Summary

In the case of construction works, besides the obligations arising from the contract for services, the client and the contractor can also agree on the granting of a contractor’s guarantee by the contractor, creating a separate legal relationship besides the relationship created by the contract for services. In addition, the applicable Building Act (also the draft Building Code) sets out the obligation of the building contractor to ensure the safety and conformity of the construction work to the requirements, within a specified period. Such an obligation of the building contractor arising from the Building Act is known as the warranty for a construction work. The warranty of a construction work and the contractor’s guarantee complement the general procedure for contractor’s liability arising from the contract for services. In some cases, however, the contractor is also liable under the law of torts to persons with whom it has no contractual relationship.

It is difficult to delimit the liability of these four institutes—the building contractor’s liability arising from the contract for services, the contractor’s guarantee arising from the contract, warranty of construction works and the contractor’s liability under the law of torts—in terms of law. Above all, it is disputable when the obligation to grant a guarantee of construction works is created and to whom, what is the legal content of the institute, and what kind of agreements are permissible in relation thereto. The article seeks to answer these questions. As the regulations concerning the guarantee of construction works contained in the draft Building Code allow for the filing of claims against the building contractor, based on the warranty of construction works, even if the contractor has not violated the contract for services, the authors point out the problematic provisions of the draft Code and propose solutions to them.