excluded by agreement?
工程竣工延误的违约赔偿金在多大程度上会被视为对由于(a)工程在合同竣工日期后竣工延误，以及(b)合同竣工日期之前的延迟(例如，没有约定期中节点延误的违约赔偿金)，造成的业主所有损失的彻底救济？重大延误是由承包商的欺诈、故意不当行为、鲁莽行为或重大过失造成的，违约赔偿金是否在上述三种情况下有区别，分别说明？如果是，这种行为由什么构成，是否可以通过协议排除？
A23： The employer can claim liquidated damages for delay to the completion of the works under situation (a). As per article 585 of the Civil Code and based on judicial practice, where the employer has evidence to prove that the agreed liquidated damages are lower than the losses caused, the employer may request the court or arbitration institution to make a proper increase that shall not exceed the actual losses. If the employer cannot prove that the liquidated damages agreed upon are lower than the losses caused, the liquidated damages agreed upon in the contract will be regarded as an exhaustive remedy.

The situation (b) cannot be considered as a delay to the completion of the works in China. Thus, the employer cannot claim liquidated damages for delay to the completion of the works. However, if the constructor causes a delay to the milestone date, the employer is entitled to claim the actual loss caused independently. Under this situation, liquidated damages for delay to the completion of the works will not be treated as an exhaustive remedy for all of the employer’s losses.

There is no difference.

(a)种情形属于迟延竣工，业主有权主张竣工延误违约赔偿金。根据《民法典》第585条，如业主有证据证明约定的违约金低于造成的损失的，业主可以请求人民法院或者仲裁机构予以增加，此时，合同约定违约金是对业主所有损失的彻底救济。

(b)种情形暂不能认定为迟延竣工，此时业主无权主张竣工延误违约赔偿金。但施工单位违反里程碑日期约定的，业主有权另行向施工单位主张因里程碑日期延误造成的实际损失。此时，工程竣工延误的违约赔偿金不会被视为对业主所有损失的彻底救济。
没有区别。

Q24：If the employer causes critical delay to the completion of the works and the construction contract does not provide for an extension of time to the contractual completion date (there being no “sweep up” provision such as that in sub-clause 8.4(c) of the FIDIC Silver Book 1999) is the employer still entitled to liquidated damages due to the late completion of works provided for under the contract?

如果业主造成工程竣工的严重延误，且施工合同没有规定合同竣工日如何延期(没有如FIDIC银皮书1999第8.4(c)款的“sweep up”条款)，业主是否仍有权因合同规定的工程竣工延误而获得违约赔偿金？

 

A24：As per article 803 and 804 of the Civil Code, where the employer fails to provide raw materials, equipment, site, funds, or technical information at the prescribed time and in accordance with the contractual requirements, the contractor may request extensions of time and is entitled to claim damages for work stoppage or slowdown, etc. As per article 284 of the Contract Law, if an ongoing project is stopped or delayed due to any reason attributable to the employer, the employer shall take the appropriate measures to make up or mitigate the loss, and shall indemnify the contractor for its loss and out-of-pocket expenses arising from resulting work stoppage, slowdown, reshipment, re-dispatch of mechanical equipment, and excess inventory of materials and assemblies, etc.

Therefore, even if the construction contract does not allow an extension of time, the employer cannot claim liquidated damages for the delay to the completion for the work. On the contrary, the owner shall compensate the contractor for the losses caused.

根据《民法典》第803条、804条，发包人未按照约定的时间和要求提供原材料、设备、场地、资金、技术资料的，承包人可以顺延工程日期，并有权要求赔偿停工、窝工等损失；因发包人的原因致使工程中途停建、缓建的，发包人应当赔偿承包人因此造成的停工、窝工、倒运、机械设备调迁、材料和构件积压等损失和实际费用。

因此，即使施工合同未约定竣工时间延长条款，业主也无权向承包人主张工程竣工违约赔偿金，相反，业主应赔偿承包人因此遭受的损失。

Q25 ： When might a court or arbitral tribunal award less than the liquidated damages specified in the contract for delay or other matters (eg, substandard wo rk)? What factors are taken into account?

