Construction Newsletter | July 2014

Editorial

The Equal Rights and Opportunities Act of 11 July 2005 imposed an obligation to make buildings accessible to citizens with disabilities. As regards existing buildings, the Act has set an accessibility deadline of 1 January 2015. However, such date has appeared not to be realistic.

The Campion parliamentary report of 5 march 2013 drew certain conclusions from this situation, and proposed the following :

1. to maintain the 2015 deadline, although it is certain that such deadline will not be complied with;
2. to create support schemes for owners of buildings who agree to launch, albeit belatedly, a process aimed at making their facilities accessible.

A bill of 10 july 2014, published on 11 july 2014, has entrusted the Government with the task of adapting existing accessibility provisions in line with the two focuses outlined above.

This bill authorizes the adoption of scheduled accessibility timetables which would make it possible to delay the application of criminal sanctions to owners and operators whose buildings are not accessible to persons with disabilities. While the specific contents of such timetables remain to be defined, the implementation of these new measures might revamp the construction industry. We should be able to detail soon, in another letter, the specific implications of this reform.

In the meantime, we take the opportunity with this edition to provide an update on the latest news in the fields of construction law.

We wish you an enjoyable read.

Focus

Late payments: a few novel features provided for in the Hamon Act applicable to Construction and Public Works professionals
Not only does Act No. 2014-344 of 17 March 2014 (the “Hamon” Act) strengthen the protection of consumers, but its provisions also include a few novel features related to payment terms among professionals...
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Construction contracts

AFNOR standard - Prior conciliation clause

Cass. 3rd Civ., 29 January 2014 No. 13-10.833
AFNOR NFP 03-001 standard does not create a prerequisite for the filing of an action.

Execution of private works contracts

Tacit acceptance : the intention to accept the works may not be ambiguous

• Cass. 3rd Civ., 12 February 2014, No. 13-10.930
• Cass. 3rd Civ., 26 March 2014, No. 13-13.437

Construction insurance

Ten-year civil liability insurance - Increase in the damages and negligence committed by the building casualty insurer Cass. 3rd Civ., 9 April 2014, No. 13-15.555

Specimen of construction insurance certificate
Act No. 2014-344 of 17 March 2014

Subcontracting

Annulment action - Obligation to deliver a guarantee
Preliminary constitutionality ruling - Cass. 3rd Civ., 10 June 2014, No. 14-40.020 :
A request for a priority constitutionality ruling was filed before the Cour de Cassation by the Lyon Commercial Court...

Statutory liability of builders

Ten-year liability - Works carried out in order to repair the malfunctions
Cass. 3rd Civ., 8 April 2014, No.13-16.692

Ten-year liability - Statut of limitations - Démolition ordered by a criminal court
Cass. 3rd Civ., 12 June 2014, No. 13-16.042

Others liability theories

Standard liability of contractors (intermediary malfunction theory) - Project coordinator's contractual liability
Cass. 3rd Civ., 6 May 2014, No. 13-14.300: The contractor’s standard liability survives, concurrently with the full completion warranty...

Read the Construction Newsletter | July 2014