On December 4, 2025, a key amendment to the Civil Code (Journal of Laws 2025, item 1508) entered into force. It modifies the principles of the investor’s joint and several liability for subcontractors’ remuneration. The main purpose of the new regulation is to allow the parties to a construction contract to more flexibly define the deadline for filing an objection to a subcontractor, while maintaining the protective role of the provisions concerning the investor’s joint and several liability.
According to Article 6471 of the Civil Code, the investor is jointly and severally liable with the contractor for payment of the subcontractor’s remuneration for the construction work performed by the subcontractor if the subject of the work has been notified to the investor in writing (under pain of nullity) and the subcontractor has not filed a written objection. However, this liability has its limits – its limit is the amount of remuneration payable to the general contractor (so-called pro viribus patrimonii liability). Under the previous legal framework, the investor had a thirty-day deadline to file an objection to a subcontractor’s notification specifying the detailed scope of the planned construction works. This deadline was mandatory, which in many cases led to an unjustified extension of the construction process.
The legislator introduced certain changes in this regard. The new provision of Article 6471 § 11 of the Civil Code allows the investor and general contractor to freely stipulate a shorter deadline in the contract – „The objection referred to in § 1 shall be filed within thirty days of the date of delivery of the notification referred to in this provision to the investor. In the contract, the investor and the contractor (general contractor) may stipulate a shorter deadline for filing an objection.” The previous, rigid deadline is therefore no longer mandatory.
To standardize the timeframe, a new Article has also been introduced. 6471 § 12, Civil Code, which in turn states that the deadline for filing an objection specified in the contract with a subcontractor or in contracts with sub-subcontractors cannot be shorter than the deadline stipulated in the contract between the investor and the general contractor.
Of particular importance for construction market participants is the transitional provision of the amending act, which introduces the application of the new law to construction contracts concluded before the effective date of the amendment. This means that the parties to contracts concluded before the entry into force of the discussed amendment gain a flexible tool enabling them to renegotiate the terms of their cooperation. This measure will significantly shorten the waiting time for approval of the work submitted by subcontractors, thus accelerating their entry onto the construction site.