Michael D. Robinson 
A Contractor’s Guide to the FIDIC Conditions of Contract 

This guide will help the contractor’s staff overcome some of
the difficulties encountered on a typical international contract
using FIDIC forms.

The majority of FIDIC-based contracts use the Red Book
(Conditions of Contract for Construction), so this book
concentrates on the use of those particular forms. Supplementary
comments are included in Appendix C for the Yellow Book (Plant
& Design-Build) recommended for use where the contractor has a
design responsibility.

The Contractor is represented on site by the Contractor’s
Representative who carries the overall responsibility for all the
Contractor’s on-site activities. In order to provide guidance
to the Contractor’s Representative and his staff, this book
is divided into five sections:

* A summarized general review of the Red Book from the
Contractor’s perspective.

* A review of the activities and duties of the
Contractor’s Representative in the same clause sequencing as
they appear in the Red Book.

* A summary of these activities and duties but arranged in order
of their likely time sequence on site. This has the added intention
of providing the Contractor’s Representative with a means of
ensuring that documents are not only properly provided to the
Employer and Engineer, but most importantly that they are provided
within the time limits specified in the Contract.

* A selection of model letters is provided which make reference
to the various clauses of the contract requiring the Contractor to
make submissions to the Employer or Engineer.

* Various appendices.

The guide is not intended to be a review of the legal aspects of
FIDIC- based contracts; legal advice should be obtained as and when
necessary, particularly if the Contractor has little or no
knowledge of the local law.

Armed on site with a copy of The Contractor and the FIDIC
Contract, the Contractor’s Representative will be more able
to avoid contractual problems rather than spend considerable time
and energy resolving those problems once they have arisen.

Table of Content

Preface v

Acknowledgements and dedication ix

Chapter 1 Review of the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction (CONS) – ‘The Red Book’ 1

Chapter 2 Activities and duties of the FIDIC Contractor’s Representative discussed in the same order as they appear in the FIDIC Conditions of Contract 105

Chapter 3 Activities and duties of the FIDIC Contractor’s Representative summarised and arranged in time sequence 143

Appendices 157

Appendix A Contractor’s claims under a CONS contract 159

Appendix B Employer’s claims under a CONS contract 161

Appendix C Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-build (P & DB) – ‘The Yellow Book’ 162

Appendix D Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey projects (EPCT) – ‘The Silver Book’ 165

Appendix E Other FIDIC publications 166

Appendix F Model form for submissions to the Engineer for approval and/or consent 168

Appendix G Model form of daywork/daily record sheets 169

Appendix H Evaluation of cost 171

Appendix I Contractor’s overhead costs 173

Appendix J Model letters for use by the Contractor 178

Introduction to indexes 250

Index of sub-clauses (FIDIC system) 251

Index of sub-clauses (sorted according to FIDIC clause numbering system) 258

About the author

Michael D. Robinson, Independent Consulting Engineer has 50 years of experience with contract management and contractual issues for major civil engineering projects worldwide. He has extensive experience with dispute resolution, engineers’ decisions, and dispute resolution boards and he lectures on the FIDIC Conditions of Contract.