JOHN CARLOS I

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following law.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

After ten years of promulgation of Law 31/1995 of 8 November, of the Prevention of Occupational Risks, and then its regulatory development, it is an incontestable fact that, in spite of everything, and the enormous efforts made by the different actors involved in the prevention of occupational risks (State, Autonomous Communities, Social Agents, Specialized Entities, etc.), there is a sector like that of the construction that, constituting one of the axes of the increase of our country, is subject to special risks and continues to register a Very notorious job claims for their numbers and severity.

There are numerous studies and analyses developed to assess the causes of such accident rates in this sector, without it being possible to attribute the origin of this situation to a single cause, given its complexity.

One of these factors may be related to the use of a form of productive organization, which has an important tradition in the sector, but has acquired in recent decades a special development in it, This is also a reflection of the productive externalization that occurs in other sectors, although in this one with special intensity. This form of organization is none other than the so-called "subcontracting".

It must be borne in mind that the hiring and subcontracting of works or services is an expression of the freedom of enterprise that the Spanish Constitution recognizes in its article 38 and that, in the context of a market economy, any form of business organisation is lawful, provided that it does not conflict with the legal order. In many cases, subcontracting allows for a higher degree of specialisation, for the qualification of workers and for more frequent use of the technical means employed, which has a positive impact on investment in new technology. In addition, this form of organisation facilitates the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in the activity of construction, which contributes to job creation. These aspects determine greater business efficiency.

However, the excess in the subcontracting chains, especially in this sector, besides not contributing any of the positive elements from the point of view of the business efficiency that is derived from the greater In the absence of a minimum organizational structure to ensure that they are in a position to meet their obligations to protect workers, it is necessary to ensure that they are in a position to meet their obligations. the health and safety of workers, in such a way as to involve them in the following chain and unjustified of subcontracting operates in detriment of the business margins and the quality of the services provided in a progressive way to the point that, in the last links of the chain, such margins are practically They do not exist, favoring the submerged work, just in the final element that has to respond to the conditions of safety and health of the workers who carry out the works. This is why the indicated excesses of subcontracting can facilitate the emergence of practices incompatible with safety and health at work.

Recognising this reality, this Law addresses for the first time, strictly sectorial, a regulation of the legal system of subcontracting which, recognizing its importance for the construction and the In the case of an increase in productivity, a series of guarantees aimed at preventing the lack of control in this form of productive organization from leading to objective situations of risk to the safety and health of the workers.

Those caufabrics are headed in a triple direction. Firstly, by requiring that certain conditions be met in order to enable subcontracting to be carried out from the third level of subcontracting to be met with objective reasons, in order to prevent any practices which may result in risks to safety and health at work. Secondly, requiring a number of quality or solvency requirements for companies to act in this sector, and strengthening these guarantees in relation to the accreditation of training in the prevention of occupational risks of their resources. The Commission has also been able to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Commission is able to take the necessary measures to ensure that it is not in the process of doing so. And, thirdly, by introducing appropriate mechanisms for transparency in construction work, through certain documentary systems and by strengthening the mechanisms for the participation of workers in the various companies involved. are involved in the work.

Finally, in order to ensure the effectiveness of this novel regulation in construction works, the Law introduces the necessary modifications of the current Recast Text of the Law of Infrastructures and Sanctions in the Social Order, adopted by Royal Decree-Law 5/2000 of 4 August, establishing the proper classification of the administrative offences which may result from the deficient application of this Law.

All this is structured in two chapters, on the subject and scope of the Law and definitions, the first, and the general rules on subcontracting in the construction sector, the second, with eleven articles, three additional provisions, two transitional provisions, three final provisions and an annex.

CHAPTER I

Object and Scope of Law and Definitions

Article 1. Object of the Law.

1. This Law regulates subcontracting in the construction sector and aims to improve the working conditions of the sector, in general, and the conditions of safety and health of workers, in particular.

