Relationship Between Obligation to Complete Work and Defect Liability in Software Development Contracts

Chi-Wang Ok
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Abstract

Today, as the use of computers, communication, and automation equipment increases, the demand for development of software used in hardware is also increasing, and software development contracts are also frequently signed. In the case of software development contracts, the development requirements or the details of what developers have to do at the time of signing the contract are often not specifically determined in the contract, resulting in a lot of disputes regarding “Whether the work has been completed” or defect liability. Therefore, in this study I examined the content of an obligation to complete work and defect liability and the relationship between them so that it can be used as a reference in resolving or preventing wasteful disputes at software development sites. In the case of software development contracts, as it is difficult to expect the delivery of a complete product without any defects, the criteria for determining the completion of work is somewhat eased compared to ordinary contracts for work, so the ordering party cannot deny “work completion” due to minor defects. Therefore, if there is a minor defect in the software delivered by the developer after completing the development of it, the ordering party must acknowledge the completion of the work and pay compensation corresponding to the completion of the work, and the ordering party can only claim defect liability for such minor defect against the developer. In other words, the wider the scope of defects to be resolved by the defect liability, the narrower the scope of defects recognized as the incompletion of work, so it can be said that the obligation to complete work and the defect liability have a complementary relationship. In addition, even if the work as a whole is incomplete, in certain cases, remuneration may be paid for the completed part. If this research results can be referenced for the software development contract practice, consumptive disputes arising from unjust denial of the completion of work due to minor defects can be prevented, and disputes that have occurred can be reasonably adjusted. However, in order to more actively protect small software development companies, it is necessary to clarify the obligation of the contracting party through legislation. Therefore, in Chapter 4 of this study, I made legislative suggestions.
软件开发合同中完成工作义务与缺陷责任的关系
今天,随着计算机、通信和自动化设备的使用增加,对硬件中使用的软件开发的需求也在增加,软件开发合同也经常签订。以软件开发合同为例,在签订合同时,开发需求或开发人员必须做什么的细节往往没有在合同中明确规定,从而导致了很多关于“工作是否已经完成”或缺陷责任的争议。因此,在本研究中,我检查了完成工作的义务和缺陷责任的内容,以及它们之间的关系,以便它可以用作解决或防止软件开发站点中浪费的争议的参考。在软件开发合同中,由于很难期望没有任何缺陷的完整产品的交付,因此确定工作完成的标准相对于普通的工作合同有所放宽,因此定作方不能因轻微缺陷而否认“工作完成”。因此,如果开发人员交付的软件在完成开发后存在较小缺陷,定作方必须承认工作完成,并支付与工作完成相对应的赔偿金,定作方只能就该较小缺陷向开发人员索赔缺陷责任。换句话说,缺陷责任要解决的缺陷范围越广,被认定为工作未完成的缺陷范围就越窄,因此可以说,完成工作的义务与缺陷责任具有互补关系。此外,即使工作作为一个整体是不完整的,在某些情况下,报酬可以支付已完成的部分。如果本研究成果可以为软件开发合同实践提供借鉴,可以防止因小缺陷不公正地拒绝完成工作而产生的消耗性纠纷,也可以对已经发生的纠纷进行合理调整。然而,为了更积极地保护小型软件开发公司,有必要通过立法来明确缔约方的义务。因此,在本研究的第四章,我提出了立法建议。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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