Strong EIC participation at FIDIC 2024 International Contract Users´ Conference

It was a great privilege for EIC to be invited to actively participate in three panels of the FIDIC 2024 International Contract Users´ Conference in London. These annual FIDIC Conferences are a great opportunity to exchange practical experiences between consulting firms, clients, financiers, lawyers and contractors on current FIDIC documents and to voice respective EIC positions and recommendations.

The Chairman of EIC’s Working Group ‘Contract Conditions’, Mathias Fabich, welcomed FIDIC’s timely initiative for a Carbon Management Guide and offered EIC’s constructive collaboration as ‘friendly reviewer’. A key conclusion from the session introducing the upcoming FIDIC Carbon Management Guide was that all stakeholders must collaborate to reduce the project’s carbon footprint throughout the project cycle.

Nabeel Khokhar, Member of the EIC Working Group, emphasised in the session on ‘Highlighting the key role of the Engineer in FIDIC Contracts’ the need for the Eengineer to make prompt determinations on site independent of restrictions from the Employer. Escalating disputes to the Dispute Board level is considered only as the second-best option.

EIC was also represented on the panel announcing FIDIC’s upcoming Collaborative Contract. Stefan Ciufu-Hayward, Member of the E’IC Working Group, shared his experience on collaborative project delivery in the road and rail sectors in the UK and highlighted EIC’s ’10 Golden Rules’ on Collaborative Delivery Models which will form the basis of the upcoming EIC Position on the subject. The chair of the corresponding FIDIC Task Group, Andrea Chao, familiarised the audience with the state of play of the FIDIC drafting work which uses the FIDIC 2021 Green Book as a starting point.