1. With respect to the public works set forth in Part II, and with the exclusion of the contracts set forth in Part IV, Title III, awarded by contracting authorities and contracting entities, or by the licensees, if after recording reservations of rights in the accounting documents the economic value of the work might vary between 5 and 15 percent of the contractual amount, the provisions set forth in paragraphs 2 through 6 shall apply in order to reach an amicable agreement.
2. The procedure for an amicable agreement shall regard all of the reservations of rights recorded until the time of the initiation of such procedure and can be reiterated when the recorded reservation of rights, which are additional and different with respect to those already reviewed, again reach the amount set forth in paragraph 1, within the scope, however, of the overall maximum limit of 15 percent of the contractual amount. The requests to enforce claims that were already the object of reservations of rights cannot be proposed for amounts that are greater than those quantified in such reservations of rights. Design aspects that were the object of control pursuant to Article 26 cannot be the object of a reservation of a right. Before approval of the testing certificate or the control of conformity or the certificate of completion of the work, regardless of the amount of the reservation of rights, the sole person in charge of the procedure shall initiate the procedure for an amicable agreement to resolve the registered reservations of rights.
3. The site manager or contract manager shall immediately communicate to the sole person in charge of the procedure the reservations of rights set forth in paragraph 1 and shall send his own confidential report in the shortest amount of time possible.
4. The sole person responsible for the procedure shall assess the admissibility of the reservation of rights and that it is not manifestly groundless for the effective attainment of the value limit set forth in paragraph 1.
5. The sole person in charge of the proceedings, within 15 days from the communication set forth in paragraph 3, having obtained the confidential report of the site supervisor and, if there is one, of the testing body, can request the Chamber of Arbitration to indicate a list of five experts having specific competence in relation to the object of the contract. The sole person in charge of the procedure and the party that formulated the reservation of rights shall jointly select from the list the expert to be entrusted with the formulation of a reasoned proposal for an amicable agreement. In the case of the failure to agree between the sole person in charge of the proceedings and the party who formulated the reservation of rights within fifteen days from the transmission of the list, the expert shall be appointed by the Chamber of Arbitration, which shall also establish his remuneration, using as a reference the limits established by the Decree set forth in Article 209, paragraph 16. The proposal shall be formulated by the expert within ninety days from appointment. If the RUP does not request the appointment of an expert, the proposal shall be formulated by the RUP within ninety days from the communication set forth in paragraph 3.
6. The expert, if appointed, or the RUP, shall verify the reservation of rights together with the party that formulated it, conduct further hearings, prepare the matter, including by collecting data and information and obtaining other opinions, and, after having determined and verified the availability of suitable economic resources, shall make a proposal for an amicable agreement that shall be sent to the competent manager of the contracting authority and to the party that formulated the reservation of rights. If the proposal is accepted by the parties within forty-five days from its receipt, the amicable agreement shall be concluded and a record shall be prepared to be signed by the parties. The agreement has the nature of a settlement. With respect to the amounts recognized at the time of the amicable agreement, interest shall be due at the legal rate starting from the sixtieth day following the acceptance of the amicable agreement by the contracting authority. If the proposal is rejected by the party that formulated the reservation of rights or after the term set forth in the second clause has expired without result, recourse can be made to arbitration or to the ordinary court.
6-bis. In the case of the rejection of the proposal for an amicable agreement or after the term has expired for acceptance without any result, the company can initiate legal proceedings within the following sixty days, on penalty of forfeiture.
