Alongside the plenary and parallel sessions at FIDIC's Global Infrastructure Conference 2026, three dedicated legal and contracts forums brought together adjudicators, dispute board practitioners, legal specialists and contracts professionals from across the world – a reminder that legal and contracts work sits right at the heart of what FIDIC does. All three sessions were run as facilitated, table-based discussions designed to gather real-world experience from around the globe, with feedback to be fed back to FIDIC's legal team following the conference.

FIDIC Contracts Forum – FIDIC Contracts Across the Globe

The Contracts Forum explored how FIDIC Contracts are applied in practice across different regions and infrastructure sectors worldwide, bringing global experience from one region into conversation with another. Delegates were divided into facilitated tables to share real-world experiences, challenges and lessons learned from implementing FIDIC forms in diverse project environments, working through three sub-topics: regional practices and trends in the use of FIDIC Contracts; successes and challenges in their application; and where AI is likely to take contract management over the next five years.

The forum was co-moderated by Daduna Kokhreidze, FIDIC's Chief Legal and Contracts Officer; Enni Soetanto, a FIDIC Board Member; Vincent Leloup, Chair of the FIDIC Contracts Committee; and Gagan Anand, a member of the Contracts Committee. Eight tables were led by discussion leaders drawn from a genuinely international spread of jurisdictions, including the Netherlands, Qatar, the United States, Turkey, India and Angola, each tasked with feeding a short summary of their table's takeaways back to the moderators after the forum.

Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Forum – Part A: Dispute Board Site Visits

Part A of the Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Forum opened with a welcome address from FIDIC President Alfredo Ingletti, before moderator Daduna Kokhreidze presented FIDIC's upcoming Practice Note IV on Site Visits – guidance on the role of Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Boards (DAABs) in conducting site visits and on effective strategies for preparing and managing them. The forum's brief describes regular DAAB site visits as a cornerstone of dispute avoidance under FIDIC contracts, enabling early identification of issues, structured dialogue and the gradual building of trust between parties.

Delegates worked in facilitated groups covering ten distinct tasks within the draft Practice Note – from preparation and planning, through attendance, first and subsequent site visits, health and safety, the site tour and site visit meeting and reporting, to virtual site visits and professional standards. Table leaders came from Switzerland, Germany, Zambia, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and France, with their feedback intended to directly inform the Practice Note's finalisation ahead of its publication at FIDIC's International Contract Users Conference in London this December.

Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Forum – Part B: Dispute Boards Across the Globe

Part B turned to how Dispute Boards are being used around the world under FIDIC Contracts to promote dispute avoidance and efficient resolution on construction and infrastructure projects. Co-moderated by Daduna Kokhreidze and Nina Tsaturova, the session split delegates into tables to share real-world experience of Dispute Board implementation and practice, working through three sub-topics: the global use of Dispute Boards, Dispute Adjudication Boards and Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Boards, and the regional practices and trends behind that use; lessons learned, both successes and challenges, in applying Dispute Boards; and the key challenges and considerations shaping their future.

The session also welcomed a special guest host, 17-year-old Keira K Kapila, a future construction lawyer from India, who welcomed delegates to open proceedings – reinforcing FIDIC's commitment to involving the younger generation in its work.

Table leaders for this session were drawn from Mauritius, Georgia, Germany, Armenia, the United Kingdom, France, India and Zambia – several of them, including Nina Tsaturova, Nata Ghibradze and Vincent Leloup, having also led tables earlier in the day during Part A, reflecting the closely connected nature of the two sessions.

A genuinely global exercise

Across the three forums, table leaders and delegates were drawn from every continent bar Antarctica – from Angola to Armenia, Qatar to Zambia, the United States to Georgia – underlining the breadth of jurisdictions in which FIDIC's contracts and dispute-resolution mechanisms are now actively used and tested. Each forum was explicitly designed as an information-gathering exercise rather than a conventional panel discussion, with the practical experience, feedback and lessons shared at the tables to be carried back into FIDIC's ongoing legal and contracts work – including, for the Site Visits forum specifically, directly into a Practice Note due for publication within months.