Opening the second day of the Official FIDIC International Contract Users Conference on 3 December 2025, FIDIC’s vice president Manish Kothari reminded attendees that they were at the event not only to discuss contracts, but to embrace their greater purpose, which was shaping the future of infrastructure and the communities it serves.
“I am reminded of the late Dr. Nael Bunni, a FIDIC giant, who often said that a contract is not a battlefield – it is a framework of fairness, balance, and trust. When written with clarity and upheld with integrity, it becomes the strongest safeguard against conflict and the surest path to collaboration,” Kothari said. “As Confucius taught, ‘Make fair agreements and stick to them’. These words challenge us to lead with integrity, wisdom, and courage, recognising that contracts are not just documents, but instruments of fairness and collaboration that drive successful outcomes,” he said.
The first session of the day looked at how FIDIC contracts are being practically applied and adapted to meet the unique needs of various sectors and regions across the world. Jaime Gray, founding partner of the Lima-based construction law firm NPG Abogados, gave a fascinating and rapid overview of some of the public and private sector projects across Latin America that were using FIDIC contracts. Gray reported that the contracts were being used in many Latin American countries including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
Some of the projects highlighted by Gray were the Culverting of the Maldonado Stream and the Riachuelo Wastewater Treatment System in Argentina, the New Terminal Project at Quetzal Port in Guatemala, Rehabilitation and Expansion of the Manzanillo Port in the Dominican Republic, the CA5 and CA1 Highways in Honduras, the Panama Canal Expansion Third Set of Locks Project in Panama, the Diversion Channel of Belo Monte HPP in Brazil, the Quito Metro project in Ecuador, the Border Crossing El Amatillo in El Salvador, the Northern Extension of the Metropolitan Route in Lima, Peru, the Santa Teresa Hydroelectric Power Plant in Cuzco, Peru and the Seventh Pier, Port of Callao in Peru.
Alejandra Tello, regional general manager at Nippon Koei Latin America-Caribbean, spoke about the application of FIDIC Contracts in Latin American infrastructure projects and explained that the contracts require adaptation for a number of reasons including fragmented legal frameworks and varying procurement rules, a limited contract administration culture (notices, records, procedures), overlapping roles between the engineer, owner’s engineer and supervisor, frequent institutional and political changes and the need for early training to align teams with FIDIC procedures.
Egis director Silmara (Mara) De Assis e Silva talked about the use of FIDIC contracts on the Santa Rosa Expressway and the New Central Highway projects in Peru, while Hisham Al Zeir, director for commercial affairs at the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre (ADPIC), highlighted the use of FIDIC in Abu Dhabi where there were more than 600 projects currently in progress across the emirate with a with a total value exceeding AED 55bn. Al Zeir reported that ADPIC’s contract forms were primarily based on the FIDIC 1999 agreements incorporating key 2017 DAAB concepts and that they had conducted a full review to modernise the contracts of the Abu Dhabi Monitoring and Control Centre while upholding all FIDIC Golden Principles.
Sarwono Hardjomuljadi, president, of the Society of Construction Law Indonesia, spoke about adapting dispute avoidance in the FIDIC Conditions of Contracts to align with regional laws, cultures and practices. “FIDIC Conditions of Contract are the most frequently used standard forms of contract in the world and culture and country regulation are the most important factors to achieve successful dispute avoidance,” he said. He recommended that one of the dispute adjudication/avoidance board members should always be from the country where the project is located.
Pieter Mattelaer, group leader of project portfolio management at CERN in Switzerland, highlighted why CERN uses FIDIC contracts. He said that as an international organisation, CERN has to use “internationally recognised” construction contracts to facilitate bids from consultants and contractors from all member states and FIDIC contracts are recognised and used globally in many jurisdictions, on all types of projects. Another attraction was that FIDIC contracts are drafted in English and often translated into French and both are CERN’s official languages. Mattelaer also said that CERN also believes in the concept of (standing) DAABs, before arbitration (no referrals to CH/FR courts), another key component of FIDIC forms.
Rounding off the session, legal advisor to the FIDIC contracts committee Christopher Seppälä discussed the question of whether there is a need to develop international soft law of international principles for construction contracts. With FIDIC forms increasingly being used to deliver some of the world’s most influential construction projects, the FIDIC name is becoming synonymous with shaping the quality infrastructure of the future and the communities it serves.
FIDIC is grateful for the support it has received from the sponsors of the 2025 Official FIDIC International Contract Users Conference. Thanks go to platinum sponsors White & Case, Pinsent Masons and Lupa Technology and to gold sponsors Fenwick Elliott, CMS, HFW and ECV.
