Courts: the state customer can coordinate additional work in correspondence and without an agreement
The customer accepted the result of the construction contract, it was terminated by agreement. The contractor demanded to pay for additional work, which was provided for in the project documentation, but not in the estimate.
The customer refused:
additional work was not coordinated. The reserve for unforeseen expenses has been exhausted. This was stipulated in the agreement;
they have already made a deal with another person to fulfill them.
Three instances recovered the debt and state duty from the customer:
the contractor has repeatedly informed the customer that there are works in the project documentation that are not in the estimate. Their failure threatened the validity and durability of the result. This was confirmed by a specialist;
additional work is not independent. Although the customer did not deny this, he unfairly placed a separate purchase on them, which misled potential contractors;
the parties did not conclude an agreement on the disputed works. However, it follows from the correspondence and the behavior of the customer that they were agreed.
Recall that, as a general rule, the customer cannot be charged for additional work that was performed without his consent.
Document: Resolution of the AC of the Far Eastern District of 26.08.2022 in the case N A59-3530/2020