What is the management mode of agent construction system and what are its characteristics?

The so-called "agent construction system" refers to the project construction management system in which the government selects a professional project management unit through bidding, signs an agent contract, is responsible for the organization and implementation of the project construction, and assumes the responsibility of controlling the project investment, quality, construction period and construction safety, and then hands it over to the user after the project is completed and accepted. During the construction period, the construction unit shall act as the project legal person in accordance with the contract.

the development of agent construction system in China can be traced back to 1993, when Xiamen first adopted government departments to replace project users in some infrastructure and social welfare government investment projects, and entrusted professional project management units to explore the management mode of project construction management.

since then, the state has intensified its research on the management mode and system of "agent construction system". In July 24, the Decision on the Reform of Investment System was issued, which proposed: "The agent construction system should be accelerated for non-operating government investment projects, that is, professional project management units should be selected to be responsible for the construction and implementation through bidding, and the investment, quality and construction period of the projects should be strictly controlled, and then handed over to the users after completion and acceptance. Enhance the awareness of investment risks and establish and improve the risk management mechanism of government investment projects. " We began to expand the application and promotion of the management mode of "agent construction system" nationwide.

from the core essence, "agent construction system" is actually a project construction management system model, its main application field is non-profit government investment projects, and its system development is also mainly driven by the strength of local governments. At present, different characteristics of agent construction model are formed nationwide.

1. Characteristics of practice mode of agent construction system in different places

The domestic "agent construction system" management mode shows different characteristics of practice mode, which mainly includes: principal-agent contract mode, designated agent contract mode and tripartite agent contract mode.

Principal-agent contract mode

means that the competent government investment department establishes a "project legal person" with legal person qualification or designates a department as a "project owner", who will determine the construction agent by bidding and sign a construction contract with the construction agent.

designated agency contract mode

means that the government investment department directly adopts the bidding method to determine the project agent, and the project user and the agent sign the agent contract.

tripartite construction contract mode

means that the government investment department determines the project construction unit by bidding, and signs a tripartite construction contract with the project user and the project construction unit.

comparing the three modes of agent construction contract, the main difference lies in the signing subject of agent construction contract, and different signing subjects will have different influences on the implementation and management of agent construction project.

1

in the principal-agent contract mode, the government investment department signs a contract with the agent, and the project user as the agent does not participate in it, which makes it difficult to give full play to the enthusiasm of the user, and even makes it difficult for the user to assist and cooperate, which increases the difficulty of engineering construction.

2

in the designated agency contract mode, the project user signs a contract with the project agent, and the government department as the project investor does not participate. The project funds are controlled by the user, which is not conducive to the use of project investment funds by government departments and the supervision and management of the implementation of agent construction projects.

3

In the tripartite agent contract mode, the government department, the user and the agent are the main parties to sign the contract. Compared with the first two agent contract modes, it can avoid the problems of low enthusiasm of the user, investment fund management and project construction supervision. Objectively speaking, government departments and users all have the power to restrict the construction agent, which is easy to cause practical management problems in the implementation of the construction agent project. Under this contract mode, the rights, obligations and responsibilities of all parties should be strictly stipulated and their respective rights and obligations should be balanced.

2

Management mode of agent construction system

Risk characteristics of agent construction unit

Theoretically, agent construction system is different from other management modes, that is, the word "agent construction", which means that agent construction unit and other contract subjects should be a principal-agent relationship in essence. The agent construction unit collects management consulting fees by providing management services that meet the contract requirements, and does not bear the risk that the project cost is out of control.

but in practice, in order to ensure the investment effect, government departments or project users often add the risk responsibility of the agent to the overall project construction in the agent contract. Of course, due to the huge investment in construction projects, the long construction period and the complex and changeable risk factors, it is understandable that the construction agent, as the actual person in charge of project management implementation, bears some project risks. But what needs to be noted here is whether the risk responsibility and risk return of the agent construction unit are balanced.

the income of the agent construction unit mainly comes from two aspects, namely, on the one hand, the agreed agent construction management fee is charged, which generally does not exceed 7% of the management fee of the construction unit stipulated by the finance; On the other hand, after the completion of the project, if the final investment is less than the investment agreed in the contract, the agent can participate in a certain proportion of the share.

however, at present, the competition in the domestic agent construction market is fierce, and the lower limit standard of agent construction management fee is not clearly stipulated in the relevant documents for implementing the agent construction system in some areas. Influenced by the principle of winning the bid at a low price in the bidding activities of the agent construction units, many agent construction units reduce the agent construction management fee once and then to ensure the price competitiveness, leaving little profit. Under such circumstances, the agent construction unit has to share some project risks with the investor, and its actual risk responsibility and risk return are obviously unbalanced.

This is in sharp contrast with the general contracting management mode. Although the contractor in the general contracting management mode also bears great project risk responsibility, even greater than the agent construction system, the contractor's contract profit margin is considerable, and the risk responsibility and risk income are relatively balanced compared with the agent construction system.

In addition, in the management mode of agent construction system, the role and position of agent construction unit is also quite special. On the one hand, the law has not formally granted it the legal status recognized by it, and in related construction management activities, such as the handling of various procedures, the traditional construction party still needs to handle it; On the other hand, government departments or project users, as participants in the agent construction contract, are relatively strong in the actual construction management activities because they have the right to invest funds. For example, in the bidding activities of construction units, the construction management of the agent construction units is affected.

the management mode of agent construction system is an exploration and attempt in the development of engineering construction management in China, but at present, the management mode of agent construction system is in the initial stage of development in China, and some institutional problems still need to be further developed and improved. The agent construction unit under the management mode of agent construction system should do a good job in risk assessment and risk response of the corresponding agent construction projects, effectively deal with the corresponding agent construction risks by using new technologies and new management methods, improve the risk income and improve the agent construction management system.