EIC presents its Contractor's Guides in Slovenia
EIC contributes its experience on FIDIC contracts at a conference organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia.
The Portuguese Member of the EIC Working Group “Contract Conditions”, Isolino Gomes, Head of Contract Administration from Mota-Engil Central Europe, intervened on behalf of EIC at a construction conference on "Turnkey Contracts in Public Procurement in Slovenia" organised by the Chamber of Construction and Building Materials. The conference was attended by around 90 participants representing all branches of the domestic construction sector as well as by high-ranking officials from the Slovenian Ministries of Finance and Construction.
In parallel with the situation prevalent in other Central & Eastern European countries, Slovenian construction companies are presently subject to an unsatisfying situation with respect to public tenders because of unfair contractual clauses, especially in relation to turnkey projects. Some typical provisions in the public contracts provide for the following:
- A fixed price with no possibility for adjustment in case of more works not foreseen in project documentation (which are sometimes sub-standard);
- The contractor is required to cover all the cost of all permits, even those not foreseen in the project documentation;
- There are often unbalanced provisions relating to unforeseen and geological conditions;
- The role of the Engineer in the “turnkey” contract is not clear;
- There is no Dispute Resolution Board provided in the contract.
Mr. Gomes elaborated in his presentation on “EIC’s experience with FIDIC Contracts on the Polish Market and the EIC commentaries to the various FIDIC forms of contracts”. His presentation was well received by the audience and was quoted in the course of the general debate which was particularly vivid. The representative of the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Kokovic, concluded that some ideas based on Polish Law or the EIC Contractor’s Guides could be used to improve the legislative basis.
The event was broadcasted via national TV and you can see a short report here via Youtube. The statement of Mr. Gomes appears after 2:20 minutes.
EIC and FIEC will continue their joint lobbying for fairer contract conditions within the European Union which has been started in May 2011 with a joint initiative towards the EU Commissioners for Regional Policy and Internal Market.