According to Art. 4 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights" No. 2300-1, the contractor is required to provide the customer with the appropriate quality. Moreover, he must meet the deadlines for the provision of services. In the contract for the provision of services, the parties agree and establish parameters for the period, as well as other conditions.
The contractor can handle the load in less time. But in the case of a longer duration, it is believed that he violated the contract. For this comes responsibility. According to Art. 708 of the Civil Code, the contractor is responsible for violation of any period provided for by the agreement. If he starts work in a timely manner or performs it for so long that completion by the time specified in the contract becomes impossible, the customer can refuse it and demand compensation, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 715 of the Code. Articles of the Civil Code relating to the contract also apply to the provision of services, unless otherwise provided by law.
In the article we will analyze the question of what are the terms for the provision of services under a service agreement. At the same time, we take advantage of the provisions of the above Law of the Russian Federation, as well as the Civil Code, some other federal laws and legal acts of the courts.
The concept
The terms relating to the terms of the contract for the provision of services are understood to mean the period during which the contractor undertakes to perform all work related to the provision of the service from beginning to end, as well as the end of the necessary stages.
Both parties must agree on this. After determining the period, they can allocate appropriate resources, money to fulfill their obligations, plan activities and so on.
If it becomes necessary to apply to the court, this instance recognizes the term as an essential condition. If this moment is not provided for in the contract, then it may be declared invalid. This is stated in article 432 of the Civil Code. In certain cases, the deadlines for the execution of the contract for the provision of services are considered essential conditions on the basis of the relevant legal acts, for example, according to the "Rules for the provision of wireline broadcast communication services" of the RF RF No. 353.
To agree on this moment, the parties should:
- Indicate the initial and final period.
- Establish intermediate steps.
- Determine the terms in accordance with the provisions specified in articles 190-194 of the Civil Code.
If the terms are not specified in the contract, and they were recognized as an essential condition, then the parties are not entitled to demand the fulfillment of the terms of the agreement.
Start and end of contract
In the initial period, the contractor begins to perform the service, and in the end - ends this process. These points are recognized as essential terms of the agreement on the basis of paragraph 1 of Art. 708 and Art. 783 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. For it to be recognized as a prisoner, it is necessary to provide for one and the other term.
The relevant conditions can be formulated in the agreement as follows: “Services provided for by the contract must be provided in the following terms:
- Beginning of the service period
- The end of the service period ___ ________ 20__. ”
The term for concluding a service agreement can be provided in the main document or in the annex to it. Information on this can be found in the Definition of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. VAS-2047/10, No. VAS-485/10, Resolution of the FAS MO No. KG-A40 / 3853-10-2 and other documents.The annex must necessarily contain a reference to the contract, as well as in the main document - a link to the application.
In an agreement, this condition can be formulated as follows: “Under this agreement, services must be provided during the period specified in Appendix No.__, which is an integral part of the agreement.”
If the contract for the provision of services does not specify a period (neither start nor end), the courts shall recognize the agreement as not concluded. This entails negative consequences both in terms and in terms of the contract as a whole.
In certain areas, the term of the contract for the provision of services of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and other legal acts is established. An example is article 16 of the Law on Postal Communications No. 176-FZ. In resolving this issue, the parties should remember that the established periods should not conflict with the deadlines specified in the law. This is stated in paragraph 1 of Article 422 of the Civil Code.
This moment can be formulated as follows: “Services provided in accordance with the contract are provided during the period provided for in paragraph 2 of Art. 16 of the Law "On Postal Communication" No. 176-FZ ".
Separate stages
The interim period is determined by the end of the established phase of the service provided. Coordination of these dates is not mandatory. But the customer should agree on this, especially if the services will be provided for a long time or are complex, and therefore it is necessary to additionally monitor the progress of fulfillment of obligations by the contractor. For example, an agreement has been concluded with the company to conduct audits in different tax periods. In this case, the auditor should prepare an opinion with respect to each reporting period.
The Contractor must understand that in case of violation of the period of the agreed intermediate stage, he is legally liable for failure to comply with the terms of the agreement. So, the customer can recover a penalty or compensation for damages. However, the liability extends to the customer, for example, in case of violation of the payment terms under the service agreement.
To coordinate the relevant periods, it is necessary to highlight certain stages and approve the list, as well as the scope of services for them. It also sets the beginning and end of each individual stage. The completion of the last of them means the provision of services in full.
This condition can be formulated as follows: “The Contractor will begin to fulfill the order no later than December 1, 2019, and complete it no later than July 1, 2020. Moreover, he undertakes to comply with the following deadlines for the provision of services:
- Stage 1: legal verification of documents - until April 1, 2020
- Stage 2: legal due diligence of documents and preparation of conclusions based on the results of 2 inspections - until July 1, 2020 ”
When approving interim periods, the parties may draw up a schedule, indicate in it the name of the service, the amount of work, as well as the start and end periods of each of them. The schedule is drawn up as an application. At the same time, the reference to the main document is indicated in the application, and to the application in the contract.
If the interim terms of the contract for the provision of services are not agreed, the contractor must complete them in full before the expiration of the only period provided for by the agreement.
Dates associated with a date or event
When establishing the terms of the contract, the provisions specified in Articles 190-194 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation are taken into account. According to them, periods can be determined by a specific date, expiration, or the occurrence of a specific event. The wording in this case may be as follows: “The Contractor undertakes to provide water delivery services from 01.03.2019 to 01.12.2019”.
