Abstract

This article presents selected issues related to establishing a payment guarantee for works under the provisions of the Civil Code (Articles 6491-6495 of the Civil Code) as part of a public procurement contract. The structure of legal provisions, which have become the subject of an in-depth analysis by the representatives of the doctrine resulting in interpretation discrepancies, the assumed goals of the legal regulation, as well as the material and personal scope of the legal regulation are analyzed. The scope ratione personae was modified last year. The right to demand the establishment of a payment guarantee for works is excluded if the investor is the State Treasury. This is a key change for the parties of a public procurement contract for works. Moreover, the article concerns the rights and obligations of the parties in terms of establishing a payment guarantee, including a critical assessment of the legislator’s failure to define the limits of the freedom to create the guarantee’s content, as well as the issue of incurring the costs of establishing the security. Selected issues regarding the restrictive effects of failure to provide security are also presented, along with a de lege ferenda proposal to introduce two-stage sanctions in the event of failure to provide a payment guarantee.