International Federation of Consulting Engineers

FIDIC News

July 2008
Online at FIDIC.org/news
Print friendly PDF

Activities
Leading commentators and industry authorities to speak
The FIDIC 2008 Quebec Conference features John Ralston Saul, Canada's awardwinning essayist, Pierre-Marc Johnson, Former Premier of Quebec, and industry
leaders.
EventsConsulting Engineers Africa 2008 showcased the continent
The 2008 FIDIC Group of Africa Member Associations Conference formed part of aunique series of events to promote Africa's consulting engineering capacity.
FIDIC International Training Programme expands
Over 40 training events are planned for 2008, as part of FIDIC's comprehensive
and structured International Training Programme.
Forthcoming meetings and events
End-of-year contracts training events lead up to the FIDIC International Contracts
Users Conference, London, 1-2 December 2008.
Contracts
Indonesia promotes FIDIC-related activities
With greater use of FIDIC contracts foreseen, a workshop in Jakarta launchedtraining and a Bahasa version of the Harmonised Construction Contract.
Revision of ILO public contracts labour clauses convention recommended
A survey of the implementation of the International Labour Organization's labourclauses convention recommended revision to reflect today's best practice.
Representation

ClaimsIntensive
Dubai
10-11 Oct08
ORDER NOW

ClaimsCourseVienna4-5 Nov08
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Workshop
Amsterdam
11-12 Sep08
ORDER NOW

DBO
SeminarQuebecSeminar
11 Sep08

Trinidad and Tobago to review FIDIC membership, training and contracts
A visit to Trinidad and Tobago's construction council confirmed a strong interest inenhancing and extending involvement with FIDIC.
FIDIC acts on Europe task force report
With a survey task force report as background, FIDIC discussed industry
Courserepresentation in Europe during the EFCA 2008 conference.
sponsorBusiness practiceProcurement policies to mitigate risks in innovation
Managing risks associated with innovation friendly public procurement starts tocapture the European Union's attention.
Business development
Development banks to explore more systematically sustainable procurement
The main multilateral development banks agreed as a result of a FIDIC-initiatedworkshop that harmonised policies for sustainable procurement are needed.
EthicsAll parties need to commit to anticorruption measures
A special workshop in Washington initiated by FIDIC confirmed the developmentbanks' interest in integrity management.
Image
World Justice Forum recognizes the consulting engineers' role
FIDIC's participation in the launching of the World Justice Project gave recognitionof the consulting engineering industry's contributions.
Notices to Member Associations
MA Notices: July 2008FIIDIC
ConferenceQuebec7-10 Sep08

Activities
Leading commentators and industry authorities to speak [full item: 104Ac]
Canada's renowned John Ralston Saul (see website), who has
been declared a "prophet" by news magazines, will set thecourse of the FIDIC 2008 Quebec Conference A Strong Industry,
Serving Society (Quebec City; 7-10 September 2008) bychallenging today's paradigms in analysing the role of consulting
engineers in a globalised society. His stimulating "View fromoutside the industry" - the theme for the first day - will be taken
up in the opening plenary session by Pierre-Marc Johnson (see photo), Former
Premier of Quebec, in an authoritative presentation on what happens if quality is
not maintained in delivering the vital infrastructure which is the backbone oftoday's global economy. The afternoon seminars then explore how the consulting
engineering industry influences society by examining the industry's role and its
response to environmental stewardship, sustainability, ethics, and integrity.
In the second day's plenary session, senior representatives of leadinginternational clients will give different perspectives on how quality services aredelivered. The speakers are: Thierry Vandal, President, Hydro Quebec; Jean
Simmon, President, Rio Tinto Alcan; Young Joo Chye, Public Utilities Board,
Singapore; His Excellency Omar Maani, Mayor of Amman, Jordan. Once again,
there are seminars to explore the key issues: developing communications skills;
marketing sustainability; balancing risk and rewards. In the Wednesday plenary
session, industry leaders will reflect on what must be done if the industry is tocontinue to provide leadership by building stronger organisations. The speakers
are: Rick Firlotte, Golder Associates; Martin Neilson, Scott Wilson; Pierre Shoiry,
Genivar; John Dionisio, AECOM. Seminars that follow will once again take up the
key challenges notably: the industry's strategic importance; policies fordeveloping firms; business strategies. A unique feature will be a final plenary
session to establish specific goals and strategies for meeting society's needs while
ensuring that consulting engineering further develops into a strong and viableindustry that promotes innovation and optimizes quality and sustainability.