2. The provisions of this Law are without prejudice to the application to the subcontracting to be carried out in the construction sector of the provisions of Article 42 of the Recast Text of the Law of the Workers ' Statute, approved by Real Legislative Decree 1/1995, of 24 March, and in the rest of the social legislation.

Article 2. Scope.

This Law shall apply to contracts concluded under subcontracting arrangements for the execution of the following works carried out in construction works:

Excavation; land movement; construction; assembly and dismantling of prefabricated elements; conditioning or installation; transformation; rehabilitation; repair; dismantling; demolition; maintenance; conservation and painting and cleaning works; sanitation.

Article 3. Definitions.

For the purposes of this Law:

a) Work of construction or work: any work, public or private, in which construction or civil engineering works are carried out.

b) Promoter: any natural or legal person on behalf of which the work is carried out.

(c) Optional address: the competent technician or technicians designated by the sponsor, responsible for the management and control of the execution of the work.

d) Coordinator in the field of safety and health during the execution of the work: the competent technician integrated in the optional direction, designated by the promoter to carry out the tasks established for this coordinator in the regulation of safety and health in construction works.

e) Contractor or principal employer: the natural or legal person, who assumes contractually against the promoter, with human and material means, own or foreign, the undertaking to execute all or part of the works with subject to the project and contract.

When the sponsor directly carries out all or certain parts of the work with human and material means, it shall also have the consideration of a contractor for the purposes of this Law; Contract is made with a Temporary Union of Companies, which does not directly execute the work, each of its member companies will have the consideration of the contractor company in the part of the work that it executes.

(f) Subcontractor: the natural or legal person who is contractually assumed by the contractor or other subcontractor to undertake the undertaking to perform certain parts or units of work, subject to the project by which he/she is rules its implementation. The variants of this figure may be those of the first subcontractor (subcontractor whose principal is the contractor), second subcontractor (subcontractor whose principal is the first subcontractor), and so on.

g) Self-employed worker: the natural person other than the contractor and the subcontractor, who performs a professional activity in a personal and direct manner, without being subject to a contract of employment, and who assumes contractually promoter, contractor or subcontractor the undertaking to perform certain parts or installations of the work. Where the self-employed worker employs employed persons in the work, he or she shall have the consideration of a contractor or a subcontractor for the purposes of this Law.

(h) Subcontracting: the business practice of a productive organisation under which the contractor or subcontractor instructs another subcontractor or self-employed person to take part in what he has been entrusted with.

(i) Subcontracting level: each of the steps in which the subcontracting process is structured for the execution of all or part of the work assumed contractually by the contractor with the promoter.

CHAPTER II

General rules on subcontracting in the construction sector

Article 4. Requirements for contractors and subcontractors.

1. In order for a company to be able to intervene in the subcontracting process in the construction sector, as a contractor or subcontractor, it must:

a) To have a productive organization of its own, to have the necessary material and personal means, and to use them for the development of the contracted activity.

b) Take the risks, obligations and responsibilities of the development of the business activity.

c) To exercise directly the powers of organization and direction on the work developed by its workers in the work and, in the case of the self-employed, to carry out the work with autonomy and self-responsibility and outside the scope of the organization and address of the company that has hired you.

2. In addition to the above requirements, companies intending to be hired or outsourced for the work of a construction site must also:

(a) Credit that they have human resources, at their managerial and productive level, that have the necessary training in the prevention of occupational risks, as well as a preventive organization appropriate to the Law 31/1995, of 8 of November, on the Prevention of Occupational Risks.

b) Be registered in the Register of Credit Companies referred to in Article 6 of this Law.

3. The contractors or subcontractors shall demonstrate compliance with the requirements referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 (a) of this Article by means of a declaration signed by their legal representative in the Register of Companies. Accredited.

