An Overview of the Role of the Contractor Under the FIDIC Red Book (Part 1)

The Contractor’s basic obligations and responsibilities are set out in Clause 4.  As may be imagined, this clause is significantly longer than either Clauses 2 (Employer) or 3 (Engineer), as the Contractor is actually undertaking the Works and will be responsible for security, health and safety and many other matters.  

Clause 4 has 23 separate Sub-Clauses, which cover matters from the general responsibilities of the Contractor, through Archaeological finds and progress reporting.  It should be the starting point for anyone trying to understand how the Contractor should be acting on Site.

Given the length of this Clause, it has been split into two courses. This first course will look at the elements relevant to undertaking the Works, including the obligation to undertake the Works properly, design submission, rights of access and utilities.

At the end of this course, you should understand:

1. The general responsibilities of the Contractor
2. How the Contractor’s design is produced, submitted and reviewed
3. Who is responsible for setting out the Works, with or without information from the Employer
4. The Quality Management and Compliance Verification Systems