Article 702 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Contract agreement (current version)

In accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 702), a contract for the performance of work with an individual is an agreement concluded by customers and contractors. In this case, contractors undertake to perform a certain type of work at the request of customers.

The result of such services is always material and is passed on to customers. This agreement is usually concluded when it is necessary to manufacture, process or process specific products. Thus, people often draw up a contract for apartment renovation between individuals and other types of repair work.

Contract form

Agreements are drawn up in writing or orally. But in the second case there are two restrictions:

• the customer and the contractor are individuals. persons;
• the amount of the transaction must not exceed 10 thousand rubles.

If the transaction price exceeds the specified amount, then an agreement between individuals to perform the work is concluded in writing.

According to Art. 708 of the Civil Code, specific dates (start, completion of work) must be specified in work contracts. Both parties have the right to establish intermediate stages. The responsibilities borne by customers and contractors must also be indicated in the documents drawn up. It is also important to take into account the rules provided for by current legislation. Any conditions can be specified in contracts, but only so that they do not contradict the laws of the Russian Federation.

Is a contract included in the length of service?

According to Part 1 of Art. 11 of the Law “On Insurance Pensions” dated December 28, 2013 No. 400-FZ, insurance length of service (this is how work experience began to be called after the pension reform of 2002) is formed through the performance by an individual of any type of work, subject to payment of insurance contributions to the Pension Fund. According to Part 1 of Art. 4 of Law 400-FZ, each insured person has the right to apply for an insurance pension after reaching a certain age.

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Thus, the period of work under a contract is included in the total length of service and is taken into account when calculating the amount of pension payment if insurance premiums are paid for the contractor.

Drawing up a contract

Many people think about how to draw up a contract. To draw up standard documents, you do not need a legal education or special knowledge - you just need to go online, fill out all the columns and fields, but there is a risk of ending up with an outdated template or making mistakes when filling it out, as a result of which disputes under the contract will be resolved in the future. That is why it is better to contact our professional lawyers when you need to draw up individual contracts that stipulate the necessary conditions that comply with current legislation and the will of the parties.

Framework contracts are concluded for a long period of time, and contractors usually perform not just one type of work, but several at once. Such documents must include a number of additional agreements, the number of which is not limited.

Please note that after completion of all work and fulfillment of the terms of the contracts, it will also be necessary to draw up and sign certificates of completion of work so that no disagreements arise on either side. A sample contract agreement with an individual and the stipulated act can be ordered from us at a minimal cost.

ATTENTION : if there is a debt under the contract, then collecting the debt under the contract will help restore your violated right.

For more tips on the rules for drawing up any contract, watch the video:

Differences between a contract and an employment contract

Let's start with the fact that a work contract is a civil contract, relations under which are in no way regulated by labor legislation - the parties in this case are not the employer and the employee, but the customer and the contractor (in the case of a service contract, the performer).

Thus, the performer does not have the scope of rights that he would claim as an employee - he does not, for example, have the right to paid leave or temporary disability benefits. On the other hand, he is not obliged to comply with the internal labor regulations of the organization or any other local regulations - only an agreement that specifies the scope of work and the deadlines for their completion.

The main difference between the two types of contracts - labor and civil law is the following: if according to the labor contract the employee must perform the labor function described in the document, then the contractor is only interested in the result of work on a specific project. For example, an employee is obliged to come to the workplace by 10 am and leave at 7 pm, obey senior management (general director), immediate management (department or service), do the work prescribed to him by the employment contract, job description, internal regulations, orders director, etc.

For a contractor, there is only one document - a contract agreement, according to which he must do certain work within a certain time frame for a certain fee. He is not obliged to go to work by 10 am, nor to obey anyone - he actually works on his own to achieve a certain result, which is set by the customer.

Again, we need to consider the issue of wages. The employee receives wages in strict accordance with the employment contract and at least twice a month. At the same time, his salary is stable, although depending on the internal documents of the organization, he may also receive bonuses. The contractor receives remuneration not for the process, but for the result of his activities. This may be a one-time payment or for each stage of work, or divided by months, but the result is still paid.

