On December 15, 2019, “Seminar on the Practice of Dispute Resolution and Hot Issues in EPC Projects” was successfully held in Jinan. The seminar was hosted by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Shandong Sub-commission (hereinafter referred to as “CIETAC Shandong Sub-commission) and the Permanent Forum of China Construction Law (PFCCL), and co-hosted by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shandong Mediation Center and Jinan Real Estate Association. Experts from the PFCCL and experts on CIETAC’s panel of construction projects expert review were invited to the seminar and discuss the hot and difficult issues in the dispute settlement in EPC projects. Mr. ZHAO Jian, Vice President of CIETAC and Secretary-General of CIETAC Shandong Sub-commission and Mr. ZHAO Lei, Chairman of Shandong Province Real Estate Association, Honorary Chairman of Jinan Real Estate Association were invited to attend the seminar and made speeches. Mr. JIA Shen, Deputy Secretary-General of CIETAC Shandong Sub-commission presided over the opening ceremony. 

（The venue of the seminar）

ZHAO Jian pointed out that, the construction industry is the pillar of our country’s national economy. It is of great significance to properly solve the disputes in construction and engineering to ensure the healthy development of economy and promote the implementation of the construction projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. In order to solve the construction disputes actively and prudently, CIETAC has been strengthening its professional team and platform by employing more than 350 Chinese and foreign experts in construction and engineering as arbitrators, promulgating "Construction Project Disputes Review Rules", setting up PPP Arbitration Center and publishing the panel of experts for construction disputes review, in order to provide the parties with diversified and international dispute resolution service with high-quality. He said that CIETAC Shandong Sub-commission will give full play to the overall advantages of CIETAC, and work with the legal and business communities in Shandong Province to improve the ability of legal risks prevention and dispute resolution of Shandong real estate enterprises and construction enterprises, making new contributions to Shandong's business environment under the rule of law.

(Opening remarks by ZHAO Jian)

ZHAO Lei mentioned that, the real estate enterprises and construction enterprises should pay great attention to the proper settlement of disputes in EPC construction projects and the smooth progress of construction projects. Aiming at better grasping and applying the corresponding laws and regulations in the field of construction projects by the construction engineering enterprises, managing the relevant legal risks and maintaining the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, the “Seminar on the Practice of Dispute Resolution and Hot Issues in EPC Projects” invited a number of experts and scholars in the field of construction and engineering to discuss the frontier issues in dispute settlement of EPC contracts, providing a valuable learning opportunity for local enterprises.

It is believed that the holding of this Seminar could provide theoretical support for enterprises in dealing with difficult problems in EPC projects and improve their ability to resolve risks by arbitration and other ADR methods.

(Opening remarks by ZHAO Lei)

The first session of the seminar was moderated by Mr. TANG Lei, convener of Working Group X of the PFCCL the and senior partner of All Bright Law Offices. Mr. WANG Dengshan, senior partner of Dentons gave his speech under the topic of "whether the non-tendering will result in the invalidation of EPC contracts if the project falls within the scope of mandatory bidding". WANG Dengshan made analysis to the relevant provisions in “Bidding and Tendering Law" and "Bidding and Tendering Law Implementation Regulations”. He believed that, the EPC contract shall be regarded as invalid for non-tendering if the project falls within the scope of mandatory bidding. At the same time, he also made analysis to the effectiveness of EPC contracts that are not requested to have public bidding with approval, and whether it is necessary to bid again for re-contracting of EPC contracts. Mr. LI Heng, Deputy Director of Shandong Zhongcheng Qingtai (Jinan) Law Firm, took the legal definition of general contracting as the entry point, and discussed several legal issues such as the liabilities after subcontracting. Mr. SUN Ninglian, Deputy Director of City Development Law Firm (Nanjing), gave a speech on the topic of "Effect of Qualification on the Effectiveness of EPC Contracts". He analyzed the requirements for design and construction qualifications in different legal and regulatory documents, and further explored the validity of the EPC contracts in the case that the general contractor does not have the qualification for design or construction in EPC projects. Mr. QU Xiaofei, partner of Grandway Law Offices (Shanghai), analyzed the applicability of the Supreme People's Court's judicial interpretation of construction contracts to disputes over EPC contracts with the metaphor of “cutting the feet to fit the shoes”.

(They are, from top to bottom, left to right: the moderator TANG Lei, speakers WANG Dengshan, LI Heng, SUN Ninglian, QU Xiaofei)

The second session of the seminar was moderated by Ms. ZHANG Xiaoxia, partner of Beijing Tiantai Law Firm. Mr. CHEN Jie, senior partner of Dentons, gave a speech on the topic "Effects of Risk Sharing on Contract Price in EPC Contracts", and made an introduction of the concept of EPC, the situation of breakthrough of the fixed total price, and the corresponding normative provisions. Mr. YUAN Haibing, senior partner of Guangxi Xinhe Law Firm, explored the determining of the extension of construction period in EPC projects. He mentioned that the parties' autonomy shall be respected, and at the same time, the differences between EPC and general construction contracting shall be considered, with reference to the relevant practice in FIDIC silver book. Mr. CHEN Xiaobo, senior partner of Capital Equity Legal Group, payed attention to the effect of change on the price under EPC model. He analyzed the owner's rights to change, the definition of change, the scope of change, the procedure for change, the change and price adjustment, and the difference between the change and claiming for damages. Mr. XU Yinzhe, partner of City Development Law Firm, discussed the liability for engineering quality defects in the case of unconventional EPC projects, and analyzed the understanding and application of relevant normative legal documents.

(They are, from top to bottom, left to right: the moderator ZHANG Xiaoxia, speakers CHEN JIE, YUAN Haibing, CHEN Xiaobo and XU Yanzhe)

Mr. ZHAO Jian made the concluding remarks for the seminar.

The seminar attracted more than 200 attendees including CIETAC arbitrators, experts and scholars, lawyers and representative from the real estate and construction industry.

(The attentive attendees of the seminar)

(Group photo of the speakers after the seminar）