4. Undertakings whose activity is usually contracted or subcontracted for the purpose of carrying out works in the construction sector must, in the terms to be determined in accordance with a number of employed workers of an indefinite nature, which shall not be less than 10% during the first eighteen months of this Law, or 20% during the months of the 19th to the thirtieth sixth, and not more than 30% from the beginning of the year. of the 30th month, inclusive.

Article 5. Subcontracting arrangements.

1. Subcontracting, as a form of production organization, may not be limited, except under the conditions and assumptions provided for in this Law.

2. As a general rule, the subcontracting arrangements in the construction sector will be as follows:

(a) The sponsor may contract directly with all the contractors it deems appropriate whether they are natural or legal persons.

(b) The contractor may contract with the sub-contractors or self-employed workers the performance of the work which he/she has contracted with the sponsor.

(c) The first and second sub-contractors may subcontract the execution of the work which they, respectively, have contracted, except in the cases referred to in point (f) of this paragraph.

(d) The third subcontractor may not subcontract any work it has contracted with another subcontractor or self-employed worker.

e) The self-employed person shall not be able to subcontract the work to the entrusted or other subcontractor undertakings or other self-employed workers.

(f) Furthermore, the subcontractors, whose productive organization put into use in the work, is fundamentally based on the contribution of labor, is also not able to subcontract, understanding itself as such that for the realization of the Contracted activity does not use more own work equipment than manual tools, including portable motorised equipment, even if they have the support of other work equipment other than those identified, provided that they belong to other companies, contractors or subcontractors, of the work.

3. By way of derogation from the preceding paragraph, where, in duly justified cases, due to the requirements of specialization of the work, technical complications of production or force majeure circumstances for which they may be to cross the agents involved in the work, it is necessary, in the opinion of the optional management, to hire some part of the work with third parties, exceptionally the subcontracting established in the previous paragraph may be extended an additional level, provided that its prior approval is made on the basis of the optional address; and the cause or motivating causes of the same in the Subcontracting Book referred to in Article 7 of this Law.

The exceptional extension of the subcontracting provided for in the preceding paragraph shall not apply in the cases referred to in points (e) and (f) of the preceding paragraph, unless the motivating circumstance is that of force majeure.

4. The contractor must bring to the attention of the safety and health coordinator and the representatives of the employees of the various undertakings included in the field of performance of his contract which are listed in the Subcontracting the exceptional subcontracting provided for in the previous paragraph.

In addition, it shall inform the competent labour authority of the exceptional subcontracting by means of the referral, within five working days of its approval, of a report in which it is indicate the circumstances of their need and a copy of the annotation made in the Subcontracting Book.

Article 6. Registration of Credit Companies.

1. For the purposes of the foregoing Article, the Register of Credit Companies, which shall be determined by the competent labour authority, shall be set up on the basis of that corresponding to the territory of the Autonomous Community where the registered office is situated. (a) the social part of the contractor or subcontractor.

2. The registration in the Register of accredited companies will be valid for the entire national territory, with its data being publicly accessible with the exception of those relating to the privacy of individuals.

3. The content, form and effects of the registration in that register, as well as the coordination systems of the different registers dependent on the autonomic labour authorities, shall be established.

Article 7. Duty of vigilance and responsibilities arising from their failure to comply.

1. The contractors and subcontractors involved in the construction works included in the scope of this Law shall be required to monitor compliance with the provisions of this Law by subcontractors and employees. self-employed persons with whom they are employed, in particular as regards the accreditation and registration obligations under Article 4.2 and the subcontracting arrangements as referred to in Article 5.

For the purposes of the foregoing paragraph, subcontractors shall communicate or transfer to the contractor, through their respective undertakings, where they are different from that, any information or documentation that affects the content of this chapter.

2. Without prejudice to other responsibilities laid down in social legislation, failure to comply with the accreditation and registration obligations required by Article 4.2, or the subcontracting regime laid down in Article 5, shall determine the joint and several liability of the subcontractor engaged in such non-compliance and of the relevant contractor in respect of the employment and social security obligations arising from the performance of the agreed contract which correspond to the subcontractor responsible for the non-compliance in the field of execution of his contract, whatever the activity of such undertakings.

