Havrylov A. Contract as a risk allocation mechanism in construction: public administration aspect.

The thesis is devoted to researching public administration mechanisms guiding contractual relationships in construction. The work provides a theoretical summary of conceptual grounds for formation and functioning of public administration mechanisms in the field of contractual relationships in construction and suggests new approaches to resolving a scientific and theoretical task to start using a construction contract as a mechanism to allocate risks among the contract’s parties – stakeholders in investment and construction projects implementation. The thesis systematizes scientific researches focused on public administration in terms of allocating the risks among the contract’s parties – stakeholders in investment and construction projects and justifies a need to implement new risk allocation mechanisms taking into account the socio-economic relations between the national construction market stakeholders. The work suggests classification of risks in construction, which is based on researching their occurrence causes and factors and includes their decomposition into external and internal. The author researches the development stages and current state of public administration of contractual relationships and risks emerging in the course of investment and construction project implementation in Ukraine. He suggests new approaches to improving such mechanisms. Gaps and archaisms are found in terms of regulating the rights, obligations, and responsibility of parties, which emerged during transition to market economy. The thesis refreshes a necessity to adjust the legislation to the state’s development needs in general and construction sector in particular by introducing international practice of contractual relationships in construction. The author improves categorical and conceptual framework of the research object, in particular, concepts of “engineering” and “consulting” are separated, the concept of «client» is defined in the context of engineering and consulting services and offers his own definition of these terms. With a purpose of engaging an independent and impartial party – an engineering company – into fulfillment of investment and construction projects, the author is the first to propose a model form of engineering and consulting services contract in construction and reveal the essence, nature, specifics, and special features of such contract. As a reference appendix to the contract, he suggests a unified list of services that can be provided to construction clients and a pattern of risk allocation among the construction contract parties – stakeholders of the investment and construction project implementation. Legislation amendments are elaborated in the field of implementing the risk-oriented approach in investment and construction projects fulfillment through applying the construction contract as a risk allocation mechanism, i.e. using a risk allocation protocol as a mandatory appendix to the construction contract. There are suggestions for improving public regulation of contractual relationships by authorizing self-regulated organizations in the architecture and construction sphere to develop model contract forms for corresponding sectors. Keywords: public administration mechanisms, risk, risk-oriented approach, contractual relations, construction contract, engineering, consulting, engineering and consulting services.