作者：李宏飞律师     2016-12-28

建设工程合同纠纷中有关工程款纠纷案件，在目前的司法实践中主要存在以下八大疑难问题：

1、在严重拖欠工程款的背景下，作为最底层的农民工工资如何保护？

2、一个项目先后签订几份合同即黑白合同，应以什么作为计价依据？

3、拖欠工程款应计取利息，利息应如何计取？

4、合同约定不明时，工程实际竣工期限如何认定？

5、垫资是否有效，如何准确认定，应如何处理？

6、发包人迟迟不确认工程结算，应以什么作为处理依据？

7、造价鉴定应如何把握，鉴定的范围应如何控制？

8、审计报告和结算协议发生矛盾，应以何为准？

上述问题之所以成为疑难法律问题，是因为司法实践中的复杂情况为初立法时所不能预料，立法本身没有对这些问题作出明确规定，现有法律法规难以找到解决问题的明确的、直接的法条依据。面对这样的实际情况，最高院的《司法解释》不失为目前阶段立法难以一下子完善前提下最有实效的应对措施。

应对措施一：用连带责任制度对农民工工资给予特殊保护

拖欠农民工工资是拖欠工程款派生的直接影响社会稳定的大问题，而且农民工工资问题还往往因为工程转包或不规范分包使用问题更加复杂。在立法层面，农民工工资问题作出特别的保护性规定：“实际施工人以转包人、违法分包人为被告起诉的，人民法院应当依法受理。实际施工人以发包人为被告主张权利的，人民法院或以追加转包人或者违法分包人为本案当事人。发包人只在欠付工程价款范围内对实际施工人承担责任。”《司法解释》作出这样的规定，强以从我国《民事诉讼法》第97条寻找到依据。该法条规定：“人民法院对下列案件，根据当事人的申请，可以裁定先予执行：（一）追索赡养费、抚养费、抚育费、抚恤金、医疗费用的；（二）追索劳动报酬的；（三）因情况紧急需要先予执行的。”笔者认为司示解释对解决农民工工资这样的规定有法律依据。

此外，针对实践中与农民工工资直接相关的劳务合同，《司法解释》第7 条还规定：“具有劳务作业法定资质的承包人与总承包人、分包人签订的劳务分包合同，当事人以转包建设工程违反法律规定为由请求确认无效的，不予支持。”这一条《司法解释》的相应规定,事实上确认了劳务合同的合法性。至于劳务合同与转包合同的区加。主要视这两种合同指向的标的。劳务合同仅涉及人工费，不涉及分包工程；转包合同不仅涉及劳务，更主要的是合同指向的标的是争包的工程。从技术层面分析，劳务合同只计算人工报酬也即只包人工；而转包合同计算的是分包工程的价款，其承包形式是包工又包料。

应对措施二：黑白合同以中标备案合同的计价标准为结算依据

目前司法实践中又一个突出的矛盾是承包双方当事人就一个工程在中标前后签订两份或两份以上合同，而数份合同的计价方式各不相同，在施工过程中双方往往实际履行的是未经中标备案的黑合同。对此类情况，不少办案法官无所适从，判案思路各不相同。《司法解释》第21条对此作出一规定：“当事人就同一建设工程另行订立的建设工程施工合同与经过备案的中标合同实质性内容不一致的，应当以备案的中标合同作为结算工程价款的根据。“《司法解释》仅对黑白合同的工程款的结算依据问题作出统一规定，这对黑白合同在司法实践中的主要矛盾已经开出了最有用的药方，有助于此类疑难案件的切实解决。

至于黑白合同的不同表现以及评判标准，笔者认为黑白合同主要有以下三种情况：第一，依法应招投标的工程，以是否通过招投标来判断黑白合同；第二，地方政府对工程合同有备案或审批规定的，以是否经过备案或审查来判断黑白合同；第三，不属于上述两种情况，当事人先后签订了两份内容不一的合同，以是否实际履行来判断。针对上述三种不同情况，因准确依照法律的有关规定认定其效力，第一，如果这个合同是必须招标而没有招标的，出现了黑白合同，以经过招投标的为准。第二，合同按照政府规定应当经过备案的，先后签订的两份合同，不属于前面有特定要求的，那么，两份合同当中，以实际履行的合同为准。这就是评判黑白合同的效力标准。

