[Abstract]

In 2018, our lawyers accepted the entrustment of a water company to provide legal services for a water supply franchise project.

[Key words] water resources development franchise

[Project information]

The project belongs to municipal engineering franchise project. The government authorizes the client to construct, operate and maintain the project facilities, take water, treat raw water and supply water to the users within the franchise area within the franchise period. The government has the right to charge the water fee to the user according to the price standards determined by the government administrative department. The client shall charge the water fee to the user in accordance with the price standards determined by the government price administrative department The company shall bear its own investment costs, responsibilities and risks during the period, be responsible for the operation, maintenance and renovation of the project facilities, and be responsible for financing, design and construction of necessary project facilities in accordance with the determined planning conditions.

Since the original water intake area cannot meet the water supply needs of the whole area during the franchise period, it is necessary to change the water intake site and take water from the Yellow River. Therefore, the new pipe network and investment are needed. On the one hand, the franchising right of the client may be affected, on the other hand, if the investment is increased, the investment income of the client will be affected. Therefore, the lawyer of the Institute entrusts the lawyer to provide the above problems Legal services to protect the legal rights and interests of the client.

[Difficulty or novelty of the project]

One of the difficulties of this project is that the new pipe network construction and capital investment due to the change of water access land should be considered as the change of the original franchise contract or a new franchise project. The franchising unit shall be selected again in the bidding and mining procedure.

The second difficulty of this project is whether the client is the franchising unit of the new project, if it belongs to a new franchise project, can it directly determine whether the client is the franchising unit of the new project by using the single source procurement method, that is, whether it meets the requirements of the government procurement law and is suitable for single source procurement. Whether there is consistency or service matching requirements between the old and the new projects.

The third difficulty of this project is how to divide the new and old projects into areas if they belong to the new franchise projects. The raw water price increases due to the change of the water intake area, and how to deal with them in the original franchise contract.

[Lawyer response]

In order to complete the project, our lawyers communicate with the number of clients. First, from the perspective of the requirements of the project itself and compliance, the ultimate service objective is to ensure the legal compliance of the project according to the latest laws and regulations; secondly, how to connect the new and new franchising projects with the most important attention of the client, and provide on-site services to the project location Business, discuss the operation mode with the client and compare and analyze the corresponding legal risks; finally, according to the problems raised by the client, the legal solution shall be given at the first time. The major issues shall be solved in the way of legal interpretation, legal research and legal opinions.

[Achievements and summary of legal services]

By the end of 2018, our lawyers have reviewed the relevant agreements of the project and issued legal opinions. Currently, the project is in the process of implementation.