The decoration season of "Golden September and Silver 10" takes up time and may not be able to enjoy people and tranquility. In real life, many consumers who decorate for the first time don't know much about the details of signing the contract; On the other hand, the home improvement market is mixed, with frequent problems and chaos. When there is a dispute between the two parties, the contract, as an important basis for the court's judgment, often brings many troubles to consumers because of the "defects" when it is signed.
Recently, the Xicheng District People's Court of Beijing investigated the cases involving family decoration in renovation contract that it tried in recent five years, and found that the number of related cases showed an increasing trend year by year. The focus of controversy mainly focused on decoration quality, decoration period, decoration qualification, design change, follow-up warranty and so on. In view of the hot issues such as how to avoid the "defects" of home improvement contracts and ensure the safety and quality of home improvement, the reporter of Legal Daily interviewed the judges of the People's First Court of Xicheng Court and asked them to give us suggestions.
Don't refuse to sign a contract just because you have found a contractor.
Xiao Wang found that the decoration effect of his neighbor's house was good, so he discussed with the contractor under construction and wanted him to help decorate his house. The two sides reached an oral agreement to renovate the living room at a price of 26.5438 million yuan. After Xiao Wang paid the agreed deposit of 654.38 million yuan, the contractor only asked the workers to dismantle the glass partition on the spot, and asked Xiao Wang to pay the remaining project money first on the grounds that additional manpower was needed for the additional project, otherwise the work would be stopped. Xiao Wang did not agree to pay in advance, and the contractor and workers never appeared again. But Xiao Wang had to find someone else to finish the reconstruction project.
In real life, like Xiao Wang, many consumers are afraid of trouble and want to save money. Without signing a contract, directly hand over the renovation project to the contractor, "acquaintances" and the roadside construction team. The investigation of Xicheng court shows that the act of starting work without signing a contract is usually the "foreshadowing" of disputes in the future. Because most of these renovations are verbal agreements and lack of written contracts, not only the quality of renovation cannot be guaranteed, but also there are many difficulties in safeguarding rights in the later period. At the same time, consumers are in single-line contact with the decoration team, and in the absence of third-party supervision, Jerry-building, shoddy and buck-passing sometimes occur, while consumers are faced with embarrassing situations such as laborious decoration and time-consuming and laborious rights protection.
In view of such disputes arising from oral promises, Judge Tian of the First People's Court of Xicheng Court suggested that the contents agreed between consumers and decorators should be based on written words, and the oral promises of decorators and the special needs put forward by consumers should be implemented in paper contracts. We must pay special attention to the construction period, payment nodes and specifications of decoration materials agreed in the contract, so as to effectively avoid the default of the decoration party such as delaying the construction period, shoddy or even running away with money.
Han Nan, vice president of the People's First Court of Xicheng Court, reminded that in the process of decoration construction, if the contractor is found not to carry out the construction as agreed in the contract, consumers should keep the evidence on the spot by taking photos, taking videos, etc., in addition to telling the construction personnel to stop working at the construction site, they should also send written materials to the contractor in time, requesting to stop work and carry out rectification. After the consumer clearly informs the contractor of the construction that does not conform to the contract, the contractor shall bear the responsibility for the maintenance, redo and extension of the home improvement project.
The contractor shall clearly write "what work and what materials"
"Signing a contract is a formal necessity, and more attention should be paid to the detailed terms in the contract." For example, Tian said that many consumers do not really understand the meaning of "project and material contracting" commonly found in home improvement contracts.
Mr. Guo signed the renovation contract with a Beijing architectural decoration company, which clearly stipulated the detailed construction contents. After the renovation was completed, the decoration company added wine cabinets, shoe cabinets and other items through oral negotiation between the two parties during the renovation, but Mr. Guo took Mr. Guo to court on the grounds that he did not pay the corresponding fees. Mr. Guo believes that there is no problem of adding items to the contract and materials, and there is no need to pay more. After trial, the court held that although the contract stipulated that the renovation project should be contracted out, the budget details in the annex to the contract listed the construction project. Therefore, Guo should pay for the new project approved by both parties during the construction.
"Contracting, packaging materials and other decoration methods are just sayings in the decoration industry. Consumers should still specify the specific decoration content in the contract and find out what the contracting and packaging materials are. " Tian said that no matter which contracting method, it is necessary to clarify the specific goods and services provided by the decoration company, such as the type, model, brand and material of materials, to avoid differences in the decoration process. In addition, the consumer should make an agreement on "limitation of additions", such as indicating that "additions may occur in the actual construction process, and the additions need to be confirmed by the consumer in writing and settled according to the actual engineering quantity".