As per article 585 of the Civil Code and based on judicial practice, if the liquidated damages agreed by parties exceed 30 per cent of the losses caused and one party explicitly proposes to adjust the amount of liquidated damages, a court or an arbitration institution tends to decide that the amount of liquidated damages should be adjusted to a lower amount because the liquidated damages are excessively higher than the losses actually caused.

法院或仲裁庭何时可以就延误或其他事项(如不合标准的工作)做出少于合同规定的违约赔偿金的裁决？哪些因素会被考虑进去？

A25： As per article 29 of Judicial Interpretation of Contract Law (II), the factors include the actual loss, the performance of the contract, parties’ degree of fault, the anticipated benefits, and the principles of fairness and good faith.

根据《民法典》第585条，当约定的违约金过分高于造成的损失时，人民法院或者仲裁机构可以根据当事人的请求，通过对违约金数额适当减少的方式做出少于合同原约定违约赔偿金数额的裁决。

根据司法实践，法院或仲裁庭一般会考虑实际损失大小、合同的履行情况、当事人的过错程度、预期利益、以及公平原则和诚实信用原则等因素。

Q26： Wh en might a court or arbitral tribunal award more than the liquidated damages specified in the contract for delay or other matters (eg, work that does not achieve a specified standard)? What factors are taken into account?
法院或仲裁庭何时可能就延误或其他事项(例如，未达到规定标准的工作)做出超过合同中规定的违约赔偿金的裁决？哪些因素会被考虑进去？
A26:  As per article 585 of the Civil Code and based on judicial practice, if one party has evidence to prove that the agreed liquidated damages are lower than the losses ca used and clearly proposes to adjust the amount of liquidated damages, a court or an arbitration institution tends to decide that the amount of liquidated damages should be increased to a higher amount but the increased amount shall not exceed the actual losses.

Based on judicial practice, the factors include the actual loss and etc.

根据《民法典》第585条，当事人有证据证明约定的违约金低于造成的损失的，并明确提出调整违约金数额的情况下，法院或仲裁庭会做出超过合同中规定的违约赔偿金的裁决。

根据司法实践，法院或仲裁庭一般会考虑实际损失大小、合同的履行情况、当事人的过错程度、预期利益、以及公平原则和诚实信用原则等因素。

Assessing damages and limitations and exclusions of liability 评估赔偿金、限制和责任免除

Q27：How is monetary compensation for breach of contract assessed? For instance, if the contractor is liable for a defect in its works is the employer entitled to its lost profits? What if the lost profits are exceptionally high?

如何评估违反合同的金钱赔偿？例如，如果承包商对其工程中的缺陷负有责任，业主是否有权获得其损失的利润？如果利润损失特别高呢？

A27:As per article 584 of the Civil Code, if the employer or the contractor fails to perform the contractual obligations or the performance of the contractual obligations does not conform to the agreement, causing losses to the other party, the other party shall have the right to require the breaching party to compensate for the loss of anticipated profits.

As per article 584 of the Civil Code, if the anticipated loss of profits is so high that it exceeds the losses that the breaching party foresaw or should have foreseen when signing the contract, the excessive loss of profits will not be supported.

根据《民法典》第584条，发包人或承包人不履行合同义务或者履行合同义务不符合约定，给对方造成损失的，对方有权要求违约方赔偿预期可得利润损失。

根据《民法典》第584条，预期利润损失特别高，以至于超过了违约方订立合同时预见到或者应当预见到的因违反合同可能造成的损失，则超过部分的利润损失不予支持。

Q28： If the contractor’s work is technically non-compliant, is the contractor liable for remedying it if the rectification cost is disproportionate to the benefit of the remedy? Can the parties agree on a regime that is stricter for the contractor than under the law of your jurisdiction?
如果承包商的工作不符合要求，如果整改成本与进行补救措施的收益不成比例，承包商是否有责任进行补救？ 双方能否就一个对承包商来说比你们管辖范围内的法律更严格的制度达成一致？
A28:  According to article 577 of the Civil Code, the contractor is still liable for remedying the work. However, in judicial practice, there are cases where the costs of performance exceeds the benefits obtained by all parties, which is considered as “too high cost of performance” in the second paragraph of 580 of the Civil Code, allowing the breaching party to terminate the contract and replace continued performance with compensation for losses.

