What should a Small Building Works Agreement include under Thai law?

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. The Works and the Design
3. The Site
4. Building Permit and Construction Supervisor
5. Commencement and Time for Completion
6. Extension of Time
7. Materials, Workmanship and Testing
8. Changes
9. Safety, Labour, Neighbours and the Environment
10. Owner's Right to Inspect
11. Contract Price and Payment
12. Retention
13. Completion and Handover
14. Delay Damages
15. Defects Liability
16. Insurance
17. Liability and Indemnity
18. Subcontracting and Assignment
19. Site Records, Cameras and Personal Data
20. Force Majeure
21. Termination by the Owner
22. Termination and Suspension by the Builder
23. Termination by the Owner for Convenience
24. Consequences of Termination
25. Notices
26. Governing Law and Disputes
27. General

• A Thai version is required. Building a new home for a consumer is a controlled contract under a Consumer Protection Board notification, which requires the contract to be in Thai in legible print. Have the Thai version prepared, check that it says the same as this English version, and sign both (Clause 27.7).
• Check the title deed and your right to build. A foreigner cannot own land in Thailand in their own name; if the land is held by a Thai spouse, a company or under a lease or superficies, the person or company that holds the right to build should sign as the Owner.
• Check the licence numbers of the architect, the engineers and the construction supervisor named in Schedule 1 on the websites of the Council of Engineers and the Architect Council of Thailand.
• The Owner is the applicant for the Building Permit (Clause 4.1). Do not allow any work that needs the permit to start before it is issued. The local authority can order unpermitted work to stop and be removed, and the owner of the building bears that risk.
• After the permit is issued, the name of the construction supervisor and the supervisor's letter of consent must be notified to the local authority before work starts, where the law requires a supervisor.
• Initial every page of the Drawings, the Specification, the Bill of Quantities and the payment stages, so that the version to be built can be proved later.
• Before piling or excavation, walk around the neighbouring buildings with the Builder and keep the dated photographs (Clause 3.3). Most disputes with neighbours are about cracks that were already there.

• Pay a stage only after it is complete and you or your supervisor have checked it (Clause 11.3), and only to the account in Clause 11.4. Confirm any change of bank account by telephone with the person who signed the Agreement.
• A Thai company or partnership that pays the Builder withholds 3% of each payment for hire of work and gives the Builder a withholding tax certificate. An individual Owner does not withhold.
• Keep the concrete and pile test results (Clause 7.2) with the payment records. They are the best evidence of the quality of the structure.

• This Agreement is a hire of work contract. Stamp duty is 1 THB for every 1,000 THB or part of 1,000 THB of the Contract Price. On the Contract Price you entered, the duty on the original is the amount the system calculates from the figures entered, and each counterpart carries the amount the system calculates from the figures entered.
• The Builder pays the duty (Clause 11.7) within 15 days after signing. If the Contract Price is 1,000,000 THB or more, the duty must be paid in money to the Revenue Department rather than by stamps, and an electronically signed agreement uses the e-Stamp Duty system. An unstamped agreement cannot be used as evidence in a Thai civil court until the duty and a surcharge are paid. Changes that increase the price attract additional duty.

• Agree every Change in writing with the price and its effect on time before the work is done (Clause 8.3). If a Change needs an amendment of the Building Permit, apply for it before the work is done.
• Attend, or send your supervisor to, the inspections before foundations, reinforcement, waterproofing and concealed pipes are covered up (Clause 7.3).
• The Builder must claim an extension of time within 7 days after the cause of delay ends (Clause 6.2). Keep the Builder's notices and your replies.

• Inspect the Building with the Builder and your construction supervisor and give a written list of defects before accepting it (Clause 13). Collect the as-built drawings, test results, manuals, warranties, keys and the documents in Clause 13.4.
• If the Building is late, write on the handover document, or send an email on or before the day of Handover, that you reserve your right to delay damages (Clause 13.5). Under Thai law, accepting late work without reservation can lose that right.
• Before you move in or open for business, check whether the local authority must issue a certificate before the Building may be used, and that the Builder has delivered it.
• Diarise the dates to release the Retention (Clause 12.2).

• Structural defects are covered for 5 years after Handover, and other components and equipment for … months (Clause 15.1). Report defects in writing with photographs when you find them. Under the Civil and Commercial Code, a claim for a defect must be brought within one year after the defect appears, so do not wait until the end of the warranty period.

• A company signs through the director or directors named in its latest company affidavit, with the company seal if its rules require one. An individual signs personally.
• Keep the final signed file unchanged, together with all four Schedules and every agreed Change. A Thai court works in Thai, so a certified Thai translation of this Agreement and of English evidence will be needed if a case is filed.

Compiled from the notes that accompany the English contract templates on this site, published by Phuwara Krobtaku (ภูวรา ครอบตะคุ), Thai attorney-at-law, licence no. 477/2558. The short answer and summary at the top of this page are put together by the site from the template's clause headings and notes. Statutes are quoted only in the official Thai text: Thai is the only official language of Thai legislation, and an unofficial translation can mislead. Article registry OKC-B3B7B0. If you reuse this content, please credit the author and link to the original.