International Construction Law Review
THE CONTRACTOR’S VIEW ON THE MDB HARMONISED VERSION OF THE NEW RED BOOK
RICHARD APPUHN
Salini Costruttori SpA
ERIC EGGINK
NABU 1
Since the publication of the New Red, Yellow and Silver Books in 1999, EIC has published three EIC Contractor’s Guides
to this new FIDIC suite of standard contract forms. All of them have been reproduced in this Review
2
. In the case of the FIDIC 1999 New Red Book, Conditions of Contract for Construction, our in-depth study of the update and discussions with FIDIC led us to the conclusion that, whilst it does not present the same high degree of risk as the new EPC Turnkey Contract form (the Silver Book), it was more onerous than its precursor, the Fourth Edition of the old Red Book (1987), to the extent that the publication of a guide was justified.
As was the case with the Fourth Edition of the old Red Book, FIDIC’s New Red Book has now been incorporated by the World Bank as the General Conditions of Contract in its Standard Bidding Documents for Works, however, in a modified version in order to suit their special requirements. In the light of the ongoing process of drafting Master Procurement Documents to be used to issue harmonised procurement documents for construction projects for which the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) are providing finance, it is expected that the other MDBs will soon follow the World Bank incorporating the so-called MDB Harmonised Edition of the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction.3
EIC has been invited by FIDIC as a so-called “friendly reviewer” to review the MDB Harmonised Version of the New Red Book that was, at the outset, to become the Second Edition. EIC was initially surprised about the early update of the 1999 Edition, as the Fourth Edition of the old Red Book (1987) is still very much in use in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Of course, we had hoped to find at least some of the concerns which had been voiced in our EIC Contractor’s Guide to the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction
1 Richard Appuhn and Eric Eggink are Members of the Working Group “Contract Conditions” of European International Contractors (EIC). Other members of the group, who have reviewed the text, are Michel Démarre (Colas), Chairman; Håkan Broman (NCC International); Francine Gural (Sade); Ulrich Jünemann (HOCHTIEF); and Chris Parker (Taylor Woodrow).
Pt 1]
Contractor’s View on MDB Harmonised Version
5