Certificate of acceptance of completed work as evidence in a construction dispute

The acceptance certificate for completed work is drawn up after the contractor has fulfilled its obligations. The act is not an independent document, but serves as an annex to the work under the contract. It is part of the procedure for accepting the results of work and serves as the basis for final settlements under the contract agreement between the customer and the contractor.

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Rules for drawing up an acceptance certificate for completed work

This document does not have a standard, legally approved, uniform template, so it can be drawn up in free form or according to a template developed at the enterprise. The act is printed on a regular A4 sheet in two copies - one for each party. After all work is completed and cooperation on the project is completed, the act is transferred to the accounting department of the customer enterprise for the preparation of financial statements based on it, including accounting for expenses incurred and reducing income tax.

When drawing up the act, you should adhere to the rules and regulations of office work developed for this type of document. In particular, the standard act must necessarily contain

information about both parties to the contract,
brief information about the contract itself under which the work was carried out,
Name of works,
date of work,
quality and cost of work performed.

The act must be signed by the heads of both organizations and stamped with seals (since 2021, the presence of seals and stamps for legal entities is not a legal requirement, so the absence of a stamp is not strictly necessary)

In the case of a large volume or special complexity of the work performed, a specially created commission, which includes representatives of the contractor and the customer company, may be involved to assess their quality, as well as draw up a report.

If absolutely necessary, a third party may be involved in the form of experts or representatives of regulatory government agencies. Their work must be recorded in a document, and each expert must also sign the document.

Certificate of acceptance of completed work as evidence in a construction dispute

In almost every dispute about the volume, cost, quality or timing of work under a construction contract, one of the main pieces of evidence is the act of delivery (acceptance) of the work performed.

Certificate of acceptance of the result of work as the basis for the emergence of an obligation to pay

The procedure for accepting the results of work performed under a contract is regulated by the provisions of Articles 720, 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Paragraph 1 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation imposes on the customer under a work contract the obligation to inspect and accept the work performed (its result) within the time frame and in the manner prescribed by the contract, with the participation of the contractor.

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the customer, having received the contractor’s message about the readiness for delivery of the result of the work performed under the construction contract or, if provided for by the contract, the completed stage of work, is obliged to immediately begin accepting it.

It follows from paragraph 2 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation that the customer organizes and accepts the result of the work at his own expense, unless otherwise provided by the construction contract.

According to paragraph 4 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the delivery of the result of work by the contractor and its acceptance by the customer are formalized by an act signed by both parties.

The Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, in Resolution No. 5150/12 dated October 9, 2012, indicated that the acceptance certificate for completed work is proof of the fact that the contractor has delivered the result of the work performed to the customer.

According to the explanations contained in paragraph 8 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2000 No. 51, the fact that the contractor delivers to the customer the result of the work performed is the basis for the customer’s obligation to pay for it. Subsequently, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation repeatedly confirmed this conclusion[1], noting that the risks of failure to fulfill the obligation to organize and accept the result of work by default are borne by the customer[2].

Before delivery of the results of completed work to the customer, the contractor has no right to demand payment. This conclusion follows from the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 711 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, according to which the customer is obliged to pay the contractor the price stipulated by the contract after the final delivery of the work results[3].

The Economic Board of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in Resolution No. 303-ES15-369 dated June 29, 2015, noted that by virtue of Article 65 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the obligation to document the fact of completion and delivery of the result of work rests with the contractor.

In development of this position, in Determination No. 302-ES15-8288 dated August 24, 2015, the Economic Collegium of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation noted that a contractor demanding collection of a debt from the customer for payment for work performed must provide the court with evidence of the customer’s notification of readiness to complete the work. the result of the work performed, as well as the acceptance certificate for the work performed, and in the Determination dated 02/09/2015 No. 309-ES14-1949 indicated that the fact of delivery by the contractor of the result of the work performed must be confirmed precisely by the acceptance certificate, rejecting the execution verification act as evidence contract, which is not an act of acceptance of work performed in the sense of Articles 720, 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, in Determination No. 305-ES15-3990 dated July 30, 2015, the Economic Board noted that acts of completion, although they are the most common documents in civil circulation that record the contractor’s performance of work, at the same time are not the only means of proving relevant circumstances. The board pointed out that the law does not provide that the fact that the work was performed by the contractor can be proven only by certificates of completed work [4] (Article 68 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation) and recognized the act of acceptance of the completed construction project by the customer from the general contractor as proper evidence of the completion of work by the subcontractor.

