CONTRACT FOR WORKS AT RAISED PRICE

Definition. It is one in which a person called an entrepreneur commits to execute a movable work or
property, without any employment relationship, to another referred to as the owner of the work, who undertakes to pay the
agreed price between the parties, or if applicable, choose the respective fee or the one appraised by the experts.

Various names of the contract. This contract is also known as a business contract,
fixed adjustment, and piecework contract. The Civil Code refers to it interchangeably as lump-sum works and
contract for fixed adjustment.

Legal designation of the parties. The subjects involved in this contract are referred to as entrepreneur and
owner of the work.

An entrepreneur is one who is obliged to execute or carry out a movable or immovable work that is entrusted to him.
The owner of the work is the one who commissions the execution of the work and is obliged to pay the price.

General notion. The fixed-price construction contract originates in Roman law as a type within the
lease agreement. Some legislations, such as the French one, have preserved Roman principles and the
regulates in the location of work or business. In other legislations such as the Mexican one, Pli has been regulated.
independent laws of leasing and regulates it in contracts (jiic imply the provision of a service.

The purposes of this contract are conducive to carrying out various activities, such as cleaning.
movable or immovable property, maintenance and conservation of movable or immovable property, ruin works or
construction of buildings. For the execution of these works, permanent hiring is not necessary.
one or several workers, since once this is concluded, there would be no reason to keep the workers who
were engaged in its execution.

When the value of construction materials becomes certain or when wages are altered.
frequently, this becomes impractical, especially when it comes to the construction of a work
property. In these conditions, despite the company river being able to foresee possible increases in the
construction materials, or wages, still leaving uncertainty regarding the effects of the
contract. In these circumstances, it is common for the contracting parties to agree on the periodic review of the price of the
work, or in any case that it is carried out by management.

Complex nature of the contract. The fixed-price construction contract is of a complex legal nature, already
which involves a series of legal acts that converge in its execution when carried out through a
artisanal, artistic, scientific or work activity, including, in any case, the buying and selling of materials
that are required in the construction of the work. In this last hypothesis, the differences that exist between the
The fixed-price construction contract with the employment relationship and the purchase and sale is summarized in the following terms:

a) Contract for work in which the contractor only provides their labor. If the contractor is not subject to
the instructions of the owner of the work and in the execution acts to the best of his knowledge and understanding, whether because it
requiring a science, art or skill, there will be 'in the presence of a lump-sum works contract. In
change, if the commissioned work is more or less permanent and there is an agreement between the employer and the owner
economic dependence, a technical direction, and a hierarchical obedience, will be in front of a relationship
worker-employer.

b) Work contract in which the contractor provides the management, labor, and materials of
construction. When the entrepreneur provides construction materials, labor, and management and it is about a
The furniture work will be in the presence of a contract for the purchase of a future thing, and the entrepreneur will have the character
of the owner of the manufactured item until the day it is delivered to the person who commissioned it. However, when the
artistic, scientific or technical value sc-.i superior to the set of materials used in the making of l.i work,
It will be a fixed-price construction contract.

When the work is carried out on land, it will be considered a fixed-price construction contract.
regardless of the economic value given to its artistic, scientific, or artisanal value, as well as the value
of the materials used.

Civil codes of 1870, 1884, and 1928. These three codes successively regulated the works contract.
fixed price independently of the lease agreement, unlike other legislations that it
they have been considered as a type of lease.

Classification. It is a principal, bilateral, commutative contract, of successive performance, onerous, and formal.

REQUIREMENTS OF EXISTENCE

Consent. Consent is the agreement of wills expressed externally when the

Object. Double aspect of the indirect object. The indirect object of the contract is constituted by the work to be carried out and the.
price that is agreed upon for it.

The work to be carried out can be done through a work activity, artisanal, artistic, or scientific.
When it comes to an artistic or scientific activity that requires a special skill or knowledge, the
The entrepreneur must act with independence of judgment in relation to the owner of the work. In the same way
circumstances must act in relation to the choice of qualities and quantities of the materials that are
are required for the execution of the agreed work. In the event that by express order of the owner
propose the use of defective materials or those intended to be built on inappropriate land chosen by the
owner, he must refrain from executing the work, and otherwise, he will be responsible for the damages and
damages in the following terms:
Once the work has been received and approved by the person who commissioned it, the contractor is responsible for any defects that arise thereafter.

they appear and proceed from defects in their construction and making, poor quality of the materials used or defects
from the ground in which it was manufactured, unless materials have been used by express provision of the owner.
defective, or what has been built on inappropriate land chosen by the owner despite the observations of the
entrepreneur (2634)
Regarding the last part of this provision, if the work was carried out with independence of technical criteria or
scientific, the businessman will be liable for defects or flaws in the construction or making of the work, whether due to
technical or scientific deficiency, due to poor quality of the materials used or due to the defects of the soil in which it is located
approve it. Once the work is delivered, the contractor will be responsible for any defects that later appear and that
defects in their construction and workmanship, poor quality of the materials used or soil defects in
that was built.

The Civil Code does not specify a term to hold the entrepreneur liable for hidden defects.
In other legislations, a specific timeframe is established during which the company will be liable for the ...
hidden defects that appear once the work is delivered.

Mexican legislation, having repealed the principles of the 1984 Code that established a term of ten years.
to establish this responsibility, he left the temporality open so that once the ruin of the work occurs or
the hidden defects appear, from that moment the general term of prescription for claiming the
damages and losses due to construction defects or deficiencies in the quality of the materials used or defects
of the soil on which it was built.

