FIDIC contracts contain machinery for claims that become disputes to be referred to an independent Dispute Adjudication Board in the event either the Contractor or the Employer is not satisfied with the determination made by the Engineer.
June 6, 2019 | 2 minutes read
The International Federation of Consulting Engineers or, in french, the Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils, (“FIDIC”) contract constitutes a member of a suite of contracts with colour coded procurement and design options and is widely used in international projects for buildings and infrastructure.
The FIDIC Contract has roots in the UK standard form Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) infrastructure contract with the original FIDIC Red Book form delegating the contract administration function to the Engineer as the agent of the Employer.
Other FIDIC forms, such as the Yellow Book for design/ build and Gold Book for design/ build/ operate, also designate the contract administration function to the Engineer. The exception is the Silver Book for turnkey, which designates the Contract Administration function to the Employer or the Employer’s Representative.
The FIDIC Red Book is a construction contract with the Contractor performing the work based on the Employer’s provided design (design/ procure/ build).
The Silver Book and the Gold Book impose an obligation of ‘fitness for purpose’ on the Contractor for the construction aspects of the works, and when part of the scope is an obligation to provide a design that meets the contractual or Employer’s Requirements. There are additional obligations in the Silver Book for turnkey relating to design; namely for the Contractor to be responsible for the accuracy of the Employer’s Requirements and to use qualified professionals when preparing the design.
FIDIC Contracts contain machinery for claims that become disputes to be referred to an independent Dispute Adjudication Board in the event either the Contractor or the Employer is not satisfied with the determination made by the Engineer.
This form also contains a clause that permits the Contractor to request evidence from the Employer that the Employer is financially able to make payments during the course of the contract, with the provision to suspend or reduce the rate of work if such evidence is not provided.
There is also a clause that requires the Employer to notify the Contractor about any forthcoming claims that would entitle the Employer to compensation from the Contractor.
The FIDIC suite of contracts offers several procurement options, and is geared so that it can be (as it is) used on a variety of international projects. In addition to contracts for standard construction (Red Book), design/ build (Yellow Book) and turnkey (Silver Book), the FIDIC suite comprises agreements for other arrangements such as subcontracting (to accompany the Red Book), short-form (Green Book), design/ build/ operate (Gold Book), consulting (White Book), dredging (Blue Book) and bank financing (Pink Book).
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