专业英语6.2.docVIP

6.2 The Parties of Contract Rights and Responsibility of the Owner Construction contracts typically reserve several rights to the owner. Depending on the type of contract and its specific wording, the owner may be authorized to award other contracts in connection with the work, to require contract bonds from the contractor, to approve the surety proposed, to retain a specified portion of the contractor’s periodic payments, to make changes in the work, to carry out portions of the work in case of contractor default or neglect, to withhold payments from the contractor for adequate reason, and to terminate the contract for cause.1 The right of the owner to inspect the work as it proceeds, to direct the contractor to expedite the work, to use completed portions of the project before contract termination, and to make payment deductions for uncompleted or faulty work are common construction contract provisions . By the same token, the contract between owner and contractor imposes certain responsibilities on the owner. For example, construction contracts make the owner responsible for furnishing property surveys that describe and locate the project site, securing and paying for necessary easements, providing certain insurance, and making periodic payments to the contractor.2 The owner is required to make extra payments and grant extensions of time in the event of certain eventualities provide for in the contract. When there are two or more prime contractors on a project, the owner may have a duty to coordinate them and synchronize their field operations. It is important to note that that the owner cannot intrude on the direction and control of the contractor’s operations. By the terms of the usual construction contract, the contractor is known at law as an “independent contractor”. Even though the owner enjoys certain rights with respect to the conduct of the work, it cannot issue direct instructions as to method or procedure, unreasonably interfere with construction op