Respond to the damages caused by the individuals employed in the work as well as against the
workers involved in it. The employer will be responsible for all damages and losses caused.
for the workers I employed in the execution of the work, and thus will also be responsible towards the
workers of all obligations arising from the employment relationship.

In principle, the employer acquires obligations towards the workers he employs of all the
worker-employer obligations, but at the same time the owner of the work by becoming the center of work
as an economic unit through the worker-employer relationship, it becomes jointly liable with effects of
substitute pattern of employer-employee obligations both those arising during the construction of the work
as those that result even after delivering it. Under these premises, the Conciliation and Arbitration Board
must declare the status of substitute patron to the owner of the work.

In practice, to avoid issues of an employer-worker nature, and especially of accidents of

g) The entrepreneur will be responsible to third parties who provide materials for construction.
the work. When the contractor provides the materials for the construction of the work, he will be responsible for it.
to those who supply the material. Creditors in the path of the oblique action will only have action against the owner.
up to the amount that the entrepreneur reaches (2641).

h) Respond for the damages caused to the neighboring property.

If damages are caused to the neighboring property during the work, the entrepreneur will be responsible if they result from defects.
of construction. The owner of1The work will be jointly liable for the damages caused, under the terms of
Article 1931 of the Civil Code states: "The owner of a building is responsible for the damages that
resulting from the ruin of all or part of it, if this occurs due to lack of necessary repairs or due to defects of
construction18
 The entrepreneur in the execution of the work must observe the municipal and police provisions.
The businessman in the execution of the work must comply with all administrative and police provisions. The
provisions that must be observed will be considered as minimum rules for the entrepreneur, so that if
The administrative provisions include technical or scientific rules for executing a work, the entrepreneur or
the expert responsible for preparing the plan or design shall be obliged to comply with the administrative provisions and
to improve these when technique or science so advises, especially when the nature of the contract
oblige to use their art, science, or technique for the execution of the work. In the administrative route, before starting
the construction of a real estate project must obtain from the relevant authority the land use of
in accordance with the applicable law.

obligations of the owner of the work 246.

Enumeration.

The owner is obliged to:

a) To pay the contractor the agreed price for the execution of the work. The owner of the work will be obliged to pay the
businessman the agreed amount for the execution of the work. In case the parties have not set a price,
it will be subject to the fees designated, and in the absence of them, to the appraisal at the discretion of experts. "Once paid and
Once the price is received, there is no basis for a claim about it, unless when paying or receiving the parties have
"expressly reserved the right to claim" (2624 and 2628). This provision does not exempt the employer from the
responsibility derived from hidden defects or construction flaws, as payment does not imply
It is necessary to relieve the entrepreneur from the liability resulting from hidden defects in the work.

b) Pay the author of the plan or design of the work. The owner of the work will be obliged to pay for the plan or design.
from the work to the criteria of the author who has created it, even if the work is not carried out at the request of the owner.
The owner of the work will have the same obligation if it is executed by a person other than the author of the plan or design.
when some details of the plan or the original design have been modified (2620, 2622, and 2623).
When the execution of the work has been contested, none of the contestants who are not the winner will have
right to collect fees, unless expressly agreed otherwise (2621).

Risk of the work. Article 2617 of the Civil Code states: 'All the risk of the work shall be borne by the
businessman until the act of delivery, unless there was delay on the part of the owner of the work in receiving it
the express agreement to the contrary." When the owner of the work becomes delinquent in receiving the item, the
The entrepreneur will only be responsible for ordinary care of preservation and will be liable only in cases of fraud or
serious fault.
Right of retention. Civil legislation grants the businessman the right of retention and preference in payment.
By establishing that: "The builder of any movable work has the right to retain it until payment is made,"
and their credit will be preferentially covered with the price of said work (2644). This provision grants the entrepreneur
the right of retention only when the work is movable.
Right of revocation. The owner of the work may revoke the contract, withdrawing from the execution, with the
condition that the work has been adjusted to a fixed price and compensates the contractor for all expenses and
useful works that could have been derived from the work. The owner of the work will remain completely free to
continue them later, having them executed by a person different from the original entrepreneur even if this person
It continues under the same plan or design. The same right of revocation corresponds to the heirs of the owner of
the work since the contract does not terminate upon the death of the owner (2635, 2637, and 2640).
Imprevision, Mexican legislation does not admit the theory of imprevision which holds that the judge may
review the contract when the obligations become burdensome for either party as a result of
unexpected circumstances that alter economic conditions. To this effect, the Civil Code states
expressly

1
the inadmissibility of unforeseen circumstances in the following terms: entrepreneur who is responsible for executing some
Work for a fixed price, you have no right to demand anything later! It doesn't matter what the price was.
of the materials or that of the day laborers
(2626

Ways of Terminating the Contract

a) By execution of the work. The contract is extinguished by the execution of the work.
b) For revocation of the contract. The owner of the work or their heirs will have the right to revoke the contract.
withdrawing from the execution of the work begun, with the obligation to pay the lender the expenses and labor
of utility obtained from the OI (2635).
When the work was adjusted by weight or measure, either party may consider the contract concluded if not
determined number of pieces or total measurement, the company only having the right to charge for the part or parts
completed (2636).
c) Because the entrepreneur is unable to complete the work if the entrepreneur cannot complete the work due to
any cause at the discretion of the party, the contract may be terminated and the company will be obliged to
to compensate the owner for the damages and losses caused by the suspension (2639).
d) Due to the death of the entrepreneur. "If the entrepreneur dies before completing the work, the contract may be terminated;
but the owner will compensate the heirs of the work and expenses incurred