How do I create a worksite DGD?

The final general statement of account (DGD) is an essential document for the acceptance of work. In particular, it determines the payment entitlements of the parties involved. Everything you need to know about the Final General Settlement (DGD), including how it works, the elements that make up the document, how it is drawn up, the role of the parties involved, appeals and tacit DGD.

The Décompte Général Définitif, or DGD, is the document that brings ends a project, both financially and legally. It has a number of benefits:

• it validates the amount of work and initiates payment of the balance within a timeframe defined by the General Administrative Clauses (GAC);
• it sets the right to interest on arrearsinterest, i.e. an automatic percentage increase in the event of non-compliance with payment deadlines;
• it marks the starting point of the contestation period.

The DGD must therefore follow a specific procedure, since it can terminate the financial participation between all stakeholders.

It is essential to send the Décompte général définitif (final bill of account) to the damage-work insurance company: it makes it possible to state the final cost of the project, and avoid any disputes over coverage. Once the work has been handed over, the DGD serves as the official document for any disputes concerning the sums indicated.

The Décompte général définitif is made up of three different documents:

• The draft final account drafted by the contractor (see below), this document lists all services actually carried out, as well as the total amount due, exclusive of tax.
• Balance payment certificate This is based on the difference between the total amount of the draft final account and the last account submitted by the contractor.

Advance payment summary This is a summary of the monthly instalments paid by the contractor, indicating the dates on which they were paid and the balance still to be paid. This document is used to determine the amount of the general and final breakdown.

The DGD of a construction site concerns three parties involved in the work:

• contractor;
• the project owner ;
• the main contractor.

The Final General Settlement is made in several stages:

• the acceptance of the work is recorded in a procès-verbal (PV) by the project manager, accompanied by the works contract holder;
• on the basis of the PV, the contractor draws up a draft final account (PDF)which is forwarded to the client and project manager;
• after receipt of the PDF, the prime contractor must draw up the general statement of account within 30 daysand forward it to the client;
• the project owner also has 30 days to notify the contractor of the statement of account ;
• in turn, the contractor must notify settlement within 30 days.

At the end of this final stage, the Final General Settlement is officially established.

If the DGD drawn up by the project manager is accepted and signed by the contractor, the document becomes intangible and payment of the balance must be triggered within 30 days.

However, it is possible that the contractor does not agree with the general breakdown and does not validate it. In this case, he must send a statement of complaint to the project manager and the owner.

The contractor must specify the amounts of his claims, the necessary supporting documents and the basis for calculating the sums he is claiming. These declarations are analyzed and, if accepted, trigger payment of the undisputed sums within 30 days.

If this amicable procedure is unsuccessful, the contractor has 6 months to refer the matter to the competent administrative judge. The latter will then determine the balance of each party's contractual obligations.

Since 2014, an amendment to the CCAG travaux authorizes a so-called tacit procedure for the Décompte général définitif. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the project manager to delay drawing up the DGD in the event of a reservation when the work is handed over. To avoid this practice, thehe tacit DGD accelerates the settlement of sums due to the contractor..

Thus, if the draft final account remains unanswered for 30 days, the contractor may notify a draft general account which consists of the :

• draft final account ;
• draft balance statement ;
• summary of balance and monthly instalments.

On receipt of the documents, the project manager then has 10 days to draw up the DGD. If the documents are not returned within this period the draft statement of account becomes the official DGD.