If you need to bind a term to an event, you can define it after the end. For example, the completion of the reporting deadline for the provision of audit services for the relevant period.Then the wording will look something like this: "Services under this agreement are provided within a month after the end of the tax period."
Inevitability of event
The term is determined along with such an incident, which is bound to occur, that is, is inevitable. Inevitable is an event that occurs regardless of the actions or will of the parties to the agreement and other persons. But we must understand that this method of coordination is less reliable, since first you need to evaluate the inevitability of the event. And this fact is established by the court based on the specific circumstances of the case.
If the terms are determined in a different way than those established in Articles 190-194 of the Civil Code (that is, the initial and / or final period is indicated), the court may declare them inconsistent. As a result, the parties will not be able to demand the fulfillment of the conditions, including the application of appropriate measures, according to Art. 330, as well as claiming damages in connection with a violation of the terms of the contract.
The same applies to a case in which an event is indicated that is not inevitable. So, the courts do not classify as such the execution of certain actions by the customer, for example, the payment of an advance payment or the provision of any documents.
Agreement validity
The validity of the service agreement is considered the period during which the terms of the agreement are valid and in accordance with it all obligations are fulfilled. At the same time, the contractor provides services, and the customer requires them.
When coordinating the relevant period, you should pay attention to:
- Methods for determining the duration of a service agreement.
- Use of the terms of the agreement by the parties prior to its signing.
- The procedure for fulfilling obligations beyond its validity period.
If this condition is not agreed, the agreement is valid until the parties fulfill their obligations.
The terms for the provision of services under a service agreement should be determined in accordance with the norms provided for in Articles 190-194 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This means the following:
- A specific date on the calendar is determined, if the parties know it. This is stated in various judicial acts, for example, in the Decision of the FAS of the Ural District No. 09-4665 / C5.
- The expiration of time after the completion of some event. This is stated in the Definition of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. VAS-2262/10.
- An indication of such an event, the onset of which is inevitable. An example of this is the end of the validity period of a permit document for an executor to perform certain work.
Validity of the contract until its conclusion
In the agreement, the parties may agree on the condition under which its provisions will apply until the moment of conclusion. This may be necessary when the parties entered into legal relations in fact, for example, on the basis of an oral agreement. After that, they decided to fix them with an agreement. The document in this case is required to detail the cost, fixation on paper of rights and obligations, as well as responsibility. If there is a corresponding agreement, the parties have the right to demand the fulfillment of obligations not only during the contract validity period, but also before its conclusion, when there were actual relations.
In this case, the following wording may be used: "The terms of the contract apply to legal relations that took place before the conclusion of the contract."
However, one must understand that this condition does not mean at all that the parties have obligations before the conclusion of the contract. On this basis, they cannot demand compensation for damages, penalties and other penalties for violations provided for by the agreement. Information on this is contained, for example, in paragraph 6 of the Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court No. 66.
If the terms of the agreement do not agree on the relationship that took place before its conclusion, the parties cannot demand the fulfillment of the obligations stipulated by the terms of the agreement.Thus, the contractor cannot demand payment for its services at the price set in the agreement. Relevant services are paid based on the usual tariffs applicable for such work.
If a party has provided services before the conclusion of the contract, they will not be included in the account of its execution. Amounts that were paid prior to the signing of the agreement, in turn, do not cover obligations regarding payment for those services that were provided during the term of the agreement. Then the contractor can recover the debt and demand to pay a penalty if the payment has been delayed.
Termination of the contract
The agreement may include a clause stating that after the expiration of its validity period, the parties cease their respective obligations. Then, after the termination of the contract, neither one nor the other party will be able to do anything or make claims under the agreement. The condition can be written as follows: "This agreement comes into force on January 1, 2019 and is valid until January 1, 2020. After the expiration of the contract, the obligations are terminated."
But this agreement does not mean that the parties will not be liable for violation of those obligations that were committed during the agreement. If there is no clause on the termination of the contract, the agreement continues to operate until the parties fulfill their obligations, unless otherwise specified by law.
Responsibility of the Parties
After the agreement expires, the contractor can provide services and recover money from the customer, as well as the penalty stipulated by the agreement or interest for using other people's money, taking into account the time after the expiration of the agreement. On the other hand, the contractor itself is not entitled to refuse to indemnify the customer if they arise as a result of non-performance or improper performance of the obligations stipulated by the agreement. At the same time, the customer must know that he will not be able to demand an advance payment after the completion of the term for the provision of services under the service agreement, even when they were not provided.
Prescription
To appeal to the court, as well as on any civil procedural issues, its own time intervals are provided. So, with regard to statutes of limitations on service agreements, you need to know the following points:
- The maximum statute of limitations, according to the Civil Code, is generally 10 years.
- Calculation begins from the moment of receipt of information on violation of the terms of the contract.
- The maximum limitation period under a service agreement is 3 years.
- This period may be suspended, renewed or restored (by court).
- This condition should be reflected in the contract as a separate clause.
Conclusion
The terms of the agreement are considered essential terms. Without them, the contract can be invalidated, which means that neither the customer nor the contractor can demand the fulfillment of its conditions if the terms for the service contract are violated (if, for example, the parties have agreed on this orally).