公共工程合約物調條款之合理性探討

A Study on The Legitimacy of Removing Price Adjustment Clause from Public Works Agreements

蕭隆泉(Lung- Chiuan Shiau)

指導教授 ： 王隆昌

國立臺北科技大學/工程學院/土木與防災研究所/碩士(2013年)

摘要

公共工程在履約的過程當中，履約的期間較長。而營建物料的價格不論是在國際市場抑或是國內市場，常常是處於不斷波動的狀態。而且往往因為特殊的突發因素，諸如石油減產、砂石禁採…等等，連帶造成營建物料在短時間內鉅幅漲跌，超出在訂約當時甲乙雙方所得合理預見的範圍。
對於公共工程履約過程當中，無法避免的營建物價漲跌風險，我國的行政主管機關歷年以來亦公布了甚多的辦法與函文，且在採購契約範本中亦明文列舉物價調整的條款，希冀能公平合理分配因營建物價漲跌所產生的履約風險。
然而，在我國採購實務上，亦存有部分採購主辦機關或許基於預算限制的考量，在公共工程契約當中列入排除物調條款，要求承商放棄物調追加款，承擔全部的營建材料漲價風險。然而，此舉也相對造成當營建物價鉅幅下跌時，機關也不得向廠商追減工程款，並非全然有利於機關。
對於公共工程因營建物價波動所產生的風險，如果無法公平分配，勢必影響公共工程如期如質完工之理想，全民之利益亦皆有因公共工程延宕而受損之可能。本研究首先針對相關文獻及問題現況進行資料彙整，並透過函令搜集、對法院判決之案例進行法理分析、探討，對於現行公共工程物調政策提出研究見解。

關鍵字

物調條款 ； 公共工程 ； 營建物價

並列摘要

Public constructions usually take the course of planning, designing, signing of contract, construction, and final inspection. The duration of these contracts is usually longer than most standard agreements, and they frequently require large quantities of raw materials, equipment, funds, manpower…etc. All major domestic public construction is measured in years with common characteristics listed above.
Foreign politics and international economics both play an important role in the price of raw materials such as cement, gravel, iron and steel. On top of that, domestic policies, natural disasters, infrastructure construction and many other factors all affect the volatility of the cost. Due to these sudden increases and decreases of pricing, the relating branch of government has established multiple administrative orders and policies to combat this problem.
Faced with such predicament, Taiwan’s own government procurement agency often uses its authority to draft specific terms which require contractors to bear all increases in raw material cost. In addition, majority of our public construction contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder; so in order to win contracts, companies (bidders) not only slash profit, they also unwillingly accept unfavorable agreement terms. To make matters worse, most of these construction companies are on the smaller side, therefore highly vulnerable to these types of price fluctuations.
This reality has nourished an environment of repeated agreement disputes (litigation, mediation, and arbitration), wasted public resources, delayed construction schedule, and ultimately deprives citizen of benefits. With so many issues at stake, it’s obvious that these special or specific terms need to be examined.
Presently, contractors use Civil Code Article 227 Part 2 Section 1 and Civil Procedure Law Article 397 No. 1 to circumvent shouldering increased material cost; which basically states that if situations change and could not be foreseen after the contract is in force, the party at a disadvantage may file with the court to increase/decrease payment or request changes resulting from said situation.
Currently, courts in Taiwan have different views on whether these special terms are appropriate, thus cause varying results from mediations and arbitrations. Uncertain about the outcome stemming from these types of disagreements, lawsuits tend to drag on delaying construction, decrease quality of work, and end up costing everyone large sum of money.
No one has control over raw material price fluctuation, but these risks cannot be completely foreseen and shouldered by the contractors. There should be a fair and balanced way to approach issues arising from these fluctuations, but not through force or authoritative power. Only then will public construction be beneficial to everyone with a reasonable cost.

並列關鍵字

Public Constructions ； Construction Price Adjustment Clauses

參考文獻

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5. 最高法院98 年台上字第140 號判決（業主：嘉義縣政府）。

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