• Conditions of Contract for Construction
• Conditions of Contract for Plant and design-Build
• Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects

About the Principal Drafter
Peter L Booen FICE FCIArb is a civil engineer who started his career with a contractor (1965-72) before joining Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners (later GIBB Ltd) consulting engineers, UK. He has written and administered many engineering and construction contracts, both nationally and internationally, including those involving financial institutions. He has acted as adjudicator, conciliator, expert witness, and on dispute boards. He has been actively involved in FIDIC since 1993, as principal drafter of the Orange Book and its Guide, and the three major 1999 Books (Construction, Plant and Design-Build and EPC/Turnkey). He is a member of FIDIC's Contracts Committee and Chair of FIDIC's Assessment Panel for Adjudicators.

The Contracts Committee, and FIDIC, would like to especially acknowledge the extraordinary effort of Peter L Booen, the Principal Drafter of the Guide, as well as being the Principal Drafter of the 1995 Conditions of Contract for Design-Build and Turnkey (informally titled "The Orange Book"), the "Orange Book Guide", and the three "major New Books" of 1999, Conditions of Contract for Construction, Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build and Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects. The prodigious effort offered by Peter Booen to FIDIC, and to the the Consulting Engineering Industry, by these principal draftsman tasks, is impossible to evaluate, but is extremely high Peter shares, with his colleagues on the Task Groups and Contracts Committee, the gratitude of FIDIC, for these Task Group effortsMembers of the above Contracts Committee and Advisers, however, wish to acknowledge the nearly "single handed" effort of Peter Booen in drafting this FIDIC Contracts Guide, which was reviewed and commented upon by them all.

• "CONS": Conditions of Contract for Construction, which are recommended for building or engineering works designed by the Employer or by his representative, the Engineer. Under the usual arrangements for this type of contract, th Contractor constructs the works in accordance with a design provided by the Employer. However, the works may include some elements of Contractor-designed civil, mechanical, electrical and/or construction works.
• "P&DB": Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build, which are recommended for the provision of electrical and/or mechanical plant, and for the design and execution of building or engineering works. Under the usual arrangements for this type of contract, the Contractor designs and provides, in accordance with the Employer's requirements, plant and/or other works; which may include any combination of civil, mechanical, electrical and/or construction works.
• "EPCT": Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects, which are recommended where one entity takes total responsibility for the design and execution of an engineering project. Under the usual arrangements for this type of contract, the entity carries out all the Engineering, Procurement and Construction: providing a fully-equipped facility, ready for operation (at the "turn of the key"). This type of contract is usually negotiated between the parties.
• Short Form of Contract, which is recommended for building or engineering works of relatively small capital value. The Short Form of Contract is not covered by this Guide. In this Guide to the use of CONS, P&DB and EPCT, the word "Books" (with capital letter) is used when referring to the three publications: CONS, P&DB and EPCT. These Books were initially published as Test Editions in 1998, and the many reactions to them were reviewed before the First Editions were published in 1999.

This Guide was written by Peter L Booen and reviewed by the Contracts Committee which now comprises Michael Mortimer-Hawkins (Chairman), Christopher Wade, Axel-Volkmar Jaeger and Peter L Booen; together with John B Bowcock as Special Adviser and Christopher R Seppala as Legal Adviser. The commentary on Clause 18 was also reviewed by Mark Griffiths, Griffiths & Armour, UK. 

FIDIC wishes to record its appreciation of the time and effort devoted by all the above.

Each of the three Books is in three parts:

• General Conditions, the part which is intended to be incorporated (by reference) into each contract, and whose Sub-Clauses are often referred to in this Guide without the use of the word "Sub-Clause" (for example: "CONS 1.1");
• Guidance for the Preparation of the Particular Conditions, the part which is referred to in this Guide as "GPPC", which commences by proposing suitable wording to incorporate the appropriate General Conditions into a contract, and which concludes with annexed example forms of securities; and
• Forms of Letter of Tender, Contract Agreement and Dispute Adjudication Agreement, the part which is referred to in this Guide as "the Example Form(s)".

In this Guide, the texts in the Books are reproduced in a three-column layout. The texts should be identical to the corresponding texts in the Books, but the reader should refer to the Books in order to determine the necessary authentic wording in case of any discrepancy.

For the convenience of those who are familiar with the General Conditions of Contract contained in FIDIC's previous publications, the reference numbers of their sub-clauses which cover similar subject-matter are included within an insert box after these three-column texts reproduced from the Books, the sub-clause reference numbers being related to:

• "RB": Conditions of Contract for Works of Civil Engineering Construction 4th edition 1987 amended 1992 (which was commonly referred to as the Red Book)
• "YB": Conditions of Contract for Electrical and Mechanical Works 3rd edition 1987 amended 1988 (which was commonly referred to as the Yellow Book)
• "OB": Conditions of Contract for Design-Build and Turnkey 1st edition 1995 (which was commonly referred to as the Orange Book).

Although this Guide may include useful material for the training of personnel in procurement, it is not intended to provide complete training material for the expertise required for the preparation of tender documents. The comments in this Guide are intended to assist users of the Books who have such expertise, such users being those who write or administer building and/or engineering contracts.

The comments in this Guide are not exhaustive and are only intended to provide general guidance. They should not be relied upon in a specific issue or situation. Expert legal advice should be obtained whenever appropriate, and particularly before entering into or terminating a contract. Neither FIDIC nor the persons named in this Guide accept any responsibility or liability arising from any use of this Guide or of any other publication named herein.

FIDIC receives requests from time to time to assist in the interpretation of individual contracts which are based upon conditions of contract incorporating FIDIC publications. However, as the international federation of consulting engineers, FIDIC cannot undertake to give legal advice. For this reason, and because the legal interpretation of a contract will depend upon such matters as the precise wording of the various documents comprising the particular contract, as well as upon the governing law, FIDIC cannot assist in the interpretation of individual contracts.

Introduction to the Use of FIDIC's Conditions of Contract

Project Procurement

Procurement Documentation

Example Forms for the Letter of Invitation and Instructions to Tenderers

Clause 1  General Provisions

Clause 2  The Employer

Clause 3  CONS/P&DB: The Engineer; EPCT: The Employer's Administration

Clause 4  The Contractor

Clause 5  CONS: Nominated Subcontractors

Clause 5  P&DB/EPCT: Design

Clause 6  Staff and Labour

Clause 7  Plant, Materials and Workmanship

Clause 8  Commencement, Delays and Suspension

Clause 9  Tests on Completion

Clause 10  Employer's Taking Over

Clause 11  Defects Liability

Clause 12  CONS: Measurement and Evaluation

Clause 12  P&DB/EPCT: Tests after Completion

Clause 13  Variations and Adjustments

Clause 14  Contract Price and Payment

Clause 15  Termination by Employer

Clause 16  Suspension and Termination by Contractor

Clause 17  Risk and Responsibility

Clause 18  Insurance

Clause 19  Force Majeure

Clause 20  Claims, Disputes and Arbitration

Appendix General Conditions of Dispute Adjudication Agreement

Glossary of Contract Terminology

Index of Sub-Clauses