Under the general contracting mode, construction enterprises, as the main implementers and managers of construction projects, undertake comprehensive construction management tasks including design, construction, procurement and other construction links, and face severe and complicated credit risk threats. This paper mainly analyzes the credit risk faced by construction enterprises and puts forward some suggestions on credit risk management.
1, credit risk characteristics of construction enterprises
Engineering construction activities have the characteristics of large investment, long construction period, difficult management and many risk links. In the process of construction management, the owner and the contractor each undertake certain construction management tasks and face certain credit risk threats. However, because the domestic construction market has been in an obvious buyer's market for a long time, the owners occupy a favorable market position, and contractors often fall into a blind and passive state in cooperation, and the threat of credit risk is relatively more serious.
Especially with the rapid popularization and application of general contracting mode, construction enterprises, as one of the roles of general contracting units, undertake comprehensive management tasks including design, construction, procurement and trial operation. Fully responsible for project quality, construction safety, construction progress and investment control, facing more severe and complicated credit risks.
The relationship between credit risks is complicated.
The credit relationship under the project general contracting mode includes not only "owner and general contractor", but also "general contractor and subcontractor", and the credit relationship is more complicated. At the same time, many large infrastructure projects and urban public projects are owned by government departments. Therefore, the main body of credit relationship faced by construction enterprises is not only market enterprises, but also government departments. Government departments are not only "referees" to maintain the order of the construction market, but also "athletes", forming a more complicated credit relationship, which has a certain impact on market fairness.
There are various types of credit risks.
In the traditional contracting mode, construction enterprises undertake the construction tasks of the project, and the main credit risks they face are financial risks such as project payment receivable and various deposits with the owners. Under the general contracting mode, construction enterprises not only face the above financial risks, but also face the credit performance risks from credit subjects such as design subcontractors and material suppliers.
Credit risk has a serious impact.
The general contracting mode gives construction enterprises more construction management missions, but it also makes them face a more complicated and diverse credit risk environment, which poses a risk threat to project investment, construction period, quality and safety control. For example, the owner delays the payment of project funds and forcibly intervenes in the design and construction management; The subcontractor's design depth is insufficient, the design changes frequently, and the building materials or mechanical equipment used do not meet the quality standards. It is easy to cause problems such as delayed construction period, excessive investment, arrears of wages for migrant workers, and even various engineering quality and safety production accidents.
2. Credit risk analysis of construction enterprises in each stage of construction management.
Under the general contracting mode, construction enterprises, as general contractors, face various credit risks in the stages of project bidding, contract signing, project construction implementation and project completion.
Project bidding stage
In the stage of project bidding, the credit risk faced by construction enterprises mainly comes from the information asymmetry between the owner and the project. At present, the credit management mechanism of the domestic construction market is immature, and many construction enterprises lack the investigation and understanding of the credit status of multi-owners, and are not clear about the source and availability of funds. Even affected by the competitive pressure in the domestic construction market, even if the credit status of the owners or the project funds are risky in advance, they choose to ignore it in order to contract the project, and the bidding strategy is to win the bid at a low price, which has laid a serious credit risk for the owners in the early stage.
Contract signing stage
The project general contracting mode is a brand-new project implementation organizational structure mode explored in China in recent years. There is a lack of mature and perfect management experience in contract management, and there are contract management problems such as unclear rights and responsibilities between the owner and the general contractor. Affected by the owner's long-term strong market position, construction enterprises often "have more responsibilities than rights", and lack clear regulations on project payment, settlement, breach of contract and deposit refund, which leads to the risk of late payment.
Construction implementation stage
In the implementation stage of the project construction, the construction enterprise, as the general contractor, faces not only the project payment risk from the owner, but also the contract performance risk from each subcontractor.
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On the one hand, the owner's default on the project payment and failure to inspect the work in time will lead to the default of accounts receivable in the construction process and increase the pressure on the capital cost of construction enterprises;
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On the other hand, design subcontracting, labor subcontracting, material subcontracting and other subcontractors fail to perform the contract, which leads to problems such as insufficient design depth and unqualified building materials quality, which not only seriously affects the progress of the construction period, but may even lead to bad engineering quality and safety accidents.
Project completion stage
At the completion stage of the project, the owner defaulted on the project acceptance payment, failed to handle the completion settlement, failed to confirm the project changes and claims, and delayed the return of the project deposit, resulting in the construction enterprise failing to recover the project payment, change claims and project deposit in time.
To sum up, construction enterprises, as general contractors, are faced with more complicated and severe credit risk threats at all stages of project construction management, which not only affects the management of accounts receivable and deposit of construction enterprises, but also may lead to risk problems such as project quality, construction safety production, and wage payment of migrant workers. In particular, the quality and safety of large-scale infrastructure projects and urban public works directly affect the safety of people's lives and property; The trustworthiness and performance of credit individuals such as owners, design subcontractors and material suppliers directly affect the shaping of the credit environment of the whole construction market, and construction enterprises should pay attention to their own credit risk management.
3. Credit risk management of construction enterprises
With the rapid application and promotion of general contracting mode, the credit risk management of construction enterprises is particularly important, which should be started from the following aspects:
Establishing enterprise credit risk management system
Credit risk management system is one of the most important internal management systems of mature construction market enterprises. According to the credit risk management system established by enterprises, managers can effectively reduce the credit risks of owners and subcontractors by dynamically identifying, tracking, evaluating and responding to the credit risks of relevant credit subjects. For example, before the project bidding, investigate and evaluate the owner's credit status and project situation; Investigate and evaluate the reputation, performance and management strength of subcontractors.
At present, the construction of credit management system of domestic construction enterprises is generally in a blank state, lacking corresponding talents, teams, technologies and management forces. The above credit risk management content can be entrusted to a professional credit management service organization.
Expand financing channels and improve anti-risk ability
The owner's "default on project payment" and "refund of deposit" are one of the main reasons for the financial risk of construction enterprises, especially in the case that irregular market phenomena such as "advance capital with capital" are widespread, and this financial risk is amplified. Financing is one of the important ways for enterprises to improve their financial anti-risk ability: by increasing financing channels, increasing financing amount, ensuring the diversity and stability of capital sources, helping enterprises to have stronger financial anti-risk ability.
Attach importance to contract management and make good use of project guarantee
In the stage of contract signing, construction enterprises should pay attention to the formulation of contract terms and contents, and clarify the division of powers and responsibilities with the owners, such as payment nodes, methods, liability for breach of contract, etc., so as to reduce the risk of default of the owners. Make good use of the project guarantee system, strive for the payment guarantee of the owner, and then pay the guarantee through the project funds provided by banks, insurance companies and guarantee companies to form the guarantee for the project funds receivable.
Using engineering insurance to establish insurance guarantee
Engineering insurance is an effective way to protect the quality, safety, property and professional liability risks of various construction projects. Under the general contracting mode, the construction enterprise, as the general contractor, is fully responsible for the investment, progress, quality and safety control of the project, and should pay attention to the project insurance, and provide comprehensive insurance protection for the project in terms of property, quality and safety by using Jian 'an, IDI All Risks, safety liability insurance and various occupational liability insurance.