ClaimsIntensive
Dubai
10-11 Oct08
ORDER NOW

ClaimsCourseVienna4-5 Nov08
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Workshop
Amsterdam
11-12 Sep08
ORDER NOW

DBO
SeminarQuebecSeminar
11 Sep08

CourseAside from a varied programme for accompanying persons, young professionals
sponsorwill be able to network and share experience during a Sunday get-together, a anopen forum on Monday, and the Future Leaders Workshop and a technical tour on
Tuesday. Details and online registration for the consulting engineering industry's
premier networking event are on the conference website www.fidic2008.org.
EventsConsulting Engineers Africa 2008 showcased the continent [full item: 60Ev]

FIIDIC

Consultants from 15 of Africa's French- and EnglishConferenceQuebecspeaking countries came together at the FIDIC Group of
7-10 Sep08
Africa Member Associations (GAMA) Energy and theEnvironment Conference organized as part of Consulting
Engineers Africa 2008 by ANBEIC-Tunisia on 23-25
June. A highlight was a presentation (available on
FIDIC.org/GAMA) by John Boyd, FIDIC President, on
urban planning and the critical role that engineers play in advising authorities on
the available options for investment and sustainable solutions. A special African
Development Bank workshop called upon the consulting engineering industry tohelp find long-term sustainable solutions to Africa's infrastructure needs. The
bank confirmed that the development of local consulting capacity remained a highpriority (GAMA subsequently submitted a follow-on proposal to other recent
proposals for support to develop a train-the-trainers capacity-building
programme). ANBEIC Energy and the Environment Workshops on the second day
highlighted Africa's expertise, notably new technologies and innovation in theenergy sector. For example, Tunisian authorities described strict guidelines andrules for the efficient use of energy, recyclable materials, water and waste water.
The series of events ended with a FIDIC Claims and Dispute Resolution Seminar
given by Tayeb Naidji, Les Contracteurs, Strasbourg, shown in the centre of thephoto with, on the right, Sebastian Hoek, Kanzlei Dr. Hoek Stieglmeier, Berlin,
and John Boyd, on the left.

FIDIC International Training Programme expands [full item: 61Ev]
Over 50 contracts training events are planned for 2008,as part of FIDIC's comprehensive and structured
International Training Programme in English (seeFIDIC.org/events. Events are organized in several
standard formats with the various formats covering thescope of modules in the FIDIC Contracts and Guide toPractice Training Manuals. Intensive courses (for less than 30 participants andlasting several days) and courses (for 50-70 participants for two days) cover themodules in a structured manner; workshops involve 30-50 participants withbreak-out sessions for in-depth discussion on specific topics; seminars involve a
selection of topics presented by several presenters with relatively little
interaction; conferences comprise high-level overviews of developments by
experts. Structuring the programme aims to ensure that events meet the same
standards and cover the same scope, giving participants a wide choice.
Participants can also progress from introductory seminars through courses to indepth workshops as their understanding advances. They even have theopportunity to explore the latest developments in the annual FIDIC Users
Conference and the semi-annual FIDIC-ICC Contracts and Dispute Resolution
Conference.
For contracts, new in 2008 are: intensive contracts courses in Qatar (FIDIC
contracts; Claims and Dispute Resolution) and Dubai (Dispute Adjudication
Boards); a contracts workshop in Brazil; contracts seminars in Sweden and Brazil;
a training conference in the USA. For business practice, Project Sustainability
Management training seminars have been or are being organized in Jordan, South
Africa, Philippines, Norway, and possibly the UK, along with courses based onother Guide to Practice modules. Events are usually organized with partners,
either Member Associations, local organizers or international training suppliers.
Full details are available at FIDIC.org/events.

ClaimsIntensive
Dubai
10-11 Oct08
ORDER NOW

ClaimsCourseVienna4-5 Nov08
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Workshop
Amsterdam
11-12 Sep08
ORDER NOW