3. In any event, the liability laid down in Article 43 of the Workers ' Statute shall be enforceable where the assumptions provided for therein are given.

Article 8. Documentation of the subcontracting.

1. In all construction sites, including in the field of application of this Law, each contractor must have a Subcontracting Book.

In this book, which must remain at all times in the work, it must be reflected, in chronological order from the beginning of the work, each and every one of the subcontracting carried out in a certain work with companies subcontractors and self-employed persons, their level of subcontracting and the principal undertaking, the subject matter of their contract, the identification of the person exercising the powers of organisation and management of each subcontractor and, where appropriate, the legal representatives of the employees of the same, the respective dates of delivery of the of the safety and health plan affecting each subcontractor and self-employed undertaking, as well as the instructions drawn up by the safety and health coordinator to mark the dynamics and development of the coordination procedure established, and the annotations made by the optional management on their approval of each exceptional subcontracting of those provided for in Article 5.3 of this Law.

The Subcontracting Book will have access to the promoter, the optional management, the coordinator of safety and health in the phase of execution of the work, the companies and self-employed workers involved in the work, the technicians of prevention, prevention delegates, the labour authority and the representatives of the employees of the various undertakings involved in the execution of the work.

2. In addition, each company must have the documentation or title that accredits the possession of the machinery it uses, and of the documentation required by the legal provisions in force.

3. The conditions set out in the Subcontracting Book referred to in paragraph 1 shall be determined in accordance with the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article, in respect of their habilitation regime, by the competent autonomic labour authority, as well as the content and obligations and rights. (a) a review of the various documentary obligations applicable to construction works with a view to achieving their unification and simplification.

Article 9. Workers ' representatives.

1. The representatives of the employees of the various undertakings involved in the execution of the work must be informed of the hiring and subcontracting in the work.

2. By sector collective agreement at the State level, systems or procedures for the representation of workers can be established through trade union representatives or bipartite representatives between employers ' and trade unions, with the the purpose of promoting compliance with the rules on the prevention of occupational risks in the construction works of the relevant territory.

Article 10. Accreditation of the preventive training of workers.

1. Companies shall ensure that all workers providing services in the works have the necessary and appropriate training for their job or role in the prevention of occupational risks, so that they know the risks and the risks involved. measures to prevent them.

2. Without prejudice to the legal obligation of the employer to ensure the training referred to in the previous paragraph, in the collective bargaining agreement of the sector, specific training programmes and specific sectoral content may be established. and for the jobs of each craft.

3. Given the characteristics of the construction sector, regulated or through collective bargaining at the state level, the form of accreditation of the specific training received by the worker concerned will be regulated. to the prevention of occupational risks in the construction sector.

The system of accreditation to be established, which may consist in the issue of a professional card or meat for each worker, will be unique and will have validity in the sector as a whole, and can be attributed to its design, execution and dispatch to joint bodies created in the field of collective bargaining at the state level, in coordination with the Foundation attached to the National Commission on Safety and Health at Work.

Article 11. Infringements and penalties.

The violations of the provisions of this Law will be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Order, Recast Text approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000 of 4 August.

Additional disposition first. Amendments to the Recast Text of the Law on Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Order, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000 of 4 August.

1. A new paragraph is introduced in Article 8 of the Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order, with the following wording:

" 16. Failure to comply with the rules on the limitation of the minimum proportion of contract workers, which is not included in the Law on Subcontracting in the Construction Sector and its Implementing Regulation. "

2. Two new paragraphs are introduced in Article 11 of the Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order with the following wording:

" 6. Do not dispose of the contractor in the construction work of the Subcontracting Book required by Article 8 of the Subcontracting Regulatory Law in the construction sector.

