South Africa is the first country to benefit from workshops, to be held by the co-authors of the third comprehensively revised edition of the world-renowned Brian Totterdill’s FIDIC Users´ Guide. Brian Barr, of Brian Barr Consulting Services in the UK, and Leo Grutters, co-founder of GibConsult, have more than 40 years’ in-depth FIDIC experience. Both are members of the exclusive FIDIC President’s List of Approved Dispute Adjudicators – there are only 48 worldwide.
The authors took into account newly published forms of contract, case studies, FIDIC’s expansion into a more international arena, and incorporated the current industry’s thinking and understanding of the FIDIC terms and conditions, making the book an all-encompassing volume for readers.
Not only does this 1.6 kg publication, which will be given to each delegate attending the workshops, stimulate better contract administration, it highlights accountability and addresses contentious issues with relevant conclusions on dispute avoidance rather than dispute resolution.
Clear advice to practitioners on how to mitigate and avoid contractual problems, are provided. Leo Grutters, co-founder of GibConsult, explains, “During the revision, the complexity of the questions and connections the FIDIC contract forms contain became ever clearer to me. It is necessary to make these contracts more transparent and to keep readers informed, legally trained or not.”
Dr Cyril Chern, barrister at the Dispute Board Federation, stated, “This work of reference brings professional insights into and practical solutions for the more contentious and controversial issues when dealing with FIDIC contracts.”
The workshops which will be held in Midrand (3rd March), Durban (5th March) and Cape Town (7th March) 2014, will show how to deal with the FIDIC Users’ Guide from a practical use requirement.
It includes learning:
· about the often unknown or misunderstood pitfalls when using FIDIC contracts
· about the contract administrative burden when using these contracts
· how to correctly interpret some of the more complex issues in FIDIC contracts
Furthermore, it provides a Reference Guide to be used during a construction project for construction engineers, construction lawyers, construction claims specialists, contractors, developers, quantity surveyors, local authorities and everybody involved in or will be involved in a construction project using or contemplating using FIDIC.
The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) and Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) support the GibConsult South Africa initiative to bring these renowned specialists and co-authors to South Africa for the benefit of their members and the broader contingent that was already mentioned.
Registrations can be made online at www.cesa.co.za/node/110?id=