The claims procedure, consisting of a Notice of Claim, a fully detailed Claim and the Engineer’s Determination has not changed from the 1999 edition.
What has changed in the 2017 edition is the details of the procedure.
In addition, Clause 20 places the parties’ claims on an equal footing by requiring that the employer’s claims are determined under the same procedure as claims made by the contractor, subjecting the employer’s claims to the same time limits and requisite level of detail.
The FIDIC approach is that if there is a clearly defined process, then that can help maintain relationships as both Parties will know exactly where they stand and why the other is taking the steps they are to submit their claim.
A result of this approach may be an increased number of claims, as both Parties will need to try and ensure that they do not lose the right to make a claim.
I guess only time will tell – of course more claims do not necessarily mean more disputes, one reason no doubt for the increased emphasis on dispute avoidance in the 2017 edition.
This article is the third in a series of seven articles highlighting the main changes, the reasoning behind the changes and the effects thereof of the updated Red, Yellow and Silver Books.
The article does not constitute legal advice and has been drafted for information purposes only.
