Abstract

Services, especially construction services, provided under public procurement contracts usually represent a significant cost for the contracting authority, which is why it is so important that all contracts be performed with the utmost care, and that the final service be free of defects. Unfortunately, it often happens in practice that services are not always performed in a professional manner, namely in compliance with the contract, the design, the requirements, the latest technical achievements or the rules of the construction industry. It is also the case that preventive measures do not always eliminate the occurrence of defects. This means that physical defects may occur and may affect the functionality and suitability of the service for a certain purpose in various ways. In such cases, the contracting authority will most often be interested in bringing the service to a state consistent with the contract, which the contractor has to ensure. Given that this is a vast topic, the paper concentrates on presenting the rules of performing a service under the contractor’s liability under warranty for physical defects. This article discusses the application of provisions on the warranty for defects, service activities aimed at removing a defect in a service, the premises of impossibility and unreasonableness of costs as circumstances justifying the non-removal of a defect, the time limit for removing a defect in a service (replacement of a service with a service free from defects), the statute of limitations for a claim for removing a defect (replacement of a service with a service free from defects). Upon analysing the binding regulations in this area, the main conclusion seems to be that the manner in which defects in performance are removed depends mainly on the type of public procurement contract entered into by the parties, as well as the type of performance and the nature of the identified physical defect.