Often, acceptance of work performed under a construction contract is formalized by drawing up reports in standardized forms (KS-2, KS-3, KS-11, KS-14, KS-17), approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated November 11, 1999 No. 100[5] .

The act of acceptance of the result of completed work in the sense of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in this case will be the act of acceptance of the completed construction facility, drawn up in the unified form KS-11, submitted by the developer in accordance with paragraph 4 of part 3 of Article 55 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation to the authorized body as part of the documents required for issuing permission to put the facility into operation.

An act in the KS-14 form (an act of acceptance of a completed construction project by the acceptance committee), which participants in construction projects still sometimes draw up, is essentially an anachronism. The drawing up of such an act was provided for by Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers dated January 23, 1981 No. 105 “On the acceptance into operation of completed construction objects” and SNiP 3.01.04-87 “Acceptance into operation of completed construction objects. Basic provisions”, however, with the entry into force of the current Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the procedure for putting completed construction projects into operation changed [6] - the institution of handing over the object by the customer to the state acceptance commission (which was preceded by the customer’s acceptance of the object from the contractor) was abolished and replaced by the issuance of a permit to the developer to commission the object into operation[7].

Interim acts of acceptance of completed work (KS-2)

As stated above, by virtue of paragraph 1 of Article 711 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the customer’s obligation to pay for the work arises after the final delivery of the result by the contractor. In this case, the contract may also provide for payment for a separate stage of work[8]. If the contract does not provide for stage-by-stage acceptance and payment for individual stages of work, the customer, in accordance with the provisions of Article 311 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, has the right not to accept such stages until the result of the work as a whole is delivered[9].

Within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, delivery and acceptance of a separate stage of work is carried out in the same manner as the result of work under the contract as a whole. With the acceptance of a separate stage of work to the customer in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the risk of consequences of death or damage to the result of work that occurred through no fault of the contractor passes.

Album of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for accounting of work in capital construction and repair and construction work, approved. Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated November 11, 1999 No. 100 does not contain a unified form of the acceptance certificate for a separate stage of work, therefore the form of such an act must be determined by the parties to the contract themselves.

In addition to the acceptance certificate for a completed construction project, which is drawn up by the parties (including in the unified form KS-11), and acceptance certificates for a separate stage of work, the unified form of which is not available, the parties to the contract, as a rule, draw up monthly acceptance certificates for completed work according to the unified form KS-2 and certificates of the cost of work performed and expenses according to the unified form KS-3.

In paragraph 18 of Information Letter No. 51 dated January 24, 2000, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation explained that these acts are not acts of preliminary acceptance of the result of a separate stage of work, but only confirm the completion of intermediate work for carrying out calculations.

A similar position is given in the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 20, 2009 No. 03-07-10/07, from which it follows that if the construction contract does not provide for the phased acceptance of work by the customer, then acts in the form KS-2 “Act on acceptance of completed work” , signed by the customer in relation to the work performed by the contractor for the reporting month, are the basis for determining the cost of the work performed, at which settlements are made with the contractor, and do not constitute acceptance of the result of the work by the customer.

This approach means that KS-2 acts and KS-3 certificates are important for accounting, but do not affect the mutual rights and obligations of the parties to the contract in terms of the provisions of Chapter 37 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In other words, the sending of the KS-2 act by the contractor does not entail the obligation for the customer, as provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, to immediately begin inspection, verification and acceptance of the work performed, and the signing of such an act by the customer does not deprive him of the right to subsequently refer to things not specified in the act shortcomings of the work, as provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (in fact, the unified form KS-2 does not even provide a column for indicating the shortcomings identified during the acceptance of work).

This nature of the unified forms KS-2 and KS-3 does not exclude the possibility of their adjustment in the manner prescribed by Federal Law No. 402-FZ dated December 6, 2011 “On Accounting” and the Regulations on Accounting and Accounting Reports in the Russian Federation, approved. By Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n.

