FIDIC terms glossary.

A

Advance Warning

An obligation introduced under FIDIC 2017 (Sub-Clause 8.4) requiring the Contractor to notify the Engineer of any known or probable future events likely to affect the works, the Contractor's Personnel, the Time for Completion or the price. Distinct from a formal claim notice.

As-Built Programme

A schedule reflecting what actually happened on site. The starting point for retrospective delay analysis methods including As-Planned vs As-Built and Collapsed As-Built.

As-Planned Programme

The programme representing the Contractor's original intended plan. Often used as a synonym for the accepted baseline programme, though technically the two can differ.

B

Baseline Programme

The formally accepted schedule against which progress is measured for the life of the project. A baseline that is not accepted by the Engineer is significantly harder to rely on in a future claim.

Bill of Quantities (BOQ)

A priced schedule of measured work items used primarily under the Red Book's re-measurement mechanism. Not typically used under Yellow or Silver Books, which are usually lump sum.

C

Certificate of Completion

See Taking-Over Certificate. Older terminology; FIDIC now uses Taking-Over Certificate.

Collapsed As-Built

A retrospective delay analysis method. Delay events are removed from the as-built programme to demonstrate what would have happened without them.

Concurrent Delay

A situation where two or more delay events, each of which would independently delay completion, occur in the same window — one caused by the Employer, the other by the Contractor. Treatment varies by jurisdiction and by the approach taken.

Contractor

The party appointed to execute the works under the contract. In FIDIC forms, always a defined term.

Contractor's Documents

Design documents, drawings, specifications, calculations and other technical documents the Contractor is required to prepare under the contract. Particularly relevant under the Yellow and Silver Books.

Contractor's Proposal

Under the Yellow Book, the technical and commercial submission the Contractor makes in response to the Employer's Requirements.

Cost

A defined term in FIDIC contracts covering expenditure reasonably incurred by the Contractor. Excludes profit unless the contract specifically provides otherwise.

Critical Path

The longest sequence of dependent activities determining the earliest possible completion date. Delay to an activity on the critical path delays completion; delay to an activity off the critical path may not.

D

DAAB / DAB

Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board (FIDIC 2017) / Dispute Adjudication Board (FIDIC 1999). A standing or ad-hoc panel appointed under the contract to resolve disputes before they escalate to arbitration.

Data Date

The date to which a programme update is progressed. Selecting and applying data dates consistently is essential for defensible schedule evidence.

Defects Notification Period

The period following Taking-Over during which the Contractor remains liable to remedy defects. Length is set in the contract.

Delay Damages

Liquidated damages payable by the Contractor for delayed completion. Rate and cap are set in the Appendix / Contract Data.

Determination

A binding decision made by the Engineer on a matter such as a claim or the value of a variation. Under FIDIC 2017 the Engineer must first attempt to obtain the parties' agreement before issuing a determination.

Disruption

Loss of productivity caused by external interference, distinct from delay to completion. A crew that is disrupted may still finish on time but at higher cost.

E

Employer

The party commissioning the works, defined in the contract.

Employer's Requirements

Under the Yellow and Silver Books, the document defining the Employer's functional, performance, quality and design requirements for the works. Anchor document for design-and-build contracts.

Engineer

Under the Red and Yellow Books, the party appointed by the Employer to administer the contract. Expected to act fairly between the parties on determinations. Not a role under the Silver Book, which uses an Employer's Representative instead.

EPC

Engineering, Procurement and Construction. A delivery model in which one Contractor takes single-point responsibility for design, procurement and execution. FIDIC's standard form is the Silver Book.

Extension of Time (EOT)

An extension of the Time for Completion granted to the Contractor for events for which the Employer bears responsibility under the contract, or for other events specified in the contract.

F

Fitness for Purpose

A design liability standard under which the Contractor warrants that the works, when completed, will be fit for the purposes for which they were intended. Materially stronger than reasonable skill and care.

Force Majeure

Exceptional events beyond the parties' control that prevent performance. Scope and consequences are defined in the contract; FIDIC 2017 uses the term “Exceptional Event”.

Fragnet

A small network of activities modelling a specific delay event, inserted into the baseline programme for Time Impact Analysis.

G

General Conditions

The standard FIDIC contract text, unchanged from the published form. Modified project-specifically by the Particular Conditions.

Green Book

FIDIC's Short Form of Contract, for smaller or straightforward works.

I

Interim Payment Certificate

A certificate issued by the Engineer during construction stating the amount due to the Contractor for a given period, based on measured progress.

M

Milestone

A defined event marking progress toward completion. Contractual milestones (identified in the contract) carry direct commercial consequences; internal milestones do not.

N

Notice

A formal written communication required under a specific clause of the contract. Missing a notice can defeat an otherwise valid claim if a time-bar applies.

P

Particular Conditions

Project-specific amendments to the General Conditions, negotiated between the parties. Modify the standard FIDIC form and often materially change risk allocation.

Performance Certificate

The certificate issued after Taking-Over and the Defects Notification Period, confirming the Contractor has completed its obligations.

Provisional Sum

An amount included in the contract price for work whose scope is not fully defined at tender. Expended (or not) at the Employer's instruction.

R

Rainbow Suite

Practitioner term for the four principal FIDIC contract forms: Red, Yellow, Silver and Green Books.

Red Book

FIDIC's Conditions of Contract for Construction, for Employer-designed works.

Retention

An amount withheld from interim payments as security, released to the Contractor per the contract's retention mechanism.

S

SCL Protocol

The Society of Construction Law Delay and Disruption Protocol. A widely-referenced framework for prevention and resolution of delay and disruption claims.

Section

A defined part of the works with its own Time for Completion. Sectional completion can enable partial Taking-Over.

Silver Book

FIDIC's Conditions of Contract for EPC / Turnkey Projects.

Sub-Clause

A numbered subdivision within a FIDIC Clause. FIDIC contract references almost always cite the Sub-Clause — for example, Sub-Clause 20.1 (1999 first edition) for Contractor claim notices.

Subcontractor

A person or entity engaged by the Contractor to perform part of the works. Nomination by the Employer creates additional contractual mechanisms.

T

Taking-Over Certificate

The certificate issued by the Engineer when the works (or a Section) are complete and ready to be taken over by the Employer. Triggers the start of the Defects Notification Period.

Time for Completion

The period stated in the contract within which the Contractor must complete the works, subject to any Extension of Time granted.

Time Impact Analysis (TIA)

A prospective, contemporaneous delay analysis method. A delay event is modelled and inserted into the programme as it becomes known, and completion is re-forecast.

Turnkey

A delivery model in which the Contractor hands over a complete, operational facility. FIDIC's standard form is the Silver Book.

V

Variation

Any change to the works instructed by the Engineer under the contract's variations mechanism — changes to quantity, quality, sequence, timing or additional work.

W

Windows Analysis

A retrospective delay analysis method that breaks the project into time periods (windows) and analyses delay within each.

Works

The Permanent Works and, where the context requires, the Temporary Works, being all activities and things to be provided by the Contractor under the contract.