In China, the audit of ** engineering projects is an important national management activity, which aims to ensure the compliance, efficiency and safety of the use of financial funds. However, in practice, some problems may arise in the audit process, such as the contract payment being cut by hundreds of thousands of dollars by the audit, which brings trouble to the engineering contractor. This article will take a practical case as an example to analyze how to protect your rights and interests in this situation.
First of all, we need to clarify the basic process of the first engineering project. **The project usually adopts the method of public bidding to select the contractor, and the two parties sign a contract after winning the bid, clarifying the scope of the project, quality standards, progress payment, etc. After the completion of the project, Party A (** unit) will organize the audit department to audit the project and pay the balance according to the audit results.
In this case, the contractor undertook a contract amount of more than 3 million yuan, and after the completion of the project, only 50% of the progress payment was paid. The final payment needs to wait for the audit report. However, in the course of the audit, the audit department proposed to cut more than $300,000 on the grounds that the budget had been prepared incorrectly. This was very confusing for the contractor, because the contract clearly stipulated the lump sum price, and the work should be settled according to the contract after the completion of the work.
Faced with this situation, the first thing the contractor should do is to fully understand the specific audit opinion and basis of the audit department. According to the relevant laws and regulations of our country, the audit department should follow the principles of objectivity, impartiality and fairness in the audit process, and strictly follow the audit procedures. If the contractor believes that there is a problem with the audit results, the following actions can be taken:
1.Actively communicate with the audit department: understand the audit basis and reasons of the audit department, explain their own views and positions, and strive to reach a consensus. In the process of communication, the contractor can provide relevant evidence, such as contracts, budget preparation instructions, bills of quantities, etc., to prove their legitimate rights and interests.
2.Negotiation settlement: If the audit department insists on the original audit results, the contractor can negotiate with Party A and require Party A to pay the balance according to the contract. During the negotiation process, the contractor can emphasize the responsibilities of the audit department in the audit process and ask Party A to coordinate and solve the problem.
3.Legal means: If the negotiation fails, the contractor may consider taking legal steps to protect its rights and interests. According to the Contract Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and regulations, the contractor may file a lawsuit with the people's court in accordance with the law to require Party A to pay the balance in accordance with the contract. In the course of litigation, the contractor needs to provide sufficient evidence to prove its legitimate rights and interests.
4.Trade Association Support: Contractors can seek help and support from trade associations. Industry associations usually have rich industry experience and resources, and can provide professional legal advice and policy support for contractors to assist contractors in protecting their rights and interests.
In short, in the audit process of the first project, if the contractor encounters the situation that the contract money is cut by the audit, it should fully understand the audit opinions and basis of the audit department, actively communicate and negotiate with the audit department and Party A, and take legal means and industry association support when necessary to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, the first unit should also strengthen the management of the audit department to ensure the objectivity, fairness and fairness of the audit process. construction site