Concerning terms and conditions of construction works, several types of standardized forms are available in Japan as below.
Prepared by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)
- Standard agreements for public works contracts
- Standard agreements for private construction work contracts (A)
- Standard agreements for private construction work contracts (B)
- Standard agreements for construction work subcontractor contracts
Prepared by General Conditions of Construction Contract Committee in the joint association of major 4 bodies in the construction industry, “Architectural Institute of Japan”, “Associated General Contractors of Japan, Inc.”, “Architectural Association of Japan” and “Japan Federation of Architects & Building Engineers Associations”
- General Conditions of Construction Contract
Local construction works basically adopt one of these forms. It is the characteristic of Japanese construction industry that dispute hardly arise based on those forms. It is not because that those forms are well-made. It is because that unclear issue is borne by the contractor in many cases because of a lump sum contract.
When foreign capitals invest in facilities from overseas into Japan, we have experienced that they sometime feel uncomfortable to adopt those local contract forms because they are a little obscure comparing to others they are familiar with in their home country. Under those circumstances, we are ready to prepare international formats such as AIA contract document by the American Institute of Architects, FIDIC by International Federation of Consulting Engineers and so on.