In practice, adjustments to such primary accounting documents as KS-2 acts and KS-3 certificates are carried out by (i) making corrections to previously compiled documents, (ii) drawing up new primary documents to replace previously compiled ones, or (iii) drawing up corrective primary documents. The possibility of such adjustment is confirmed by judicial practice. For example, the AS of the Moscow District, in a resolution dated December 17, 2014 in case No. A40-156104/13, indicated that the preparation of corrective acts KS-2 based on the results of a control check of the volume of work performed and the correct application of prices is not prohibited by current legislation. The FAS of the East Siberian District came to similar conclusions in a resolution dated March 6, 2014 in case No. A33-9021/2013, noting that the monthly forms KS-2 and KS-3 are of an intermediate nature and their adjustment is not a violation of current legislation. At the same time, in a resolution dated January 28, 2015 in case No. A40-59899/14, the Moscow District Court, for example, rejected the plaintiff’s references to the amended acts of KS-2, indicating that the initial acts were signed by him without comments, and the re-measurement of the volumes of completed work is not provided for by the parties in the contract.

Despite the fact that the approach to the legal nature of KS-2 acts, set out in paragraph 18 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2000 No. 51, is reflected in judicial practice[10], in most cases, courts accept acts of acceptance of completed work drawn up according to the unified form KS-2, precisely as acceptance certificates in the sense of Articles 720, 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Unilateral certificate of delivery (acceptance) of completed work

As a general rule, paragraph 4 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that the act of delivery and acceptance of the results of the work performed by the contractor is signed by both parties. At the same time, the same paragraph provides that if one of the parties refuses to sign the act, a note to this effect is made in it and the act is signed by the other party.

According to the explanations contained in paragraph 8 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2000 No. 51, the norm of paragraph 4 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation protects the interests of the contractor if the customer unreasonably refused to properly prepare documents certifying acceptance, therefore the contractor who did not notify the customer about the completion work under the contract and who did not call him to participate in the acceptance of the result of the work, does not have the right to refer to a unilateral act in support of the demand for collection of debt payment.

By virtue of para. 2 of paragraph 4 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a unilateral act of delivery or acceptance of the result of work can be declared invalid by the court only if the reasons for refusing to sign the act are recognized by it as justified. According to paragraph 14 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2000 No. 51, this means that the act drawn up in this manner is evidence of the contractor’s fulfillment of the obligation under the contract and if the customer refuses to pay, the court is obliged to consider the customer’s arguments justifying his refusal to sign the act acceptance of the work result[11].

In Determination No. 70-KG15-14 dated January 26, 2016, the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation noted that failure to sign the acceptance certificate in itself is not grounds for exempting the customer from paying the cost of work performed.

As follows from paragraph 6 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the customer has the right to refuse to accept the result of work only if defects are discovered that (i) exclude the possibility of its use for the purpose specified in the construction contract and (ii) cannot be eliminated by the contractor or customer. In this regard, the fact that there are some shortcomings in the work performed cannot be an unconditional basis for refusing to sign acts and pay for work[12]. If there are deficiencies that do not exclude the possibility of using the result of the work for the purpose specified in the contract or are removable, the customer cannot refuse to accept the result of the work performed, but has the right to present demands to the contractor based on paragraph 1 of Article 723 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation[13]. The burden of proving the presence of deficiencies in accordance with the legal position formulated in the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated March 27, 2012 No. 12888/11 rests with the customer.

Challenging acts of acceptance of work performed

Paragraph 2 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes a rule according to which a customer who discovers deficiencies in the work upon its acceptance has the right to refer to them only in cases where these deficiencies or the possibility of subsequent filing of a claim were specified in the act or other document certifying acceptance about their elimination.

According to paragraph 3 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by the contract, a customer who has accepted work without inspection is deprived of the right to refer to defects in the work that could have been identified during the usual method of acceptance (obvious defects).

Despite these restrictions, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, in paragraphs 13 and Information Letter No. 51 dated January 24, 2000, explained that the presence of a work acceptance certificate signed by the customer does not prevent him from raising objections in court regarding the quality, volume and cost of the work, while simultaneously presenting evidence of validity these objections. Later, these clarifications were confirmed in the resolutions of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 03/09/2011 No. 13765/10 and dated 04/22/2014 No. 19891/13 and are still widely used by arbitration courts[14].

However, courts often apply the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation based on their literal interpretation and do not accept the customer’s objections regarding the volume, cost or quality of work in the presence of acceptance certificates signed without objections[15].

In many ways, the lack of uniformity of judicial practice in the application of these norms is explained by the problems described above with determining the nature of intermediate monthly acts drawn up according to the unified KS-2 form. The same paragraph 13 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2000 No. 51 states that the rules established by Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation are applied when accepting the result of work as a whole, while the clarifications concerned objections to the quality of work accepted under interim acts KS-2. The courts, not taking into account the difference between the final acts of acceptance of the result of work (including unfinished construction of an object in case of early termination of the contract) and the intermediate acts of KS-2, drawn up for the purposes of current settlements between the customer and the contractor, sometimes either unreasonably apply the provisions Article 720 in their literal interpretation to intermediate acts of KS-2, or just as unreasonably do not apply them to the final acts of acceptance of the result of work under the contract.