According to article 5 of the Civil Code, both parties to the contract can reach a consensus and require the contractor to carry out the work under stricter standards or requirements than those stipulated by law.

根据《民法典》第577条的规定，承包人仍需进行补救。但司法实践中，有判例将履约成本超过各方所获利益认定为《民法典》第580条第2款规定的“履行费用过高”情形，允许违约方解除合同，用赔偿损失代替继续履行。

根据《民法典》第5条，合同双方可以协商一致，要求承包人按照比法律规定更严格的标准或要求进行施工。

Q29:   If there is a defects notification period (DNP) during which the contractor must or may remedy any defect in its works that appears during a certain period after their completion, if the construction contract is otherwise silent, does it affect the employer’s rights to claim for any defects appearing after the DNP expires?

如果合同约定了缺陷通知期(DNP)，在此期间承包商必须或可能对其工程中在竣工后的某个时期出现的任何缺陷进行补救，如果施工合同没有其他规定，这是否会影响业主对缺陷通知期满后出现的任何缺陷提出索赔的权利？

A29: Defects notification period (DNP) corresponds to the Defects Liability Period under Chinese laws. Except for the defects intentionally caused by the contractor and the defects that are still within the quality warranty period, the employer cannot claim for the defects occurring if the Defects Liability Period expires.

缺陷通知期(DNP)对应中国法下的缺陷责任期。除承包人故意造成的缺陷、尚处于质量保修期内的缺陷外，业主不能就缺陷责任期满后出现的缺陷进行索赔。

Q30: What is the effect of a construction contract excluding liability for “indirect or consequential loss”?

排除了“间接或间接损失”责任的建筑合同（条款）的效力如何？

A30: As per article 53 of the Contract Law, construction contracts (provisions) that exclude the liability for indirect or consequential loss are effective, but if such contracts (provisions) violate mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations or exclude liabilities for personal injury to the other party or property damages to the other party as result of deliberate intent or gross negligence, they will be deemed ineffective.

通常情况下，排除了“间接或间接损失”责任的建筑合同（条款）有效，但若该类合同（条款）排除了一方因故意或重大过失给对方造成的损失赔偿责任的，则会被认定为无效。

Q31: Are contractually agreed limits on – or exclusions of – liability effective and how readily do claims in tort or delict avoid them? Do they not apply if there is fraud, wilful misconduct, recklessness or gross negligence: (a) if the contract is silent as to such behaviour; or (b) if the contract states that they apply notwithstanding such behaviour? If so, what causation is required between the behaviour and the loss?

合同约定了责任限制或免除是否有效，侵权或不法行为索赔如何避免这些限制？如果存在欺诈、故意不当行为、鲁莽行为或重大过失，它们是否不适用这些限制？(a)如果合同对这些行为未做规定；或者(b)如果合同规定尽管有这种行为，它们仍然适用责任限制条款。如果是这样的话，行为和损失之间需要什么样的因果关系，才能证明责任的存在？

A31: In practice, contractually agreed limits on or exclusion of liability stipulated in the contract are effective.

No matter whether the contract is agreed or not, contractually agreed limits or exclusion of liability cannot exclude the liability of one party for causing property losses to the other party through fraud, intentional misconduct, reckless behaviour or gross negligence, nor the liability for causing personal injuries to the other party.

A causal link shall be made between behaviour and loss.

通常情况下，合同约定的关于责任限制或免除的条款有效。

无论合同是否约定，关于责任限制或免除的约定，不能排除一方欺诈、故意不当行为、鲁莽行为或者重大过失给对方造成财产损失的责任，也不能排除给对方造成人身损害的责任。

行为和损失之间需要有因果关系。