AboutPeter M. Elliott Expertise First response to queries regarding extensions of time, variations orders, site instructions and payment using FIDIC and other forms of Conditions of Contract, based on English Law, and derivatives only.
Experience Value . . .
It's unwise to pay too much, but it's unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it's well to add something for the risk you run.
And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.
. . . John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
"We are too poor to buy something cheap"
.Romanian Proverb 2002
A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.
George Herbert (English poet 1593-1633)
I said it in Hebrew, I said it in Dutch,
I said it in German and Greek:
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is what you speak!" Hunting of the Snark - Lewis Caroll
Match your presentation to the reader!
The joy of food lasts but an hour, of sleep but a day, of a woman, but a month, but the joy of a building lasts a lifetime. Syrian proverb.
Comments and observations leading to improvements in the translation of FIDIC Red & Yellow books into Romanian prior to approval by FIDIC (reference 'Preface to the Romanian edition')
Question GMP forms of contract while common in America, are relatively new in Australia, yet we have a client whose bank requires him to implement his project using a GMP form of agreement, but we struggle to find resources to properly administer to our client's instructions.
Professional bodies in Australia: RAIA, HIA, MBA, JCT and the UK: RIBA, JCC have nothing to offer; there is nothing in the adcademic literature, and those in industry (builders familiar with GMP) are not forthcoming with information.
Can you help by providing, or suggest where we might go to find a template of standard clauses to append to the ABIC-SW1 standard form of lump sum building contract in Australia (or any other form of lump sum sum contract), and a suite of standard clauses for the preliminaries for a specification under a GMP form of contract,
and guidelines in the use and administration of such a form of contract.
Any suggestions?
Answer Hi Charles,
This question is well outside my field, especially ABIC-SW1, so you will have to do the hard work. As the system is more normal in USA, you will have to research the subject there.
You could try the following websites and bodies for advice:-
Design-Build Institute of America - http://www.dbia.org/ - There are lots of standard contract forms for adapting to suit Guaranteed Maximum Price type contracts.
The following associations produce contracts which are widely used for Design-Build published by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), and the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC) - listed on http://www.aiacolorado.org/chapters/denver/designbuild/db-contractforms.html
For general contract advice you could contact E. C. Corbett - http://www.corbett.co.uk or Daniel Atkinson - http://www.atkinson-law.com/ - I like both these people and their sites as their approach is essentially realistic and practical.
If you need more contacts, then enter the keywords 'GMP forms of contract' in a good search engine (www.google.com or similar) and you find lots of sites to follow up.
As a final comment, I would advise against bolting on special clauses to a standard form, without good legal advice, such as the people above. I would prefer to use the standard forms produced by the bodies above, with the minimum of adjustment to match your particular environment. Standard forms have been tried in the courts and thus the meaning of the clauses has been tested, and thus solutions will be clearer if things go wrong, but then you probably know this better than I.
Good luck with operating with a new form of contract.