应对措施三：拖欠工程款应计利息，起算时间按不同情况计取

在审理拖欠工程款案件中的另一个具体问题，是被拖欠的工程款应如何计算利息。由于承包人的履约管理以及资料积累方面存在的缺陷，在司法实践中往往难以确定拖欠工程款从何时开始，利息计算的起始时间同时成为审判中的一个难题。《司法解释》第17条对此作出明确规定：“当事人对欠付工程价款利息计付标准有约定的，按照约定处理；没有约定的，按照中国人民银行发布的同期同类贷款利率计息。”第18条规定：“利息从应付工程价款之日计付。当事人对付款时间没有约定或者约定不明的，下列时间视为应付款时间：（一）建设工程已实际交付的，为交付之日；（二）建设工程没有交付的，为提交竣工结算文件之日；（三）建设工程未交付，工程价款也未结算的，为当事人起诉之日。”

同时，对于垫资承包工程的，《司法解释》第6条规定：“当事人对垫资和垫资利息有约定，承包人请求按照约定返还垫资及利息的，应予支持，但是约定利息计算标准高于中国人民银行发布的同期同类贷款利率的部分除外。当事人对垫资没有约定的，按照工程欠款处理。当事人对垫资利息没有约定，承包人请求支付利息的，不予支持。”《司法解释》对拖欠工程款的利息计算，上述2条司法解释对工程欠款的不同情况作了不同规定，已经能够适应审理此类不同案件的实际情况。

应对措施四：工期直接影响工程价款结算，在合同约定不明时以三种情况认定实际竣工时间

催讨工程款案件审理还普遍存在着一个关于工程竣工期限如何确定的复杂问题：承包人因被拖欠工程款提起诉讼，发包人往往以工期延误为由提出反诉，动辄便提出数百、数千万元的逾期赔偿，其目的用以抵销承包人的诉讼请求，此类案件的一个关键问题在于如何确定工程竣工时间存在重大争议，其原因在于履约过程缺乏管理，有的工程已实际竣工甚至已投入使用，但承包人没有证据证明已提交竣工报告；有的发包人收到承包人竣工报告后基于种种原因，迟迟不组织竣工验收，或者组织了验收却未出具验收报告，也不办理竣工验收的备案手续；一个较为普遍但法律问题更为复杂的情况，则是发包人未经竣工验收或者验收未通过就擅自使用了工程。这些有关工程竣工的种种实际情况，导致了司法实践中的一个相当难以处理的竣工实际时间如何确定的操作问题。

《司法解释》第14条对此作出统一规定：“当事人对建设工程实际竣工日期有争议的，按照以下情形分别处理：（一）建设工程经竣工验收合格的，以竣工验收合格之日为竣工日期；（二）承包人已经提交竣工验收报告，发包人拖延验收的，以承包人提交验收报告之日为竣工日期；（三）建设工程未经竣工验收，发包人擅自使用的，以转移占有建设工程之日为竣工日期。”根据司法实际中经常遇到的三种具体情况，《司法解释》的相应规定作出有针对性的不同处理原则，这有利于有关工期认定的疑难问题的切实解决，同时警示承包人应及时提交竣工报告，发包人应及时组织验收，未经验收使用工程要承担不利后果，也有利于拖欠工程款案件在工期问题上的统一执法。

应对措施五：垫资原则作有效处理，成为统一的执法标准

在工程款拖欠的案件中，另一个重大争议是垫资承包工程的合法性问题。司法实践中，各地、各级人民法院在此类案件处理时，都有自己的标准。垫资承包工程的统一的合法标准已经成为一个亟待解决的疑难复杂问题。

实际情况是，施工中承包人垫资带资施工已在操作中很普遍，有的工程甚至已经全额垫资。问题是，由于前述各地法院的不同认识和不同标准，司法审判中法官对此有的判垫资无效，有的判有效；有的判垫资款有利息，有的判没有利息。垫资是否有效及其做不同的处置，在涉及标的巨大的工程款案件审理中会引起当事人的利益方面的巨大反差。《司法解释》第6条对此作出结论：“当事人对垫资和垫资利息有约定，承包人请求按照约定返还垫资及其利息的，应予支持，但是约定的利息计算标准高于中国人民银行发布的同期同类贷款利息没有约定，承包人请求支付利息的，不予支持。”对垫资作这样的统一认定，事实上确认了垫资的合法性，既符合市场的实际和国际惯例，也有得利于政府主管部门和当事人根据最高院的统一规定，作出相应的管理要求和应对措施。这一条司法解释应当被认为是一条非常重要的规定，值得引起各方的高度重视。

