International Construction Law Review
NETWORK OF EXPERTS ON FIDIC CONTRACTS
DR ISSAKA NDEKUGRI
University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
Many international projects, especially those funded or supported by international banks and development agencies, are based on the FIDIC forms of contract. A particular feature of the use of international contracts is that information on disputes and problems in general rarely gets into the public domain because of the private nature of the Dispute Review Board/Dispute Adjudication Board proceedings and arbitration, the dispute resolution methods often used. The chances for users of the contracts to learn from the experience of others have therefore been very limited. Although commercially expedient and extremely useful, there is a disadvantage to this privacy in that knowledge can only be acquired through direct experience or through attendance at expensive international seminars, not a realistic option for project participants from developing countries.
We are pleased to draw to your attention an international network of expertise that has been established by three academics, with the financial backing of the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The network brings together experts on international construction contracts and users of the FIDIC family of contracts to form a network for sharing knowledge and experience.
The network is the first organised source of feedback on the use of FIDIC contracts that has representation from all stakeholders in international construction. It comprises academics from a wide cross-section of countries including Japan, the USA, Canada, Thailand and Hong Kong and international contracting companies, consulting engineers, construction lawyers, representatives of project owners and the international development agencies.
The study is concentrating on the four new standard forms of contracts produced by FIDIC in 1999. Knowledge of the operation of these contracts and potential sources of disputes is important for reasons of dispute prevention and efficiency. The aim of the study is to develop and disseminate such knowledge. It entails running multi-disciplinary workshops, conferences and on-line discussion in which specific issues will be subjected to critical examination by members of the network. Acknowledged experts will also be invited to submit papers on specific aspects of their expertise. Issues of particular interest include:
- extent of use of the forms
- amendments commonly made and reasons for them
- the emerging role of the engineer
- the authority of the engineer
- evidence of employer’s financial arrangement to be supplied to contractors
- value engineering
- risk allocation
- contractor’s claims
- employer’s claims
- dispute resolution by adjudication
- best practice in contract administration
- implications for contract policies of international funding agencies.
The project is being led by Dr Issaka Ndekugri (Principal Investigator) of the University of Wolverhampton, Professor Nigel Smith of the University of Leeds and Dr Will Hughes of Reading University. The study started in July 2004 and will run for three years. The activities of the network are being coordinated by a Network Management Committee comprising the investigators and four industry-based people of outstanding experience in international construction. The practitioner members of the Committee are:
- Dr Joachim Goedel, Head of the Legal Department of Hochtief International and representative for European International Contractors
- John Bowcock, Consulting Engineer and Former Chairman of FIDIC’s Contracts Committee
- His Honour Judge Humphrey LLoyd, QC, Judge of the Technology and Construction Court, England and Wales
- Nicholas Gould, Partner, Fenwick Elliott Solicitors
Each workshop/conference will be planned in the first instance by the research leaders and finalised at a meeting of the Network Management Committee. The workshops will be run at various locations with teams of academics and industry-based practitioners as facilitators. Seminars and meetings will be recorded to provide a record for the researchers to use as a basis for detailed analysis and reporting. The outcome of each workshop will be a report detailing the range of viewpoints expressed during discussions of the issues. The report will be available on the network’s website. A summary of the report will be published as a newsletter to members of the network in the first instance.
Membership of the network is still open. Developing countries, the Middle East and the Eastern European counties are currently under-represented. Members from these regions would, therefore, be most welcome. On account of the limited input by employers into the drafting of the FIDIC contracts, the project team are also particularly keen to have participation from representatives of organisations that take on the role of employer. If you
[2004
The International Construction Law Review
484