1. Introduction
The rules on subcontractor delay are usually about daybreak, and this is what will be our focus. It automatically follows from the standard contracts that the agreed end date is day-ahead unless otherwise agreed. It is also conceivable that the parties have agreed on other daylong deadlines and this is something we also discuss in the article on “Delay and Daybreak Liability”.
The rules on defects are also central to any construction project. From the point of view of experience, no construction or construction projects are erected without errors and shortcomings. Accordingly, it is necessary to devote some space to these rules with particular focus on the right and duty of the subcontractor to rectification. At the same time, we cannot write about shortcomings without also writing about the complaint rules. Therefore, we have given the article the title “Deficiencies and Complaints”.
Breaches of the obligation to coordinate are of greater relevance in subcontracting than in the overall standards such as projects that are most often organised today. There is far less degree of builder-led subcontracting now, than in the past. One consequence of this is that the obligation of (and the need for) coordination is far greater in the subcontracting relationship than it was perhaps in the past. We have therefore written a separate article on the consequences of breaches of the coordination obligation in subcontracting contracts.
2. Overview of the rules
All contract standards have their own provisions for delays and deficiencies. In NS 8417 these are collected in Chapter IX “Breach of contract on the part of TUE” and in NS 8415 one finds the provisions of Chapter VII “Delay. Missing”. In NS 8416, the rules are collected in two provisions. We start from NS 8417 since it is turnkey contracts that are most often used today — although NS 8415 can also be a reasonable alternative where the main contract is NS 8407, read more here.
Below we have taken a matrix showing the main provisions. Several of these have more detailed sub-provisions that we deal with in our own articles.