应对措施六：发包人逾期不答复承包人提交的结算报告将视为已经确认

拖欠工程款越演越烈的一个重要原因，是不少发包人故意拖延工程结算，有的案件发包人以种种合法或不合法的手段拖延结算确认，一拖数年迟迟不确认承包人提交的工程结算价款。而发包人应在什么期限内确认工程结算，现行法律、法规并无相应规定。《司法解释》第20条对此开出的良方是：“当事人约定，发包人收到竣工结算文件后，在约定期限内不予答复，视为认可竣工结算文件的，按照约定处理。承包人请求按照竣工结算文件结算工程价款的，应予支持。”这贴良方仅适用承发包合同对工程价款结算的期限有明确约定的情况，如果双方当事人在工程合同中没有约定结算的具体期限，则不能适用。而国家建设部和工商局共同推荐使用的99版《建设工程施工合同（示范文本）》通用条款部分第33条“竣工结算”中，对结算的期限有明确的约定。换言之，只要采用上述示范文本，则结算期限就已约定，这一条司法解释就能适用。

应对措施七：造价鉴定应依法有序进行人民法院应严格控制和审核鉴定结论

在审理工程款案件中，一旦双方当事人对工程结算有争议，或者对结算的工程量和计价原则各执一词，司法实践中法官的对策就是提交司法鉴定。由于工程款鉴定涉及一系列的专门性的技术问题，法官们又不很熟悉，再加上对工程款的司法鉴定又缺乏有操作性的法律规定，在操作中出现很多问题。再加上对工程款的司法鉴定又缺乏有操作性的法律规定，在操作中出现很多问题。有的案件一审数年不出结论；有的鉴定单位自作主张，以审代判，法官却处于从属地位，造成的不当后果是审判权部分旁落；有的鉴定范围无序扩大，浪费人力、财力，法官往往不对鉴定的原则，范围和鉴定期限进行必要的限制和审核。

对此《司法解释》用两条规定作出应对措施。《司法解释》第22条规定：“当事人约定按照固定价结算工程价款，一方当事人请求对建设工程造价进行鉴定的，不予支持。”第23条规定：“当事人对部分案件事实有争议的，仅对有争议的事实进行鉴定，但争议事实范围不能确定，或者双方当事人请求对全部事实鉴定的除外。”这两条《司法解释》规定法官应加强工程款司法鉴定的控制和审核，对规范工程造价鉴定能够起到积极有效的调控，在司法实践中也将对造价鉴定的范围确定、鉴定是否应当提起以及依法、依合同约定进行，起到良好的实际效果。

应对措施八：造价结算协议与审计报告发生矛盾以前者为准

在司法实践中有关造价确认还存在一个疑难复杂的具体问题，承包人经过反复努力，以自行协商或市场审价方式已经确定工程结算，但事后发包人又以工程造价应通过审计为由，通过审计部门提出一个审计报告，审计报告与已确认的结算发生差异，如是，案件审理又因对结算协议和审计报告发生矛盾以何为准陷入新的困境。由于审计的特殊地位以及涉及国有资产流失的行政管理与民法的当事人意思自治和平等法律关系之间存在的民事权利义务的矛盾，法官面对案件审理中出现这样的情况，往往难以取舍，无从解决。《司法解释》第23条对此作出明确的规定：“建设工程施工合同对工程结算事项有约定的，一方当事人主张按照国家审计机关就建设工程作出的审计决定调整工程价款的，不予支持。”这一条规定在正式公布时能否保留有待拭目，但最高院于2001年4月2日给河南省高级人民法院的《关于建设工程承包合同案件中双方当事人已确认的工程决算价款与审计部门审计的工程决算价款不一致时如何适用法律问题的电话答复意见》规定：“审计是国家对建设单位的一种行政监督，不影响建设单位与承建单位的合同效力。建设工程承包合同案件应以当事人的约定作为法院判决的依据。只有在合同明确约定以审计结论作为结算依据或者合同约定不明确、合同约定无效的情况下，才能将审计结论作为判决的依据。”因此，不论上述第23条能否保留，只要合同有效，当造价结算协议与审计报告发生矛盾，应以前者作为判决的依据。