DBO
SeminarQuebecSeminar
11 Sep08

Forthcoming meetings and events [full item: 56Ev]
FIDIC-Jordan Consultant Agreements Course, Amman, 9-10 Aug 08
FIDIC-Jordan Human Resources/Organization Course, Amman, 12-13 Aug 08
FIDIC-CECOPHIL Contracts Seminar, Manilla, 26-27 Aug 08
IBA Construction Projects Conference, Brussels, 5-6 Sep 08
FIDIC 2008 Quebec Conference, Quebec, 7-10 Sep 08
FIDIC-Cornerstone Contracts Workshop, Amsterdam, 11-12 Sep 08
FIDIC-VBI Contracts Seminars, Berlin, 26-27 Sep 08
FIDIC Serbia Seminar, Zagreb, 29 Sep 08
FIDIC-ECV Contracts Course, Brussels, 6-7 Oct 08
FIDIC-Cornerstone Contracts Workshop, Sao Paulo, 9-10 Oct 08
FIDIC-ECV Contracts Course, Dubai, 15-16 Oct 08
FIDIC-Cornerstone Claims Management Workshop, Abu Dhabi, 29-30 Oct 08
FIDIC-ECV Claims and Dispute Resolution Course, Brussels, 4-5 Nov 08
FIDIC Users Conference, London, 1-2 Dec 08
Contracts
Indonesia promotes FIDIC-related activities [full item: 75Co]
His Excellency Dr. Ir. Djoko Kirmanto, Indonesia's Minister of
Public Works, opened a FIDIC Contracts Training Workshop in
Jakata, Indonesia, on 12 June 2008 that was also the occasion
to release a Bahasa-Indonesia version (available at
FIDIC.org/MDB) of the Multilateral Development Bank
Harmonised Edition of the FIDIC Construction Contract. The
photo shows the Minister displaying the new publication to journalists, with
Sarwono Hardjomuljadi, Vice-President, National Construction Services
Development Board, who organized the seminar on behalf of INKINDO-Indonesa
and the Board. The Minister indicated that the government will soon make it arule that tenders for large-scale construction projects must use FIDIC Conditionsof Contract since "by adhering to FIDIC standards, tenders can be participated inby all contractors, including contractors, from other parts of the world." Richard
Kell, FIDIC Past-President, and Peter Boswell, FIDIC General Manager, who werethe main presenters took the opportunity to discuss plans to extend international
training events and to set up a train-the-trainers programme, notably forengineers supervising major roads projects funded by development agencies
under the Harmonised Edition.

CoursesponsorFIIDIC
ConferenceQuebec7-10 Sep08

Revision of ILO public contracts labour clauses convention recommended[full item: 73Co]

The International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted in 1949 a
ClaimsIntensive
convention on labour clauses for public contracts whereby publicDubai
authorities would establish "socially acceptable" working standards
10-11 Oct08
through conditions of contract, labour clauses, and enforcement measures. An
ORDER NOW
accompanying recommendation specified working conditions that should beprescribed in labour clauses and suggested that labour clauses similar to those inpublic contracts should be used where the private sector is licensed to operate autility. Together they remain the only international, binding and supervised
Claimsinstruments for labour clauses in public contracts. The ILO in 2004 asked states to Course
report on their national law and practice for a survey (available in PDF) for
Vienna4-5 Nov08
discussion at the ILO Conference in late-May 2008. Enrico Vink, FIDIC Managing
ORDER NOW
Director, participated in the workshop that released the survey report claimingthat the lack of interest in the convention stems from public procurement policies
which, in promoting cost competition, prevent bidders from applying "best locallyestablished working conditions". Meanwhile, there is a growing "sustainable
Contracts
procurement" movement to apply labour standards to both public and private
Workshop
contracting. The experts recommended a partial revision to recognize a) the
Amsterdamabsence of enforcement and legislation, and b) the role of public-private
11-12 Sep08
partnerships and of new actors, notably industry associations such as FIDIC that
ORDER NOW
lead in the development of international construction contracts. For instance, it ispossible that the labour clauses in the Multilateral Development Bank Harmonised
Edition of the FIDIC Construction Contract may require modification if
governments raise standards. Moreover, country-specific Construction Contract
Particular Conditions for public sector contracts (e.g., Denmark PDF) may need
DBO
updating. For procurement, users of FIDIC's Project Sustainability Management
Seminarapproach to set project goals and indicators will need to recognize new
Quebecbenchmarks for labour conditions.
Seminar
11 Sep08

Representation
Trinidad and Tobago to review FIDIC membership, training and contracts[full item: 60Re]