7. Do not have the contractor or subcontractor of the documentation or title that accredits the possession of the machinery used, and of the documentation required by the legal provisions in force. "

3. Three new paragraphs are introduced in Article 12 of the Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order with the numbers 27, 28 and 29 and the following wording:

" 27. In the area of the Subcontracting Regulatory Law in the construction sector, the following sub-contractor defaults:

(a) Failure to comply with the duty to accredit, in the form established legally or regulatively, that it has human resources, both in its managerial and productive level, that have the necessary training in prevention of occupational risks, and which has an appropriate preventive organisation, and registration in the relevant register, or of the duty to verify such accreditation and registration by the subcontractors with whom it contracts, unless appropriate rating as a very serious infringement, in accordance with the following Article.

b) Not to communicate data that allows the contractor to carry out the Subcontracting Book required in the Subcontracting Regulatory Law in the construction sector in order and to the day.

c) Proceed to subcontract with another or other subcontractors or self-employed workers exceeding the legally permitted subcontracting levels, without having the express approval of the optional address, or allowing in the scope of its subcontract for other sub-contractors or self-employed persons is incurred in the preceding case and without the circumstances referred to in point (c) of paragraph 15 of the following Article being met, unless appropriate their rating as a very serious infringement, in accordance with the same Article.

28. Serious infringements of the contractor are considered in accordance with the provisions of the Subcontracting Regulatory Law in the construction sector:

(a) Not to carry in order and to the day the required Subcontracting Book, or not to do so in the established terms.

(b) to allow, in the field of performance of its contract, subcontractors or self-employed workers to exceed the legally permitted levels of subcontracting, without having the express approval of the contract; Optional address and without the circumstances provided for in point (c) of paragraph 15 of the following Article not being met, unless their qualification as a very serious infringement is appropriate, in accordance with the same Article.

(c) Failure to comply with the obligation to accredit, in the form established legally or regulatively, that it has human resources, both in its managerial and productive level, that have the necessary training in prevention of occupational risks, and which has an appropriate preventive organisation, and registration in the relevant register, or of the duty to verify such accreditation and registration by the subcontractors with whom it contracts, and unless appropriate rating as a very serious infringement, in accordance with the following Article.

d) The violation of the information rights of workers ' representatives on the hiring and subcontracting that are carried out in the work, and access to the Subcontracting Book, in the established terms in the Law on the Regulatory of Subcontracting in the Construction Sector.

29. In the field of the Law of the Law of Subcontracting in the field of construction, it is a serious infringement of the promoter of the work to allow, through the action of the optional direction, the approval of the exceptional enlargement of the chain subcontracting where the reasons for the reasons set out in that Law are manifestly not present, unless their qualification as a very serious infringement is appropriate, in accordance with the following Article. "

4. Three new paragraphs are introduced in Article 13 of the Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order, with the following wording:

" 15. In the area of the Subcontracting Regulatory Law in the construction sector, the following sub-contractor defaults:

(a) Failure to comply with the duty to accredit, in the form established legally or regulatively, that it has human resources, both in its managerial and productive level, that have the necessary training in prevention of occupational risks, and which has an appropriate preventive organisation, and registration in the relevant register, or of the duty to verify such accreditation and registration by the subcontractors with whom it contracts, in the case of works with special risks according to the regulatory regulation of the same for works of construction.

b) Proceed to subcontract with another or other subcontractors or self-employed workers exceeding the legally permitted subcontracting levels, without having the express approval of the optional address, or allowing the in the field of performance of his subcontract other subcontractors or self-employed persons incur in the preceding case and without in this case the circumstances referred to in point (c) of this paragraph, in the case of works with special risks according to the regulatory regulation of the same for works of construction.

(c) The distortion in the data communicated to the contractor or its subcontractor, which results in the exercise of construction activities in breach of the subcontracting regime or the requirements legally set.