综合上述八项应对措施并对照广大施工企业合同管理的现状，即将出台的《司法解释》在对解决拖欠工程款案件的疑难复杂问题作出强有力的执法规矩的同时，也对广大施工企业的合同履约管理提出了新的、革命性的要求。如果施工企业不重视，不下大力气加强合同履约管理，不采取相应的措施，尤其是对签证索赔的资料的专管措施，一旦发生案件诉讼将只能处于被动地位。同时这一现状也应引起我们律师的高度重视，在《司法解释》颁布施行后，广大施工企业必将会进一步认清加强合同履约管理的极端重要性，律师为施工企业提供非诉讼的履约管理服务，将会陡然出现一个广阔的空间，这一点对我们律师而言不仅是扩大业务业源的重要契机，而且还提醒我们必须尽快做好提供相应的非诉讼法律服务的准备工作。

        　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  　李宏飞律师整理

Author: Li Hongfei Lawyer 2016-12-28

The following eight difficult problems mainly exist in the current judicial practice in the case of project payment disputes in construction contract disputes:

1. Under the background of serious arrears of project funds, how to protect migrant workers' wages as the lowest level?

2. A project has signed several contracts in succession, that is, black and white contracts. What should be taken as the valuation basis?

3. Interest should be accrued on the project payment in arrears. How should the interest be accrued?

4. When the contract agreement is unclear, how to determine the actual completion period of the project?

5. Whether the advance money is effective, how to identify it accurately and how to deal with it?

6. What should be the basis for the Employer's delay in confirming the project settlement?

7. How to grasp the cost appraisal and how to control the scope of appraisal?

8. In case of any conflict between the audit report and the settlement agreement, what shall prevail?

The reason why the above problems become difficult legal problems is that the complex situation in judicial practice was unexpected at the beginning of the legislation, and the legislation itself did not make clear provisions on these problems. The existing laws and regulations are difficult to find a clear and direct legal basis to solve the problems. In the face of such actual situation, the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme Court can be regarded as the most effective response under the premise that it is difficult to improve the legislation at the current stage.

Countermeasures I: special protection for migrant workers' wages with joint and several liability system

The arrears of migrant workers' wages is a major problem derived from the arrears of project funds, which directly affects social stability. Moreover, the problem of migrant workers' wages is often more complicated because of project subcontracting or non-standard subcontracting. At the legislative level, The issue of migrant workers' wages has made special protective provisions: "If the actual constructor brings a lawsuit with a subcontractor or an illegal subcontractor as the defendant, the people's court shall accept it according to law. If the actual constructor claims rights with the employer as the defendant, the people's court may take additional subcontractors or illegal subcontractors as the parties to the case. The employer shall only be responsible for the actual constructor within the scope of the unpaid project price." Judicial Interpretation To make such a provision is to find the basis from Article 97 of the Civil Procedure Law of China. The law stipulates that: "The people's court may, on the application of the party concerned, rule to advance the execution of the following cases: (1) those claiming alimony, alimony, upbringing, pension and medical expenses; (2) those claiming labor remuneration; and (3) those urgent circumstances require advance execution." The author believes that the judicial interpretation has a legal basis for such provisions as solving the wages of migrant workers.

In addition, for the labor contract directly related to the wages of migrant workers in practice, Article 7 of the Judicial Interpretation also stipulates that: "The labor subcontracting contract signed by a contractor with legal qualifications for labor operations with the general contractor and subcontractor, if the party concerned requests confirmation of invalidity on the ground that the subcontracting construction project violates the legal provisions, it will not be supported." The corresponding provisions of this Judicial Interpretation in fact confirm the legitimacy of the labor contract. As for the division between labor contract and subcontract. It mainly depends on the target of these two contracts. The labor contract only involves labor costs, not subcontracting projects; The subcontract not only involves labor service, but also mainly refers to the project for which the contract is contested. From the technical perspective, the labor contract only calculates labor remuneration, that is, only includes labor; The subcontract calculates the price of the subcontracted project, and its contracting form is to contract labor and materials.

