Dutch construction contract law, like that of many other countries, is governed by general terms and conditions that have been drawn up by industry organisations or have been developed in a broader context. The year 2000 saw the introduction of a new set of general terms and conditions, the Uniform Administrative Conditions for Integrated Contracts (UAV-GC 2000). These are designed for situations where a contractor takes responsibility for both the design and the construction work. They were used as an experiment from 2000 to 2005 and the definitive text was agreed in 2005. This article compares the UAV-GC 2005 with FIDIC’s Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build (1999).2 Section 2 outlines the background to the UAV-GC 2005, and the ensuing sections discuss some key aspects of the document: Section 3, responsibility for the Employer’s Requirements; Section 4, fitness for purpose; Section 5, liability after completion; Section 6, representation; Section 7, soil conditions; Section 8, cost compensation and/or extension of time. Section 9 contains some concluding remarks.

The initiative to develop the Model Agreement with the corresponding UAV-GC 2000 was taken by the Information and Technology Centre for Transport and Infrastructure (CROW). The UAV-GC were written by two rapporteurs from the University of Tilburg, assisted by a “Working Party on Legislative and Administrative Frameworks”. The members of the working party came from the world of employers (i.e., clients) and contractors (construction contractors and consulting engineers) and academia. Once the texts were completed they were discussed with architects’ organisations, representatives of the insurance industry, etc.3