It is worth mentioning the labor process. The employer is required by law to provide the employee with a workplace, tools and other necessary things. But the contractor’s customer is not: unless the contrary is prescribed by the agreement, then the work is carried out at the expense of the contractor.

Essential terms of the contract

Different types of contracts have different essential conditions. Based on conclusions from judicial practice and interpretation of the law, the following conditions are typical for a work contract:

• subject of the contract (content, types, scope of work that needs to be performed, the facility at which the work will be performed and the final result that must be delivered to the customer are also indicated);
• deadlines for completing the work (the beginning and end of the work are indicated); by agreement of the parties, intermediate deadlines for completing specific work may be provided);
• price (the opinion about price as an essential condition of the contract is twofold; on the one hand, the courts regard it as an essential condition, since the price to be performed must be indicated, but on the other hand, if the price cannot be established in the contract, then the price is set based on similar payment for similar work).

Employment under a contract - advantages of the agreement

Before deciding to work under a contract, the pros and cons of this type of transaction should be studied in detail.

The main advantages for the customer are that there is no need to:

• payment of sick leave and vacation pay;
• providing the contractor with a workplace and materials for work.
• payment of insurance premiums.

For the contractor, the advantages of working under this type of contract are:

• the possibility of non-compliance with the company’s internal regulations - this means that he can come to and leave work at a time convenient for himself, not adhere to the dress code, and not comply with labor protection requirements, which apply only to workers under an employment contract;
• lack of control on the part of the customer (if the relevant conditions are not specified in the contract);
• the ability to combine activities with the main job;
• possibility of attracting subcontractors.

In addition, it should be taken into account that the law does not prohibit the transition of civil law relations into labor relations (by concluding an employment contract with a contractor). This means that each side has the time and opportunity to take a closer look at each other and decide on further cooperation in a completely different form.

Features of a contract with an individual

In order to save money, companies often enter into a contract or service agreement with a citizen instead of a labor contract, that is, the citizen performs certain work for organizations and individual entrepreneurs without being tied to a workplace. In this case, when concluding a contract or provision of services, the contract will be of a civil nature. The main feature of this agreement is that it is not an employment contract.

In a work contract, unlike a labor contract, there are no labor functions; the work process as a whole is not specified, but only those conditions are specified, according to which the citizen must complete certain work within a specific time frame and hand over the result of its implementation. The most important thing is to provide for such clauses in the contract so that in the future the contract is not equated to an employment contract; these risks mainly lie with the employer who enters into a contract with a citizen, in addition to the strictly specified essential conditions indicated above, pay attention to :

• Duties of the parties . A citizen’s responsibility is established for specific work, based on the subject of the contract. A citizen does not bear responsibilities under the regulatory and local acts of the organization, since he does not perform a labor function and does not sign any orders or instructions; he is guided only by the contract and its terms.
• Responsibility of the parties . The liability of the parties is established in the contract; liability that is not provided for in the contract cannot be applied.

Submitting claims regarding the quality of work

Quality is assessed in accordance with the contract, the standards established for this type of work, as well as general ideas based on the principles of reasonableness and good faith:)

The contract may establish a warranty period . It is determined at the request of the performer and is his right, not his obligation.

Regardless of the warranty period, the law provides the customer with two years (for a construction contract - five years) to discover hidden defects in the work performed. During this period, you can make claims against the contractor, but you will have to prove that the deficiencies arose before the transfer of work.

If there is a need to settle relations with a counterparty in court, it is important to determine which court to apply to.

• To the arbitration court: both parties to the agreement are individual entrepreneurs or organizations. This court also considers disputes related to the execution of a state or municipal contract.
• To a court of general jurisdiction : at least one of the parties to the agreement is an ordinary citizen who does not carry out entrepreneurial activities.

Do not confuse the contract with other types of contracts.

Contract and employment contract

An employment contract is concluded if you anticipate a long-term relationship with an employee associated with repeated personal performance of any function. Of course, an employment contract gives rise to many responsibilities for you, because you become an employer and are guided by labor legislation in your relations with the employee.

