Article 11. Principle of application of national sector collective agreements. Contribution defaults and late payments.

1. The national and territorial collective agreement in force for the sector and for the area in which the work is carried out, stipulated by the associations of employers and workers who are comparatively more representative on a national level and the one whose scope of application is strictly connected with the activity covered by the contract or concession carried out by the company, even predominantly. 2. In the notices and invitations, the contracting authorities and the granting bodies indicate the collective agreement applicable to the employees employed in the contract or concession, in compliance with paragraph 1. 3. The economic operators may indicate in their offer the different collective agreement they apply, provided that it guarantees the employees the same protections as that indicated by the contracting authority or the granting body. 4. In the cases referred to in paragraph 3, before proceeding with the assignment or award, the contracting authorities and the granting bodies acquire the declaration with which the identified economic operator undertakes to apply the national and territorial collective agreement indicated in the execution of the services covered by the contract for its entire duration, or the declaration of equivalence of protections. In the latter case, the declaration is also verified with the methods set out in article 110. 5. The contracting authorities and granting bodies ensure, in all cases, that the same regulatory and economic protections are guaranteed to workers in subcontracting. 6. In the event of contributory non-compliance resulting from the single contribution regularity document relating to personnel employed by the contractor or the subcontractor or by the subjects holding subcontracts and piece work, employed in the execution of the contract, the contracting authority withholds from the certificate of payment of the amount corresponding to the default for the subsequent direct payment to social security and insurance bodies, including, in the works, the construction fund. In any case, a withholding of 0.50 percent is applied to the progressive net amount of the benefits; withholdings can only be released at the time of final settlement, after approval by the contracting authority of the testing or conformity verification certificate, following issuance of the single document of contributory regularity. In case of delay in the payment of the salaries due to the personnel referred to in the first period, the sole manager of the project invites in writing the defaulting party, and in any case the contractor, to do so within the following fifteen days. If the validity of the request has not been formally and justifiably contested within the deadline referred to in the third period, the contracting authority also pays the outstanding wages directly to the workers during construction, deducting the relevant amount from the sums due to the awardee of the contract or from the sums owed to the defaulting subcontractor in the event that direct payment is envisaged. EFFECTIVE: July 1, 2023