A 15-year Vision 2020 Draft National Strategic Plan aims
to guide Trinidad and Tobago in achieving "developed
nation status by 2020" given "a wave of prosperity
arising out of energy sector earnings". The 2007-2010
indicative Capital Programme for government projects
envisages an annual spending of some USD 4.5 billion,
with 27% for infrastructure and the environment. With
the rapid increase in expenditure and the relatively
small engineering and contracting sectors, the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) of
the Construction Industry and other sector organizations are calling for greatertransparency and oversight (see news item), support to improve construction
sector performance (news item), undertakings on procurement legislation, andmitigation of government-to-government arrangements that reportedly crowd out
local firms in projects such as the USD 300 million construction cost Port of Spainwaterfront reconstruction (see photo).
The long-established (27 years) JCC, whose members are associations forengineers, architects, planners, contractors, and surveyors, successfully lobbied
government for the adoption of the FIDIC Construction Contract. In response to
the demand for training, a highly successful programme of two-day FIDIC-ECV
Contracts Training Courses was organized under an agreement with the JCC. A
visit by Peter Boswell, FIDIC General Manager, in late-June 2008 hosterd by
Winston Riley, the JCC Chair, reviewed plans for extending the courses to the fullrange of contracts and business practice modules. The JCC Board also agreed that
it would explore the possibility of establishing under its auspices an association torepresent the business interests of consulting engineers. At present, theAssociation of Consulting Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (ACETT) is mainly
charged with managing, through its Board of Engineering and in line withgovernment requirements, voluntary registers of individuals and firms in private
consulting practice. These registers were once the responsibility of the Associationof Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (APETT), a learned society.
Finally, owing to the central role of FIDIC contracts, the JCC agreed that it may
need to review the Board of Engineering's Special Conditions (available online)that are used with the Construction Contract's General Conditions to reflect local
conditions.

CoursesponsorFIIDIC
ConferenceQuebec7-10 Sep08

FIDIC acts on Europe task force report [full item: 61Re]
FIDIC President, John Boyd, FIDIC Executive Committee members, Pablo Bueno
Tomas and Flemming Pedersen, and FIDIC Managing Director, Enrico Vink, whoparticipated in 2008 conference (Prague, 30 May 2008; see News item) of theEuropean federation EFCA, took the opportunity, based on a recent FIDIC-EFCA
Task Force survey report (available on FIDIC Internal), to discuss industry
representation in Europe with members and participants from 25 European
countries. There is a strong interest in consolidating the interests of the twoorganisations (European Union/Commission activities for EFCA; international bestpractice for FIDIC) so that synergies can be enhanced while providing activities
more cost effectively.
FIDIC has acted immediately upon several of the report's recommendations, suchas expanding representation beyond the multilateral development banks,development agencies and cross-cutting international organizations to otherindustry sectors, and aims to examine in detail with EFCA various options for a
proposed merger. Meanwhile, key issues for Europe include: fair competition; theavailability of adequate professional indemnity insurance; the application of fair
and transparent procurement policies (including the treatment of liabilities for
consulting engineers); procedures for EU-funded projects, including the use of
FIDIC contracts.

ClaimsIntensive
Dubai
10-11 Oct08
ORDER NOW

ClaimsCourseVienna4-5 Nov08
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Workshop
Amsterdam
11-12 Sep08
ORDER NOW

Business practiceProcurement policies to mitigate risks in innovation [full item: 78Pr]
Speaking at the 2008 conference (Prague; 30 May 2008) Knowledge Management
and Innovation in the Consulting Industry (see presentations online) of theEuropean federation EFCA, Mette Quinn from the European Commission (EC)noted that services represent "two-thirds of the European Union (EU) economy"
and is "the only sector that has delivered net job creation in the last two
decades" (presentation in PDF). Services are also becoming "increasingly
tradable, and thus exposed to the effects of globalization". Nonetheless "most EU
policy instruments and measures in support of innovation are still mainly oriented
towards technological innovation".

DBO
SeminarQuebecSeminar
11 Sep08

CoursesponsorA 2007 European Commission European Service Innovation Memorandum called
for support for innovation in services through "innovation friendly public
procurement". A passing reference to life-cycle costs in a EC guide (available inPDF) implies that sustainability issues (e.g., who takes the risk for innovative
design in infrastructure projects) and contractual issues have only been dealt withsuperficially. A similar situation exists in multilateral development bank (MDB)
procurement (see News item). One hopes that planned EU programmes to define
and test improved policies and instruments will be much more specific. Planned
FIIDICEU activities include a call for partners to develop policies and a call for proposals ConferenceQuebecon transnational cooperation on the innovation network INNO-Net in late-2008.

