Apr 15, 2019 1:10 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Riad,
any contract provision can be supported by a penalty, if allowed by local law. Bad workmanship may translate into deliverables not conforming requirements (in a contract type where results are promised, often a fixed price) or people not adhering to work standards (in a contract where only professional work is promised, mostly time&material).
For example adhering to safety standards could be a contract clause, if broken, penalties could apply.
Penalities should motivate the seller to not breach the contract, if they are too low, the seller might decide to better pay penalties than fulfilling the contract. Penalties also should be able to cover the anticipated damage done bay a breach to the buyer.
Sometimes it is more motivating to use incentives instead. Then you need to have a minimal and a stretch goal.
If you work with penalties/incentives you need to administer them, some project use the role of claim manager.
Penalties could also apply to contractual obligations of the buyer, e.g. if the buyer does not deliver requirements in time. They also could be non-financial, like waivers.