DEFECT LIABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

Abstract

Under the Civil Law in Japan, the contractors shall be under strict liability for defective work, while they shall be under liability with negligence under the common law of England and the United States of America. In this paper, “good faith” which characterize the contractual environment of Japan is focused upon as the institutional complement condition. We point out that strict liability rule makes more efficient than negligence rule under the premise of “good faith”. Moreover, we give some prospects as to the construction contracts in Japan.