16. In the area of the Subcontracting Regulatory Law in the construction sector, the following breaches of the contractor:

(a) Allow, in the field of performance of his contract, to involve subcontractors or self-employed workers exceeding the legally permitted levels of subcontracting, without the express approval of the (a) optional management and without the circumstances provided for in point (c) of the preceding paragraph being met, in the case of work with special risks in accordance with the regulatory regulation of such works for construction works.

b) Failure to comply with the obligation to accredit, in the form established legally or regulatively, that it has human resources, both at its managerial and productive level, that have the necessary training in prevention of occupational risks, and which has an appropriate preventive organisation, and registration in the relevant register, or of the duty to verify such accreditation and registration by the subcontractors with whom it contracts, in the case of works with special risks according to the regulatory regulation of the same for works of construction.

17. In the field of the Law of the Law of Subcontracting in the field of construction, it is a very serious infringement of the promoter of the work to allow, through the action of the facultative direction, the approval of the exceptional enlargement of the a chain of subcontracting where the reasons for the reasons laid down in that law are manifestly not present, in the case of work with special risks in accordance with the regulatory regulation of such works for the works of construction. "

Additional provision second. Arrangements for subcontracting in public works.

The provisions of this Law will apply in full to the construction works included in the scope of the Law on Public Administrations Contracts, Text Recast, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2000, of 16 June, with the specialties derived from that Law.

Additional provision third. Collective bargaining and quality of employment.

With the aim of improving the quality of employment of workers who participate in construction works and thereby improve their health and safety at work, collective bargaining at the state level of the sector Construction may adapt the contractual mode of the contract of work or service provided for in general by means of formulas which guarantee greater stability in the employment of workers, in similar terms to those at present regulated in that area of negotiation.

First transient disposition. Application to the construction works in execution at the entry into force of the Law.

The provisions of Articles 4 and 5 of this Law, as regards the requirements of contractors and subcontractors and the subcontracting regime, respectively, shall not apply to construction works for which they are carried out. has started before the entry into force of the same.

Second transient disposition. Transitional application of the documentation of the subcontracting regime.

As long as the conditions and the manner in which the Subcontracting Book is regulated under Article 8 are not determined, the subcontracting arrangements provided for in Article 5 shall be documented by the completion of the information sheet. which is inserted as an Annex to this Law. The form of use of the tokens and access to the tokens will be carried out on the same assumptions and conditions as foreseen for the Subcontracting Book in this Law.

Final disposition first. Basic character.

This Law is dictated by the provisions of article 149.1.7. and in article 149.1.18. of the Spanish Constitution.

Final disposition second. Regulatory enablement.

The Government is authorised to make any provisions necessary for the implementation and development of this Law.

Final disposition third. Entry into force.

This Law shall enter into force six months after its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State".

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to keep and keep this law.

Madrid, 18 October 2006.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO

ANNEX

OUTSOURCING BOOK TAB

Contractor

Locality

Sheet No ________
A) IDENTIFYING DATA FROM THE WORK
PROMOTER
		NIF
Address		NIF
Coordinator.			NIF
		Locality
Locality

B) SUBCONTRACTING RECORD

N. order	Subcontractor or self-employed worker/NIF	Subcontracting level	N. order of the Principal (1)	Date start jobs	Object of the contract	Job address manager/workers ' representatives	Date delivery plan of sec. and health	Reference instructions of coordinator (2)	Signature of the subcontractor o worker	Approval of Address Optional (3)

(1) In this column the N. of order corresponding to the seat of the company that has outsourced the works to the subcontractor of this seat will be entered, leaving in white in case the principal is the contractor company.

(2) This column shall include, where appropriate, the reference of the sheets of the Incident Book to the security and health plan of the contractor in which the Security and Health Coordinator at the execution stage has carried out annotations on the instructions on the development of the established coordination procedure.

(3) Where appropriate, the approval of the subcontracting referred to in the seat by the Optional Directorate shall be recorded in this column, by means of the signature of the latter in this box and the indication of its date.

CONTRACTOR FIRM AND STAMP