General terms and conditions

Construction contracts are not regulated by law. This gap has been addressed by experts representing both developers and contractors through the creation of general terms and conditions. Among the most important are he general terms and conditions for construction contracts (YSE 1998), general terms and conditions for consulting services (KSE 2013), and general terms and conditions for consumer contracts in the construction industry (RYS-9 1998).

Generally, these general terms and conditions become part of the contract simply by mentioning in the contract that they apply. Industry associations have balanced the rights and obligations of the parties in these general terms and conditions. Contracting parties do not need to focus on all contractual issues during contract negotiations or when entering into a contract because the basic content of the contract is already established in the general terms and conditions. This allows the parties to concentrate their resources more efficiently on technical aspects of the construction project.

On the other hand, parties to the contract can always disregard the general terms and conditions either in part or in whole. Given the complexity of construction projects, this is taken into account in the general terms and conditions, and many of them specify that the terms apply unless otherwise agreed. Deviating from the general terms and conditions should be carefully considered to avoid conflicting terms in the contract documents.