Research On The Validity Of Rural Housing Construction Contract

Rural housing construction contract is an agreement signed between the owner and the constructor for housing(1).According to the current provision on the cause of action of civil lawsuits,rural housing construction contract should be subordinated to contract dispute.However,for different types of contract dispute cases,their basic legal relationships,applicable legal basis,and the elements to take effect differ from each other.In terms of rural housing construction contract,some of the current practices of basic people's court trials classify them into labor service contracts;some into contracts of hired work;and some into construction project contracts.Regardless of the contract type for review,the identification of the validity of a rural housing construction contract is the prerequisite for resolving all disputes as only on the basis of validity identification of rural housing construction contract can we further determine the trial direction.However,the validity identification of rural housing construction contract depends on the judgment of the type of rural housing construction contract.At present,the rural housing construction market is chaotic due to weak legal awareness of rural natives in China and a reluctance or lack of corresponding laws and regulations and administrative standards.For example,there can be only an informal contract between the owner and the construction party;even if there is a formal contract,the terms may not meet all the norms and standards as stipulated in the contract law.In addition,the performances of rural construction teams vary from one another,the tools used to build houses are relatively underdeveloped,and most of the construction workers are local masons who lack corresponding qualifications and skills.These factors are very easy to lead to quality problems in the construction of rural housing,which can further lead to conflicts and disputes between the owner and the construction party,or even specific workers.Since such contradictions and disputes involve a wide range of issues and a long time has passed,they tend to be difficult to reconcile,causing a large number to flow into court,which not only increase the litigation costs of both parties but also put more pressure on the court.Besides,as rural houses are real estate,improper handling is particularly prone to intensify the contradictions between both parties,resulting in heavy economic burdens for both parties,social burdens and even social problems such as tangled visits and petitioning.Given that our laws have not yet made explicit provisions on the type and validity of rural housing construction contract and that such provisions on rural residents' self-built low-rise houses(one of the core disputes)are only dispersed in the government's administrative laws,regulations,and rules that may have been repealed or inconsistent with the actual situation in rural areas in China,the legal theory and practice circles in China fail to reach a unified understanding and standard on how to properly handle disputes arising from rural housing construction contracts.In view of the above factors and years of experience in dealing with disputes arising from rural housing construction contracts,the author comes to a conclusion that rural housing construction contract should belong to special construction project contract after analyzing the type of rural housing construction contract and the importance to identify its validity,analyzing the opinions of different scholars combined with relevant laws and regulations,and conducting in-depth comparative analysis of the scholars' viewpoints.Based on such conclusion,the author also defined the concept of rural residents' self-built low-rise houses and the method to identify the validity of rural housing construction contract and clarify the basis for identifying the validity of rural housing construction contract under different circumstances and the rules to whichthe law can apply,so as to find out the solution to disputes arising from rural housing construction contracts.Moreover,the author carefully analyzed and combed relevant problems existing in rural housing construction contracts and proposed corresponding solutions.Finally,the author hopes that through study the validity of rural housing construction contract,the methods for solving the validity identification of rural housing construction contract can provide some useful references to solve the chronic problems that have plagued the theoretical and practical circles for many years and make contributions to further standardize the contractual rights and obligations between the owner and the construction party,maintain a healthy and stable order in the rural housing market,realize the strategy of rejuvenating the countryside,and build beautiful countryside.