Countermeasures II: Black and white contracts shall be settled based on the pricing standard of the contract for bid winning and filing

At present, another prominent contradiction in judicial practice is that both parties to the contract sign two or more contracts for a project before and after winning the bid, while the pricing methods of several contracts are different. During the construction process, both parties often actually perform black contracts that have not been recorded in the bid. In such cases, many judges are at a loss and have different ideas. Article 21 of the Judicial Interpretation stipulates that: "If the substantive content of the construction contract of the construction project separately concluded by the parties in respect of the same construction project is inconsistent with that of the registered bid winning contract, the registered bid winning contract shall be used as the basis for settling the project price." Only the settlement basis of the project funds of the black and white contract is uniformly stipulated, which has made the most useful prescription for the main contradiction of the black and white contract in judicial practice, and is helpful for the practical solution of such difficult cases.

As for the different manifestations and evaluation criteria of black and white contracts, the author believes that there are three main situations of black and white contracts: first, for projects that should be tendered according to law, whether to judge black and white contracts through bidding or not; Second, if the local government has provisions on the filing or approval of the project contract, the black and white contract shall be judged by whether it has been filed or reviewed; Third, it does not belong to the above two situations. The parties have signed two contracts with different contents successively, which is judged by whether they have actually performed. In view of the above three different situations, the validity of the contract is determined accurately in accordance with the relevant provisions of the law. First, if the contract is subject to bidding without bidding, the black and white contract will prevail. Second, if the contract should be filed according to the government regulations, and the two contracts signed successively do not belong to the specific requirements above, then the actual performance of the two contracts shall prevail. This is the standard for judging the effectiveness of black and white contracts.

Response 3: Accrued interest of project funds in arrears, starting time shall be calculated according to different situations

Another specific problem in hearing the case of arrears of project funds is how to calculate the interest of the arrears of project funds. Due to the defects in the contractor's performance management and data accumulation, it is often difficult to determine when the project payment in arrears starts in judicial practice, and the starting time of interest calculation also becomes a difficult problem in the trial. Article 17 of the Judicial Interpretation clearly stipulates this: "If the parties have agreed on the calculation and payment standard of interest on the unpaid project price, the agreement shall prevail; if there is no agreement, the interest shall be calculated according to the same loan interest rate issued by the People's Bank of China for the same period." Article 18 stipulates: "The interest shall be calculated and paid from the date when the project price is payable. If the parties have not agreed on the time of payment or the agreement is unclear, the following time shall be deemed as the time of payment: (1) If the construction project has been actually delivered, it shall be the date of delivery; （2） If the construction project is not delivered, it shall be the date of submission of completion settlement documents; （3） If the construction project has not been delivered and the project price has not been settled, it shall be the date on which the party concerned files a lawsuit. "

At the same time, for projects contracted with advance funds, Article 6 of the Judicial Interpretation stipulates that: "If the parties have an agreement on the advance money and the interest of the advance money, and the contractor requests to return the advance money and the interest according to the agreement, it shall be supported, except for the part where the agreed interest calculation standard is higher than the interest rate of the same loan in the same period issued by the People's Bank of China. If the parties have no agreement on the advance money, it shall be treated as the project arrears. If the parties have no agreement on the interest of the advance money, and the contractor requests to pay the interest, it shall not be supported." Judicial Interpretation As for the calculation of the interest on the project payment in arrears, the above two judicial interpretations have made different provisions on different situations of the project payment in arrears, which has been able to adapt to the actual situation of hearing such different cases.

Countermeasure 4: The construction period directly affects the settlement of project price, and the actual completion time is determined in three cases when the contract agreement is unclear

There is also a common complex problem about how to determine the deadline for project completion in the trial of the case of project payment collection: the contractor has filed a lawsuit for being in arrears with the project payment, and the employer often raises a counterclaim on the ground of delay in the construction period, and frequently raises hundreds of millions or tens of millions of yuan of overdue compensation, with the purpose of offsetting the contractor's litigation claims. A key problem in such cases is how to determine the time for project completion, The reason lies in the lack of management in the performance process. Some projects have been actually completed or even put into use, but the contractor has no evidence to prove that the completion report has been submitted; Some employers, after receiving the contractor's completion report, delay in organizing the completion acceptance for various reasons, or organize the acceptance but fail to issue the acceptance report, or fail to go through the filing procedures for completion acceptance; A more common but more complicated legal issue is that the Employer uses the project without completion acceptance or acceptance. These various actual conditions related to the completion of the project have led to a rather difficult operation problem in judicial practice, which is how to determine the actual time of completion.

