Lump-price contract
Introduction
The works contract is a type of contract relating to the public sector contracting regime "Public Sector Contracting (Spain)") in Spain. Its essential regulation is contained in Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts.
The works contract covers the performance of the works listed in Annex I,[1] or the performance of work that satisfies the needs described by the contracting party.[2] Such works will consist of the result of a set of construction or civil engineering works, intended to fulfill in itself an economic or technical function, which has as its object a real estate.[3].
Classes
According to their effects and nature, the Law classifies works into the following categories:[4].
Procedure
Preparation
The works contract begins with a preparatory phase, which includes the preparation, supervision, approval and rethinking of the corresponding project, and which will necessarily precede the award of the contract.[12].
The preparation of the project will normally correspond to the contracting public sector entity. Exceptionally, the preparation of the project may be carried out by the contracting company itself. Such an assumption is contemplated for situations of great technical difficulty,[13] and implies the need for the Administration to present a preliminary project to which the project prepared by the contractor will be adjusted.[14].
The content of the project is described in detail by the Public Sector Contracts Law (report, plans, technical specifications, budget, work plan, references for the layout, as well as a health and safety study),[15] something that does not prevent the introduction of a flexible regime in which some element can be dispensed with as long as the documentation is sufficient to define and execute the works. In any case, Group A works contracts (new establishment, renovation, major repair) whose amount exceeds €350,000 are excluded from this flexible regime.[16].
Finally, the project must include all the studies and reports that are necessary to define the object of the contract. Unless it is not possible due to the nature of the works, it will be mandatory to include a geotechnical study of the land on which the work is going to be carried out.[17].