[1] For example: resolutions of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 03/09/2011 No. 13765/10, dated 07/27/2011 No. 2918/11, dated 03/27/2012 No. 12888/11, dated 07/23/2013 No. 4030/13.

[2] Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 3, 2013 No. 10147/13.

[3] This conclusion is also confirmed by the legal positions formulated in the resolutions of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation on December 25, 2012 No. 9924/11, on March 13, 2012 No. 14486/11, on November 30, 2010 No. 9217/10. The same conclusion follows from the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 09, 2012 No. 5150/12, by which the court terminated proceedings on the contractor’s claim to collect debt for work performed, citing the fact that the contractor had previously applied to the court with this demand, but the fact of delivery did not prove the result of the work to the customer.

[4] This conclusion seems uncontroversial, since paragraph 4 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation requires the parties to a construction contract to draw up an acceptance certificate for the result of the work performed. In relation to other construction contracts, the delivery of the result of work by the contractor and its acceptance by the customer, by virtue of paragraph 2 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, can be formalized either by an act or by another document certifying acceptance.

[5] Not subject to mandatory application from January 1, 2013 due to the entry into force of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting” (Information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia N PZ-10/2012).

[6] See, for example: Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated February 20, 2007 No. 206-О-О.

[7] Nevertheless, mention of the unified form of the act of acceptance of a completed construction facility by the acceptance committee KS-14 is also found in judicial acts issued after the entry into force of the current Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, in Resolution No. 4030/13 dated July 23, 2013, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation recognized as lawful the condition of the construction subcontract agreement, according to which part of the price for the work performed was paid by the general contractor to the subcontractor after the customer drew up an act in the KS-14 form.

[8] A separate stage of work, which is discussed in paragraph 1 of Article 711 and in paragraph 1 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, must be distinguished from a separate stage of construction, which is defined as the construction or reconstruction of one of several objects planned for construction or a separate part of the object, if such an object or part of an object can be operated independently of others, i.e. autonomously (clause 1 of the Regulations “On the procedure for organizing and conducting state examination of design documentation and engineering survey results”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 5, 2007 No. 145).

[9] The corresponding legal position is formulated, for example, in the Determination of the Economic Collegium of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated December 9, 2014 No. 305-ES14-3435.

[10] For example: Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated March 30, 2015 No. F05-2706/2015 in case No. A40-96797/13.

[11] A similar conclusion is contained in the Determination of the Economic College of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated August 17, 2015 No. 308-ES15-6751.

[12] Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated March 27, 2012 No. 12888/11.

[13] Ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated August 27, 2015 No. 305-ES15-6882.

[14] E.g.: resolution of the Volga-Vyatka District Court of Justice dated March 22, 2016 in case No. A43-30244/2014, resolution of the East Siberian District Court of Justice dated December 28, 2015 in case No. A58-5767/2013, resolution of the Far Eastern District Court of Justice dated December 29 .2015 in case No. A51-7265/2015, resolution of the Moscow District Court dated 03/09/2016 in case No. A41-15146/2015, resolution of the Volga District Court dated November 27, 2015 in case No. A55-3888/2014, resolution of the North Caucasian District Court District dated 05.05.2016 in case No. A32-15346/2013, resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Ural District dated 12/23/2015 in case No. A60-13882/2015, resolution of the Central District Court dated 11/17/2015 in case No. A14-3772/2013, etc.

[15] For example: resolution of the Volga-Vyatka District Court of Justice dated April 3, 2015 in case No. A28-1835/2014, resolution of the West Siberian District Court of Justice dated October 22, 2015 in case No. A03-11975/2014, resolution of the North-Western District Court dated 02.11.2015 in case No. A26-192/2015, resolution of the Far Eastern District Court dated 01.12.2015 in case No. A04-4219/2014, resolution of the Volga District Court dated 21.12.2015 in case No. A12-12128/2015, resolution of the Ural District Court District dated 04/07/2016 in case No. A47-4693/2015 and others.

Why is this act needed?