Article 14 of the Judicial Interpretation makes a unified provision on this: "If the parties dispute the actual completion date of the construction project, they shall deal with it respectively according to the following circumstances: (1) if the construction project has passed the completion acceptance, the date of completion acceptance shall be the completion date; (2) if the contractor has submitted the completion acceptance report, and the employer delays the acceptance, the date of submission of the acceptance report by the contractor shall be the completion date; (3) If the construction project is used by the Employer without the completion acceptance, the date of transfer of possession of the construction project shall be the date of completion. " According to the three specific situations often encountered in judicial practice, the corresponding provisions of the Judicial Interpretation have made different targeted treatment principles, which is conducive to the practical solution of difficult problems related to the determination of the construction period, while warning the contractor to submit the completion report in a timely manner, the employer should organize the acceptance in a timely manner, and the use of the project without acceptance should bear adverse consequences, which is also conducive to the unified law enforcement on the construction period in cases of arrears of project funds.

Response 5: Effectively deal with the principle of advance payment to become a unified law enforcement standard

In the case of arrears of project funds, another major dispute is the legality of contracting projects with advanced funds. In judicial practice, people's courts at all levels have their own standards when dealing with such cases. The unified legal standard of contracting projects with advanced funds has become a difficult and complex problem to be solved urgently.

As a matter of fact, it is very common for the contractor to advance funds for construction, and some projects have even advanced funds in full. The problem is that, due to the different understandings and standards of the courts in various places mentioned above, some of the judges' advance judgments in judicial trials are invalid and some of them are valid; Some of the loans were judged to have interest, and some were judged to have no interest. Whether the advance fund is effective and its different disposal will cause a huge contrast in the interests of the parties involved in the trial of cases involving huge project funds. Article 6 of the Judicial Interpretation makes a conclusion on this: "If the parties have an agreement on the advance money and the interest of the advance money, and the contractor requests to return the advance money and its interest according to the agreement, it should be supported, but the agreed interest calculation standard is higher than the interest of the same loan in the same period issued by the People's Bank of China, and there is no agreement, and the contractor requests to pay the interest, it should not be supported." This unified determination of the advance money confirms the legitimacy of the advance money in fact, It not only conforms to the reality of the market and international practices, but also benefits the competent government departments and the parties to make corresponding management requirements and response measures according to the uniform provisions of the Supreme Court. This judicial interpretation should be considered as a very important provision, which deserves the attention of all parties.

Response 6: If the Employer fails to reply to the settlement report submitted by the Contractor within the time limit, it will be deemed that it has been confirmed

An important reason for the increasingly serious arrears of project funds is that many employers deliberately delay the settlement of the project. In some cases, the employer delays the confirmation of the settlement by various legal or illegal means, and delays the confirmation of the project settlement price submitted by the contractor for several years. However, the current laws and regulations do not stipulate the time limit within which the Employer should confirm the project settlement. Article 20 of the Judicial Interpretation gives a good prescription for this: "The parties agree that if the Employer does not reply within the agreed period after receiving the completion settlement documents, it will be deemed to recognize the completion settlement documents, and it will be handled in accordance with the agreement. If the Contractor requests to settle the project price according to the completion settlement documents, it shall be supported." This good prescription is only applicable to cases where the contract has clearly agreed on the time limit for settlement of the project price, If both parties have not agreed on the specific period of settlement in the project contract, it cannot be applied. However, Article 33 "Completion Settlement" of the General Terms of the 99 Edition Construction Contract (Model Text) jointly recommended by the Ministry of Construction and the Administration for Industry and Commerce has a clear agreement on the settlement period. In other words, as long as the above model text is adopted, the settlement period has been agreed, and this judicial interpretation can be applied.