Therefore, if all that is important to you is achieving results within a set time frame, it would be better to enter into a contract agreement.

Contract agreement and paid service agreement

When performing contract work, there is always a material result, and for the customer it is the result that is important, not the process. For example, when entrusting the manufacture of furniture to a contractor, it is important for you to receive a table or chair as a result. At the same time, how the performer achieved the desired effect fades into the background.

When services are provided for a fee, there may be no material result at all. For example, when turning to a specialist for legal services, you, of course, want to achieve a certain result, but at the same time, the assistance of a lawyer at every stage is important to you. Thus, the process itself comes to the fore, not the result. In this case, a service agreement is concluded.

Features of a household contract

Under a household contract, a contractor (for example, an individual entrepreneur or LLC) undertakes to perform work on the instructions of a citizen to satisfy his household and personal needs. Features of this type of contract:

• The customer is a citizen who is not an individual entrepreneur or legal entity.
• A citizen cannot use the result of work performed for entrepreneurial activity, since it is intended only to satisfy personal needs.
• Before accepting the work, the customer may refuse to fulfill the contract by paying the contractor only for the specific work performed at that time (for example, if the contractor provided work on sewing a coat, only managed to make marks and shortened the coat, and the customer refused this type of work, then the customer must pay him the price for the work done). A specific price is indicated by agreement of the parties. Payment is also made by agreement of the parties: after final delivery (the parties usually sign an acceptance certificate for the transfer of completed work), at the conclusion of the contract, or by issuing an advance.
• The contractor is obliged to provide all reliable information about the work , its type, and features. In the future, if it turns out that this information was not provided, the customer has the right to protect his interests as a consumer.

Payment of a penalty for improper fulfillment of contractual obligations or their non-fulfillment

According to Article 330 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a penalty is a sum of money prescribed in a contract or law, paid by a party that has not fulfilled its obligations under the contract or has performed them improperly. The possibility of applying such a measure must be agreed upon by the parties in the contract, otherwise the parties will not be able to demand its payment. The exception is cases when the application of a penalty is directly provided for by law.

A penalty may be established for the following violations of the contractor’s obligations:

• violation of deadlines for completing work (clause 1 of Article 708 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• delay in eliminating deficiencies identified by the customer (clause 1 of Article 723 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• delay in fulfillment by the contractor of other obligations specified in the contract.

A penalty can be established for the following violations on the part of the customer:

• late payment of the advance payment (clause 2 of Article 711 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• late payment for the result of work performed (clause 1 of Article 711 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• delay in providing assistance (clause 1 of Article 718 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• delay in acceptance of completed work (clause 1 of Article 702, clause 1 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• delay in the provision of equipment, materials, technical and other documentation subject to processing (clause 1 of Article 713, clause 1 of Article 719 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• delay in fulfillment of other obligations by the customer.

A claim under a contract must not only be specified, but also justified. The parties to the contract have the right to establish any penalty, including its maximum amount. However, it must be borne in mind that during an arbitration dispute, the judge may reduce the amount of the penalty if it is disproportionate to the consequences of the violation of the obligation itself.

Features of a construction contract

The contractor, on the instructions of the customer, undertakes to build an object or perform construction work, and the customer undertakes to create conditions, accept their result and pay the price. This type of contract is concluded only for construction or work related during construction. The main features are:

• The subject and object of the contract is the construction or reconstruction of an object (all objects that are inextricably and firmly connected to the ground), or for the performance of work during the construction of objects.
• Also, the main role is played by the materials provided by the customer , if this is provided for in the contract. (for example, if before delivery of the completed work to the customer, the material was damaged due to the fault of poor-quality material provided, then the contractor has the right to demand payment provided for the work).
• The object must be delivered exactly on time stipulated in the contract.
• The result must be a completed object or completed construction work . A contract always provides for the final result, unlike a contract for the provision of services, and no matter in what condition the object is delivered to the customer, the result must still be of high quality or low quality.
• Also, another feature is that the contractor is not responsible for defects, shortcomings and information that were provided in the technical documentation for construction or construction-related work.

