Post by AR CONSULTING

FIDIC Yellow Book in 90 seconds. Three issues we deal with most often on UAE Yellow Book projects. Issue 1 - Design liability. Yellow Book is the Plant and Design-Build form. The contractor carries design responsibility. Unlike Red Book where the engineer holds the design, Yellow Book sits the design risk on the contractor's side. Check your professional indemnity insurance before signing. Standard PI usually covers reasonable skill and care - most Yellow Book contracts we see in the UAE come pre-amended to fit-for-purpose, which most PI policies exclude. We see contractors on the wrong side of this gap regularly. Issue 2 - The Employer's Requirements. Yellow Book hinges on the ER being clear, complete, and consistent. They rarely are. We've reviewed UAE ERs with gaps, contradictions, unstated performance criteria, and clauses that contradict the drawings. Contractors who win Yellow Book contracts and only then discover the ER is patchy are facing real exposure. Review them line by line before bidding, not after. By the time the variation register is filling up, the leverage has gone. Issue 3 - Tests on completion. Yellow Book includes specific testing regimes that have to be passed before the Taking-Over Certificate is issued. Failure to pass gives the employer rights - rejection, retesting at contractor's cost, contract price reduction. The test criteria need to be in the ER or attached schedules. If they're not, or they're vague, that's a negotiation point at contract stage. We've seen completion delayed by months on Yellow Book projects where the criteria were never properly nailed down. The principles of Yellow Book are sound. The bespoke amendments and the ER quality are where the risk sits. We review Gulf Yellow Book matters case by case. If you've got one on the table or a live project drifting, [email protected]. #FIDIC #YellowBook #UAEConstruction #DesignAndBuild #ContractManagement

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