FIDIC has renewed and expanded a major agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that will now see the international funding organisation adopt the use of 12 FIDIC standard contracts for the next five years. AIIB is a multilateral development bank whose mission is “Financing Infrastructure for Tomorrow in Asia and beyond”, infrastructure with sustainability at its core.

Under the terms of the agreement, FIDIC has granted the AIIB a non-exclusive licence to refer to the 12 major FIDIC contracts (see list in notes below) for projects they finance and the documents will be used in some of the bank’s standard bidding documents. The list of contracts now includes the reprints of the 2022 FIDIC Rainbow Suite, the latest FIDIC Green Book 2021 and the reprint of Emerald Book 2023 contract for Underground Works and the Dredgers contract 2016.

The suite of contracts covered by the agreement with FIDIC covers a wide range of international construction and infrastructure work and the renewed contract with AIIB represents a further key endorsement for FIDIC contracts from a major international funding organisation, following similar agreements signed with the World Bank and many other multilateral development banks around the world.

FIDIC president Catherine Karakatsanis said: “I am delighted that the AIIB has renewed and expanded its agreement with FIDIC to be used as an accepted form of contract for use with their standard bidding documents. As well as this being another major development for FIDIC, we hope that this move will create more certainty in the market, as by facilitating the use of FIDIC contacts on major projects the AIIB is saying that they endorse the fair and balanced approach that these documents offer to parties on major construction contracts.

“The certainty that FIDIC contracts bring makes it easier to get projects underway, as many of the common commercial risks are clearly addressed in the contracts and all parties understand their obligations and responsibilities. FIDIC looks forward to the AIIB’s continuing endorsement of these contracts providing additional reassurance to the financial, institutional and private equity investors operating in the global market to adopt the use of FIDIC standard procurement contracts as an effective tool to mitigate the risks associated with major infrastructure projects and assets.”

The 12 FIDIC contract documents covered by the FIDIC/AIIB agreement are as follows: -

1. Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer (“Red book”), First edition 1999;
2. Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer (“Red book”), Second edition 2017, Reprinted 2022 with amendments;
3. Conditions of Contract for Plant & Design-Build for Electrical & Mechanical Plant & for Building & Engineering Works Designed by the Contractor (“Yellow book”), First edition 1999;
4. Conditions of Contract for Plant & Design-Build for Electrical & Mechanical Plant & for Building & Engineering Works Designed by the Contractor (“Yellow book”), Second edition 2017, Reprinted 2022 with amendments;
5. Conditions of Contract for EPC Turnkey Projects (Silver book), First edition 1999;
6. Conditions of Contract for EPC Turnkey Projects (Silver book), Second Edition, 2017), Reprinted 2022 with amendments;
7. Client/Consultant Model Services Agreement (”White book”), Fifth Edition 2017;
8. Conditions of Contract for Design, Build and Operate Projects (“Gold book”) First Edition 2008;
9. The Short Form of Contract (“Green Book”), First Edition, 1999;
10. The Short Form of Contract (“Green Book”), Second Edition, 2021;
11. Conditions of Contract for Underground Works (Emerald book), First Edition, 2019, Reprinted in 2023 with amendments; and
12. Form of Contract for Dredging and Reclamation Works, Second Edition, 2016.