For common decoration accessories, Han Nan said that if the original items in the contract are changed during the decoration process, a written agreement needs to be re-signed. If there is no written agreement, you can confirm that the contract change has been recognized by both parties through SMS, WeChat and other records, which will also be regarded as a contract change and should be implemented in accordance with the changed terms. However, if the contractor fails to prove that both parties agree to increase the project, the consumer has no obligation to pay for the increased project.
Regarding the design of home decoration, the judge reminded that the design contract and the construction contract are different contract types, but in practice, most decoration companies put the design and construction together in the decoration in renovation contract, and will not separately stipulate these two expenses. Once consumers decide to change the decoration company due to quality and progress in the decoration process, the home improvement company often asks for the design fee separately. For the sake of prudence, the nature of the design fee should be stated in the contract, such as whether the design is free.
Acceptance criteria and penalty clauses cannot be less.
In addition to the price, the quality of the project is the core issue of the decoration project. In the investigation of Xicheng court, it was found that most cases of home improvement disputes involved engineering quality problems more or less.
After Xiao Liu signed a home improvement contract with a decoration company, he paid part of the project cost of 6,543,800 yuan+0,350 yuan according to the contract. However, in the later period of renovation, Liu Faxian Jr. had serious quality problems, so he refused to pay the remaining project funds and asked the renovation company to compensate for the repair cost of 50,000 yuan. Appraised by the court, the doors, sofas and mosaic walls of the houses involved do have unqualified quality problems. The decoration company said that some projects were not up to standard because a lot of construction contents were reduced according to Xiao Liu's requirements. In this regard, Xiao Liu does not recognize it. After hearing the case, the court held that the decoration company failed to submit evidence to prove that the two sides reached an agreement on the reduction of the project payment, and accordingly the court supported Xiao Liu's claim for the repair fee of the project payment.
"It is very important to reach an agreement on the project acceptance standard in the contract," Tian said. At present, many contracts only stipulate the project acceptance method, but not the acceptance standard, which leads to different understandings between the two sides. In addition, the warranty period should be clearly defined. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's "Administrative Measures for Interior Decoration of Residential Buildings" stipulates that the minimum warranty period for interior decoration of residential buildings is two years, and the leakage prevention of kitchens, bathrooms and exterior walls with waterproof requirements is five years. Consumers should try to negotiate with merchants to adopt a warranty period higher than the above standards; If the warranty period stipulated in the contract between the two parties is too short and violates the above provisions, it is an invalid clause.
Tian specially reminded consumers that once the construction quality is found to be unqualified, they must do a good job of obtaining evidence. Under special circumstances, the site should be repaired and redone by itself after identification, which is convenient for later claim settlement. "If the two parties do not agree on the standard of liquidated damages, consumers need to prove their related losses, which has higher requirements for consumers' ability to prove. "Tian Xiaotong said that in order to avoid the difficulty of proof, consumers can ask merchants to specify the breach clause in the contract. Once the merchant breaches the contract, consumers can directly ask the other party to "lose money" according to the standards agreed in the contract, without having to prove their losses.
See clearly the signing subject and beware of listed companies.
In the Internet age, people are happy to buy various services through the Internet, and the field of home improvement is no exception. However, based on the virtuality and concealment of the network, individual internet home improvement companies have inconsistent publicity with the main body of signing the contract or the main body of construction, and after disputes arise, they will shift the responsibility to the construction team or foreman.
In this regard, Judge Xu Lantao of Xicheng Court pointed out that based on the principle of contract relativity, the construction team or foreman is not the signing subject and the subject of rights and obligations of the renovation contract, and cannot be the defendant of the renovation contract unless the construction team or foreman promises to bear joint and several liability for the project. "In order to find out the facts of the case, the court will generally list the construction team or foreman as a third person or witness to participate in the lawsuit."
In order to prevent Internet companies from running away, Tian suggested that consumers should pay attention to identifying the subject of the contract when signing a decoration renovation contract, and be wary of decorating low-priced packages. "Some seemingly low-priced packages actually hide many conditions and may encounter more problems in the future."
In terms of home improvement and environmental protection, Tian reminded that the contract should indicate that the indoor air after decoration meets the environmental protection standards (Code for Indoor Environmental Pollution Control of Civil Building Projects (GB50325-200 1) promulgated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and Limit of Hazardous Substances in Indoor Decoration Materials promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine), and stipulate that the furniture should be tested and accepted by a third-party testing agency before entering the market. Those who violate the standards stipulated in the contract should be listed accordingly.