The work acceptance certificate is a kind of guarantee against the occurrence of legal disputes and disagreements. If such proceedings nevertheless arise, the act becomes an evidentiary document. The court may regard the absence of an act as a disregard for the legally established procedure for the delivery and acceptance of work, which in turn may lead to the imposition of penalties by regulatory agencies.

A table is drawn up from the list of completed works. The document also states that the work was completed properly and the customer has no complaints against the contractor.

In cases where the customer is dissatisfied with the quality of the work performed, this should also be reflected in the report with a detailed listing of the identified deficiencies, as well as an indication of the time frame for their elimination.

Certificate of services rendered

There is no unified form of this document; you can develop it yourself. It is most convenient to agree on a version of the act as an annex to the agreement, and use only it. If the requirements for the form of the document are not provided for in the contract, then usually the executor draws it up and offers it to the customer for signing.

The legislation does not require the mandatory execution of an act confirming the provision of services. But the parties can independently foresee its necessity, determine its form and deadlines for its preparation. Typically the document contains the following information:

name indicating the contract number and the date of its conclusion;
information about the parties;
number and date of signing;
list of services, their type and volume;
total cost;
period of provision;
the presence or absence of complaints about the quality of the service and the timing of its provision;
number of copies;
signatures of the parties.

The certificate of services rendered is drawn up in two copies. Seal impressions are placed if they are available in the organization, since they are not a mandatory requisite of the primary accounting document. The parties have the right to include any additional conditions at their discretion and add a section to describe the identified deficiencies. You can also indicate in the act that it is the basis for the final settlement under the contract.

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What details are the most important?

Despite the fact that the law does not provide for mandatory details for acts, indicating certain information in them will avoid disagreements and disputes between the parties.

Number and date of conclusion of the contract. It is especially important to indicate them if several contracts for different types of services have been concluded between the customer and the contractor. Without these details, it is impossible to determine which specific agreement this act relates to; in the event of a legal dispute, it will not be accepted as evidence of the provision of a service.
Information about identified deficiencies. If during acceptance the customer has any complaints about quality or deadlines, he should indicate this in the report. If there is no corresponding section in the document, the customer may refuse to sign it and put a mark stating that the services were not accepted due to detected deficiencies. Information about them is presented in a separate document, for example, a claim, and sent to the contractor. If such a mark is not made, then in the event of a dispute, the contractor may declare that the refusal to sign was unmotivated, and the services will have to be paid.
Information about the transfer to the customer of the result of the provision of the service, for example, a draft contract, assessment report, etc.

Signing period

When concluding a contract for the provision of services, it is necessary to determine the date of signing the act. This is due to the fact that often the service is used already during its provision. In this case, the signing period is determined according to the rules of Art. 190-194 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This could be a specific date, an upcoming event, or the end of a certain period. If the term is not agreed upon in the contract, then the certificate of services rendered must be signed within 7 days from the moment the customer or contractor submits the corresponding request.

If the customer does not sign the act

When performing work, the performer can present its final result. When providing services, it is sometimes difficult to prove that they were provided. Therefore, the customer may refuse to sign the act and pay for the service without reason. To exclude this possibility, it is advisable to provide the following conditions in the contract:

the contractor has the right to draw up a unilateral act if the customer evades or unmotivatedly refuses to sign;
a unilateral act confirms the fact of receipt of services and is considered the basis for payment.

Thus, drawing up a final document after completing work or providing services is an optional, but highly desirable action. The presence of the act and its correct execution will allow you to avoid disputes and disagreements between the parties to the agreement.

Instructions for drawing up the acceptance certificate for completed work

The first part of the act includes information about which document it is an appendix to (number of appendix, date, contract number). Then the word “act” is written in the middle and its essence is briefly indicated (in this case, “handover and acceptance of work”).
The second part includes a table, but first the very fact of delivery and acceptance of work is recorded, as well as the document on the basis of which it took place (its name, for example, “Agreement”, number and date of its preparation).
Then all types of work performed are entered into the table in order, indicating delivery dates, cost, quality, and customer comments.

The columns about the name of the work, quality and comments should be filled out especially carefully, since this information in the event of legal disputes will be the main arguments in court.

Next, you need to add a clause stating that the work performed was checked and the customer has no complaints. If this is not the case, then in the paragraph below you need to describe in detail the identified shortcomings, as well as indicate the timing and procedure for eliminating them.
At the bottom of the document you should indicate the name of the organizations party to the contract (in accordance with the constituent documents).
And finally, the work acceptance certificate must be certified by the signatures of the heads of organizations or persons authorized to carry out this procedure.
If necessary, the act can be certified with seals.

