International Construction Law Review
SWEDEN - AB 04—NEW SWEDISH GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT
TORE WIWEN-NILSSON
Mannheimer Swartling, Malmö, Sweden
Introduction
Sweden does not have a Civil Code or Commercial Code as is the case in many other countries. The law applicable to construction is derived from other sources of law. This has led parties who are frequently engaged in construction projects to develop standard contracts for construction.
By far the most commonly used construction contract form in Sweden is the General Conditions of Contract for Building, Civil Engineering and Installation Works of 1992 (hereinafter “AB 92”, “AB” being an abbreviation of the Swedish words for “general conditions”). AB 92 is intended for projects where the employer is responsible for the design of the works.
AB 92 was prepared by the Swedish Construction Contracts Committee, which is an organisation consisting of the Swedish Construction Federation, the Swedish Association of Building Proprietors, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities, the Government via the National Board of Public Building and the Fortifications Administration, and other organisations within the Swedish construction industry. The conditions of contract of the “AB series” were first issued in 1954 (at that time “AB 54”). Revised editions have been issued over the years.
After substantial negotiations, the organisations involved in the Construction Contracts Committee have now agreed on AB 04, which means that AB 04 replaces AB 92. My purpose here is to summarise some important amendments made in AB 04 as compared with AB 92.
Order of precedence of the contract documents etc.
If the employer wants to stipulate amendments to AB 04 in the administrative provisions that form part of the contract, the amendments must now be listed in a separate specification in the administrative provisions (AB 04, chapter 1, §3, item 2).
[2006
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