USEFUL : We currently have a special offer for drawing up any contract within 24 hours, watch the video for more details and write your question in the comments of the video

Responsibility of the parties

An important point of the contract is the provisions on the liability of the parties, which are sanctions of a property nature imposed to restore the violated rights of a party that has faithfully fulfilled its obligations, and to compensate for the material damage caused to it.

In the contract, the parties can independently determine for violation of which of the terms of the contract and to what extent this or that liability will have to arise or a penalty will be paid. Involving lawyers and attorneys in drawing up a contract will ensure the legality of the contract in terms of the simultaneous application of several forms of liability for violation of a contractual obligation.

Even if for some reason the parties did not stipulate in the contract the conditions for the parties’ liability, in accordance with current legislation, a bona fide party has the right to compensation for losses caused to it.

Responsibility under a contract can be established in the form of:

• compensation to the injured party for losses, collection of debt under a contract (in accordance with Articles 15, 393, 715-719, 723, 728, 729 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• payment of a penalty for improper fulfillment of contractual obligations or their non-fulfillment (Article 330 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• payment of interest for the use of other people's funds (Article 395 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Features of the contract for design and survey work

Under this agreement, the contractor (designer, surveyor), on the instructions of the customer, must develop technical documentation for the design of an object (for example, a building, a garden). The features of the agreement are:

• Responsibility for poor quality preparation of technical documentation lies with the contractor . Responsibility lies in the process of the entire work, from design to commissioning of the facility (for example, when, according to the technical documentation, further work begins and shortcomings are discovered, the contractor will be responsible for this).
• When performing design and survey work, if permission from government authorities is required , the contractor independently coordinates these issues.
• Technical documentation is used only for the purposes for which it was developed and cannot be transferred to other persons without the consent of the contractor.

Drawing up a contract - the main mistakes

Drawing up a work contract is recognized as a process that is regulated in as much detail as possible by civil law.

In fact, legal entities do not need to put in a lot of effort to draw up the simplest and most specific text of an agreement.

However, despite this, companies make a large number of mistakes, which is primarily due to the non-involvement of lawyers in transactions.

The practice of concluding the transactions in question over the past few years has made it possible to formulate an approximate list of mistakes most often made when drawing up a contract:

• Incorrect determination of the qualifications of the parties.

Often an agreement is concluded that provides for delivery rather than contract work, which has fundamental differences. In more rare cases, this type of contract is confused with labor contracts.

• Incorrect regulation.

In some situations, the wrong rules are used, namely those that are not related to contract agreements.

• Invalid contract form.

This mistake is very common in all types of civil legal relations. However, in fact, the legislator always very precisely determines what form the agreement should be, including a contract.

For legal entities, it is enough to remember that there is no oral agreement for them, only a simple written version that does not require certification.

• Lack of essential conditions.

A common mistake is the incorrectly designated subject of the agreement. Due to the absence of this condition, contracts are considered invalid, and full regulation of relations is impossible.

• Inadequate regulation of the terms of payment for work and its cost.

The designation of these aspects is, first of all, necessary because each party must clearly understand its obligations. The issue of price often becomes the subject of legal disputes.

• Absence of conditions providing for liability measures.

Despite the fact that this aspect is not essential, and therefore does not entail the invalidity of the contract, the presence of such provisions is necessary. The parties must agree immediately on what may happen in the event of failure to fulfill obligations.

These errors are considered the most common. However, other types of defects are also possible. The parties may incorrectly indicate the details, designate a company representative to sign the agreement, establish the payment procedure, and so on.

To avoid problems and prevent even the simplest mistakes, you need to hire a lawyer specializing in civil transactions:

Contact a lawyer

Thus, drawing up a work contract involves a simple procedure, but one that requires attention. It is necessary to pay attention to two essential conditions: the subject and timing, and also discuss at the initial stage the cost of the work and the procedure for its acceptance.

The more detailed the text of the agreement, the lower the risk of controversial situations that require resolution in court.

Samples of contract agreements are standard and publicly available, which simplifies the procedure. However, the best option is to contact a lawyer. Especially if the transaction is valued at more than 1 million rubles.

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