After signing the acceptance certificate for the work performed, all claims can only be considered in court.

How to draw up a certificate of completed work

A unified version of the document is provided only for accepting the result of construction and installation work. This is form KS-2, the form of which can be downloaded here. In all other cases, they use recommended templates or create their own, for example, based on the same KS-2.

The legislation does not establish mandatory requirements for the content of the act. In accordance with Part 4 of Art. 9 of the Law on Accounting No. 402-FZ, the forms of primary documents for which there are no unified options are approved by the head of the organization, and they are compiled by the employee responsible for maintaining accounting records. Forms for government agencies are prepared in accordance with budget legislation. Commercial organizations, in addition to independently developed forms, can use a universal transfer document, the template of which is recommended by the Federal Tax Service in a letter dated October 21, 2013 N ММВ-20-3/ [email protected]

What information should be in the act

When drawing up the act, it is advisable to take into account the requirements of the Accounting Law for primary documents. To confirm the fact of economic activity, it must indicate:

Date of preparation;
name of the organization issuing the act;
list of types and volumes of work;
price information in the form of a total amount and for each item separately;
positions and signatures of persons who are responsible for processing documents.

It is not necessary to put a stamp on the deed. According to Part 2 of Art. 9 of Law 402-FZ, a seal impression is not included in the list of details required for the primary document.

To eliminate controversial situations, the parties have the right to add additional information to the act.

Details of the agreement on the basis of which it was drawn up. This is especially important if several contracts for work or services are concluded between the parties.
Information about identified deficiencies. Usually the report indicates that the work was done efficiently and on time, and the customer has no complaints. Moreover, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the customer has the opportunity to point out flaws discovered during the acceptance of work. But if such a section is not provided for in the act (for example, the KS-2 form is used), then he will not have such an opportunity. In this case, it is better to refuse to sign, draw up a separate document listing the shortcomings and hand it over to the contractor. If the act is signed without comments, then the customer subsequently has no right to refer to defects that could have been identified during acceptance.

Signing procedure

As stated in paragraph 1 of Art. 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the customer, in the presence of the contractor, inspects and accepts the result, and immediately signs the certificate of completion of the work. Under a service agreement, the document can be sent to the customer in advance by email or regular mail. In order to do this under a contract, you need to include such a condition in it. It is also necessary to determine:

the procedure for delivering the act to the customer (by mail, courier service, electronic message);
shipping address;
the period during which the customer is obliged to inspect the result and accept the work.

If the deed is delivered in a manner different from that specified in the contract, it will be considered improperly delivered.

As a general rule, the document is signed in paper form; this must be done by authorized employees of the customer and the contractor in person. Facsimile certification of the act is allowed only if it is provided for by the contract.

Acceptance certificate for work on a real estate property: sample document structure

Form KS-2 consists of 2 parts. The first one can be conditionally called the title one. It records:

information about the investor, customer, contractor - their addresses, telephone numbers, OKPO, type of activity of the contractor according to the OKPO;
construction site address;
information about the property;
contract number and date of its preparation;
act number, date of preparation, reporting period.

The second part of the act can be conventionally called tabular: here you need to fill out a table consisting of 8 columns:

In the 1st, the serial number of the work performed is recorded.
The 2nd indicates the number corresponding to the position of the work performed in the estimate.
The 3rd section contains the name of the work performed.
The 4th section indicates the number of the unit price (if the cost of the work is fixed in the contract, then the corresponding column is not filled in).
In the 5th, the unit of measurement of work is fixed.
The 6th section indicates the total number of works.
The 7th column reflects the cost of a unit of work that correlates with unit prices (if these are indicated in the contract, this column is not filled in).
In the 8th, the total cost of the work is recorded.

In the penultimate cells of columns 6 and 8 from the bottom (if they do not end the table as a whole and are the last for the current part), the final indicators for the work listed on the next sheet of the act are recorded. The last cells of columns 6 and 8, which end the table, indicate indicators for the act as a whole.

Below the table are the position, full name and signature of the person who handed over the property, similar data of the person who accepted it, and the seals of the parties (if any are used).

This is the structure of the KS-2 form and at the same time the approximate structure of the document that is its analogue. You can download a sample of filling out the appropriate form on our website.

You can also find a sample of filling out the KS-2 form in the article .