The legal construct of adjustment of the contractual price due to changes in the prices of elements on the market, which is regulated in the Slovenian legislation by the Obligations Code and the Special Usages for Construction, is intended primarily to minimise the risks to which the contractor and the client are exposed due to sudden changes in market prices. Although the legal construct protects both parties, as it provides for the possibility of requesting adjustments of the price for both the contractor and the client, it is mainly used by contractors, as it is rare that the market prices fall unpredictably. The legislator introduced the mechanisms due to the specific nature of the construction contract, which is characterised by the duration of the performance of the obligations, which exposes both parties to a number of risks, including rapid increases in the prices of materials on the basis of which the parties determine the contractual price. Although this is a special form of the doctrine of changed circumstances, unlike the latter, the law provides for an out-of-court claim for the right to adjust the price (i.e. a unilateral claim), and the parties may request an amendment to the contract, rather than merely a termination of the contract, as is the case under the doctrine of changed circumstances. Of particular importance is the provision of Article 656 of the Code of Obligations, which provides that the contractor may request an adjustment of the contractual price, even if the parties have agreed in the contract that the contractual price is fixed, if the prices for the elements have increased to such an extent that the price for the works should have been more than 10 % higher. This provision is peremptory (i.e. ius cogens), meaning that it cannot be completely excluded by the parties, and as such it limits the contractual autonomy of the parties, but its purpose is to protect the contractor (or the client) against sudden and abrupt changes in the market which could have very serious consequences.
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