Legislation on works
A telecommunications installation in a public hospital is contracted, carried out and accepted under rules that have existed since 1947. Knowing them is part of the trade.
01Public works
Law 13,064, of 1947, defines national public works as any construction, work or industrial service carried out with funds of the National Treasury. It remains in force, with its implementing regulations, and each province has its own law with a similar structure (in the province of Buenos Aires, Law 6021). A telecommunications network for a public hospital, a road signaling system or the electrical installation of a school are public works.
What distinguishes it from a private construction project is that the State cannot freely choose whom to contract with or negotiate the terms: it has to follow a procedure that guarantees equality among bidders, publicity and the best offer for the public interest.
02How it is contracted
The rule is the public tender (licitación pública); the private tender and direct award are exceptions that the law lists, such as low amounts or emergencies. The typical sequence:
- Design and tender specifications: the agency prepares the design, the official budget and the specifications —general conditions, particular conditions and technical specifications—.
- Call and publicity: it is published with the advance notice set by the rules.
- Bids: bidders submit their proposal with a bid bond; the bids are opened in a public ceremony.
- Evaluation and award: the contract is awarded to the most advantageous bid, which is not always the cheapest.
- Contract: the awardee posts a performance bond and signs.
| Contracting system | How it is paid | When it is suitable |
|---|---|---|
| Lump sum (ajuste alzado) | A global price for the whole work | Complete and well-defined design |
| Unit price (unidad de medida) | Unit prices for the quantities actually executed | Uncertain quantities: meters of conduit, network points |
| Cost plus (coste y costas) | The actual cost plus a percentage | Only exceptionally, for urgency |
03Execution: who is who
| Role | Represents | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Site inspection (inspección de obra) | The client (the State) | Checks that the design and the contract are complied with, approves the work and issues service orders |
| Technical representative | The contracting company | A licensed professional who answers technically for the execution and signs the request notes |
| Designer | Whoever commissioned the design | Answers for the design and its calculations |
Formal communication is done in writing, in two books: the book of service orders (órdenes de servicio), from the inspection to the contractor, and the book of request notes (notas de pedido), from the contractor to the inspection. What was not recorded in those books is very hard to claim afterward. The work is paid for with periodic payment certificates based on the measured progress, from which a percentage is withheld as a retention fund (fondo de reparo) until acceptance.
The work ends with two acts: provisional acceptance, when it is completed, which opens a warranty period in which the contractor corrects any defects that appear, and final acceptance, when that period expires, which releases the bonds and the retention fund.
In long contracts with inflation, prices are updated under a regime of price redetermination, which at the national level is regulated by Decree 691/2016.
04Private construction
In private construction, the work contract of the Civil and Commercial Code applies, and the parties negotiate the terms. But the State is still present through the municipal police power: the building code requires a building permit with drawings signed by licensed professionals, inspections during construction and a final inspection in order to authorize occupancy. The roles are similar to those in public works: the construction supervisor represents the client, the builder executes and their technical representative answers for them.
05Standards for installations
| Topic | Reference standards |
|---|---|
| Electrical installations in buildings | AEA regulations (90364 series), mandatory where a legal rule adopts them |
| Safety on the construction site | Law 19,587 and Decree 911/96 for construction |
| Structured cabling | TIA-568 and ISO/IEC 11801 standards, with channel certification |
| Antennas and radio systems | ENACOM rules and, for the structures, municipal codes |
| Fire detection and alarm | IRAM standards and the requirements of the building code and of the local fire department |
06Where it shows up in electronics
| Situation | What you need to know |
|---|---|
| Quoting the installation of a municipality’s cameras | Read the three sets of specifications, the bid bond and the contracting system |
| Being the technical representative of an installation company | Signing the request notes and answering for the execution |
| A change requested by the inspection during the work | Require it by service order and record its cost by request note |
| Installing an alarm system in a private building | Work contract, regulations and, where applicable, a municipal permit |
07Activities
Find on the national or a provincial public procurement portal a tender for an electronic installation, and identify the contracting system, the bonds, the deadlines and the technical requirements.
Write a service order requesting a change in the location of a rack, and the request note with which the contractor responds, indicating the additional cost.
Find out what the local building code requires to authorize an antenna on the roof of a building.
08Common mistakes
- Bidding without reading the complete specification. What was not priced but the specification required is built anyway.
- Accepting verbal changes from the inspection. Without a service order, the additional cost is hard to collect.
- Confusing provisional and final acceptance. The bond and the retention fund are only released with the final one.
- Negotiating with the State as with a private party. The procedure and the specification govern.
09Self-assessment
Which law regulates national public works?
Law 13,064, of 1947.
What is the difference between the site inspection and the technical representative?
The inspection represents the client and oversees; the technical representative represents the contractor and answers for the execution.
Which contracting system is suitable when quantities are uncertain?
The unit-price system.
What is released with final acceptance?
The bonds and the retention fund.
10Further reading
- Roberto Dromi. Licitación pública. Ciudad Argentina (in Spanish). The procedure for selecting the State’s contractor, step by step.
- Juan Carlos Cassagne. El contrato administrativo. Abeledo Perrot (in Spanish). The State’s contracts, including public works, with their prerogatives and guarantees.
- Law 13,064 and Decree 691/2016. Obras públicas y redeterminación de precios. InfoLEG (in Spanish). The national regime now in force, which is worth reading in full before the first tender.