7-10 Sep08

Business development
Development banks to explore more systematically sustainableprocurement [full item: 58De]
At a historic workshop, initiated by FIDIC, in Washington DC in early June 2008,
the major multilateral development banks agreed to a more harmonised approachfor exploring existing policies and procedures that set the criteria for projectplanning. Although the bank's were instrumental in adopting the Equator
Principles in 2003, few initiatives been undertaken in to determine how the banks
can promote sustainable development in borrowing countries. Environmental
policies are widely established, along with the usual economic policies. Social
policies are discussed, but not in a coordinated manner, and a structured,comprehensive approach such as FIDIC's Project Sustainability Management has
not yet been established. The banks now have a greater understanding of FIDIC's
approach to sustainability in procurement (see FIDIC PSM presentation in PDF andthe minutes of the meeting on IADB.org).
Discussions are underway on a possible working party to examine the ways to
procuring more sustainable projects for and with the banks' many borrowing
countries (envisaged tasks are outlined in a News item). FIDIC is very pleased tobe part of this initiative, as it will not only lead to improvements in how projects
are procured, but also in establishing quality as paramount in the selection of
consultants.

Ethics
All parties need to commit to anticorruption measures [full item: 40Et]
With little recognition of the industry's initiatives to ensure business integrity,
firms are tending to avoid multilateral development bank-funded projects,
especially where the risk of doing business are high. To help restore a healthybusiness climate, FIDIC argues for recognition of its Business Management
Integrity System (BIMS), and has developed a Government Procurement Integrity
Management System (GPIMs; see News item) for use by procurement agencies.
Like BIMS, GPIMS calls for senior-level management commitment, training andverifiable systems. At a special workshop in Washington DC in early-June 2008,
FIDIC stressed that little progress would be made in combating corruption if allparties were not involved. The development banks indicated that they were, in
principle, interested in a greater counterbalancing of their well-known punitive
measures by evaluating GPIMs as a possible complement to, for example, theWorld Bank's Detailed Implementation Reviews that monitor "red flags" such as
procurement delays to signal fraud and corruption.
Image
World Justice Forum recognizes the consulting engineers' role

ClaimsIntensive
Dubai
10-11 Oct08
ORDER NOW

ClaimsCourseVienna4-5 Nov08
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Workshop
Amsterdam
11-12 Sep08
ORDER NOW

[full item: 43Im]

The World Justice Project (WJP website) is unique in that it takes amultinational, multidisciplinary approach to funding initiatives to
DBO
strengthen the rule of law. The project, which is supported by several major
foundations and multinational firms, was launched at the World Justice Forum (2- Seminar
Quebec5 July 2008; Vienna, Austria) that brought together, by invitation, hundreds ofSeminarleaders from diverse disciplines. FIDIC President, John Boyd, moderated the
11 Sep08
Architecture and Engineering session. He was able to raise the profile ofconsulting engineers by demonstrating the industry's direct involvement in legal
rights and in key legal issues confronting society. He envisages "further
Courseengagement with the legal profession and some joint efforts in regard to antisponsor
corruption". Specifically, engineers proposed a) additions to municipality By-Law
Indexes (e.g., Federicton, Canada, index) where proposed categories do not coveradequately public safety in the built environment; and b) an evaluation ofdevelopment bank projects for their support of the rule of law.
Notices to Member Associations
Meetings: see Meetings
Executive Committee, Quebec, 4-5 Sep 08 (see Conference Diary)
Directors and Secretaries, Quebec, 6 Sep 08
Presidents, Quebec, 7 Sep 08
Business Practice; Integrity; Sustainability: Quebec, 7 Sep 08

FIIDIC
ConferenceQuebec7-10 Sep08

MA Letters
04/08: EC Election PDF
05/08: Quebec Conference PDF
06/08: FIDIC-EFCA Task Force report PDF
07/08: YPF Nominations PDF
08/08: Annual Survey PDF
This email edition of FIDIC News is sent to FIDIC Member Associations, contacts and committee members ofcommittees, as a multipart formatted email message with an attached PDF file. If difficulties arise, please
download the newsletter from FIDIC.org/news. Member Associations are urged to forward FIDIC News to member
firms. Advertising (logo with caption appearing on each page) costs Euro 800 for five consecutive appearances.
See FIDIC.org/news/advert.
International Federation of Consulting Engineers
World Trade Centre II, Geneva Airport - Box 311 - CH-1215 Geneva 15 - Switzerland
Tl +41-22-799 49 00 - Fx +41-22-799 49 01 - fidic@fidic.org - FIDIC.org