Countermeasures VII: The cost appraisal should be carried out in an orderly manner according to law. The people's court should strictly control and review the appraisal conclusions

In the trial of project fund cases, once both parties have disputes over project settlement, or have different opinions on the amount of project settlement and pricing principle, the judge's countermeasure in judicial practice is to submit to judicial expertise. Because the appraisal of project funds involves a series of specialized technical problems, the judges are not very familiar with them, and the judicial appraisal of project funds lacks operational legal provisions, many problems arise in the operation. In addition, the judicial expertise of the project funds is lack of operational legal provisions, and there are many problems in the operation. Some cases fail to reach a conclusion in the first instance for several years; Some appraisal units make their own decisions and substitute trial for judgment, but the judges are in a subordinate position, resulting in the improper consequence that the judicial power is partially sidelined; Some identification scope expands disorderly, wasting human and financial resources, and judges often do not carry out necessary restrictions and reviews on the identification principle, scope and identification period.

The Judicial Interpretation adopts two provisions to take countermeasures. Article 22 of the Judicial Interpretation stipulates that "if the parties agree to settle the project price at a fixed price, the request of one party for appraisal of the construction project cost will not be supported." Article 23 stipulates that "if the parties dispute some facts of the case, only the facts in dispute will be appraised, except that the scope of the facts in dispute cannot be determined, or both parties request appraisal of all facts." These two Judicial Interpretations It stipulates that the judge should strengthen the control and review of the judicial appraisal of project funds, play an active and effective role in regulating the appraisal of project costs, and in judicial practice, it will also determine the scope of the appraisal of project costs, whether the appraisal should be initiated and carried out in accordance with the law and the contract, which will have a good practical effect.

Response 8: The former shall prevail in case of conflict between the cost settlement agreement and the audit report

In judicial practice, there is still a difficult and complicated specific problem related to cost confirmation. After repeated efforts, the contractor has determined the project settlement through self negotiation or market price review. However, the employer later submitted an audit report through the audit department on the grounds that the project cost should pass the audit. The audit report differs from the confirmed settlement. If yes, The trial of the case fell into a new dilemma because of the conflict between the settlement agreement and the audit report. Because of the special status of audit and the contradiction between the administrative management involving the loss of state-owned assets and the civil law's party autonomy and equal legal relations, judges often find it difficult to choose and solve such situations in the trial of cases. Article 23 of the Judicial Interpretation clearly stipulates that "if the construction contract of a construction project has an agreement on project settlement matters, and one party claims to adjust the project price according to the audit decision made by the national audit authority on the construction project, it is not supported." It remains to be seen whether this provision can be retained when it is officially announced, However, on April 2, 2001, the Supreme Court gave the Henan Higher People's Court the "Telephone Reply Opinions on How to Apply Legal Issues when the final settlement price of the project confirmed by both parties in the construction project contract case is inconsistent with the final settlement price of the project audited by the audit department", which stipulates that: "Audit is a kind of administrative supervision of the state over the construction unit, which does not affect the validity of the contract between the construction unit and the contractor. The agreement of the parties involved in the construction project contract case should be the basis for the court's judgment. Only when the contract clearly stipulates that the audit conclusion should be the basis for settlement, or the contract agreement is not clear, or the contract agreement is invalid, can the audit conclusion be the basis for the judgment." Therefore, Regardless of whether the above Article 23 can be retained, as long as the contract is valid, when the cost settlement agreement conflicts with the audit report, the former shall be taken as the basis for judgment.

Based on the above eight countermeasures and the current situation of contract management of construction enterprises, the forthcoming Judicial Interpretation not only makes strong law enforcement rules for solving the difficult and complicated problems of project payment arrears cases, but also puts forward new and revolutionary requirements for contract performance management of construction enterprises. If the construction enterprise does not pay attention to it, and does not make great efforts to strengthen the contract performance management, and does not take corresponding measures, especially the special management measures for the information of visa claims, it will only be in a passive position in case of litigation. At the same time, this situation should also attract our lawyers' attention. After the promulgation and implementation of the Judicial Interpretation, the majority of construction enterprises will further recognize the extreme importance of strengthening contract performance management. Lawyers will provide non litigation performance management services for construction enterprises, which will suddenly create a broad space. This is not only an important opportunity for our lawyers to expand their business sources, It also reminds us that we must make preparations for providing corresponding non litigation legal services as soon as possible.

Lawyer Li Hongfei arranges