International Federation of Consulting Engineers

FIDIC NewsMay 2008
Online at FIDIC.org/news
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Activities
Registration for FIDIC 2008 Quebec Conference open
A strong industry serving society is the theme for the FIDIC 2008 Conference inQuebec, Canada.
Africa days highlight energy and the environment
Consulting Engineers Africa 2008 includes the FIDIC-GAMA 2008 conference, ADB
workshops, ANBEIC-Tunis workshops and a contracts seminar.
Key strategic issues tackled by the Executive Committee
The FIDIC Executive Committee meeting in Madrid and Seoul reviewed strategies
for regional groupings, committee activities, training, and document licences.
Operational aspects under executive scrutiny
Reports on FIDIC's operations highlighted financial resources, new members, newpublications, and collaboration with other organizations.

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EventsSome 25 countries represented at the FIDIC Asia-Pacific conference
The FIDIC-ASPAC Asia-Pacific 2008 Regional Conference allowed an excellent
overview the role of engineering in the globalisation era.
Forthcoming meetings and events
Consulting Engineers Africa 2008 in Tunis (22-25 June 2008) and FIDIC 2007
Quebec Conference feature.

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Contracts
Dispute adjudication training expands
Regional forums, training workshops and more training courses based on Module
3 of the FIDIC Contracts Manual are planned.

Contracts
Conference
Houston2-4 Jun 08

Representation
FIDIC Syria Awareness Seminar
FIDIC organized a seminar in Damascus, Syria, to promote the use of FIDIC
contracts, agreements and best practice in a booming construction market.
Business practice
SB Alliance launched
The UK and France have started to set up the Sustainable Building Alliance todevelop core building assessment system.
Sustainable Development Committee member to chair UNEP initiative
Dr Ike van der Putte will chair UNEP's Sustainable Buildings and Construction
Initiative that is focussing on three key topics.
Business development
Development bank sustainability and integrity seminars
FIDIC is helping to organize seminars to evaluate ways for incorporating
sustainability and integrity management in procurement processes.

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Ethics
FIDIC signs a MoU with professional associations organization
FIDIC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Federation ofEngineering Organisations that represents engineers' professional interests.
Image
World Bank country systems pilot programme to go ahead
The World Bank country procurement systems pilot programme will report back tothe bank's Board in two years.
Japan development bank envisages contract licence
A FIDIC delegation's visit to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation
confirmed the bank's plan to licence the Harmonised Construction Contract.
Notices to Member Associations
MA Notices: May 2008

CoursesponsorActivities
Registration for FIDIC 2008 Quebec Conference open [full item: 100Ac]
Registrations for the consulting engineering industry's premierconference - in Quebec, Canada, on 7-10 September 2008 - arenow open at www.fidic2008.org. Under the theme A strong
industry serving society the annual conference will challenge
consulting engineers and other professionals responsible for vital
infrastructure to build a stronger industry that can serve society
even more effectively. The focus will be on the role of engineers in influencing
decision-makers while delivering the high quality projects that meet global needs.
One of three sub-themes (Influencing society; Delivering quality; Building strongorganizations) will be explored during each day's plenary sessions: speakers
representing business leaders, clients and society at large will propose strategies
to help meet society's expectations while ensuring the development of a stronger
and more viable consulting engineering industry. A closing plenary session will
identify clear goals and actions for the industry.
The conference includes a remarkable social programme and exceptional events
for accompanying persons, and young professionals will be organizing special
activities. A Design, Build and Operate Contract Seminar given by the contract's
main drafters will be held on the day after the conference (11 September 2008)
at the conference venue, the world-famous Chateau Frontenac Hotel, where
accommodation can be reserved at special conference rates until 3 August 2008.
Africa days highlight energy and the environment [full item: 101Ac]
Energy and the environment are key issues for all countries, andof a special concern for Africa. The FIDIC Group of African
Member Associations (GAMA) 2008 Regional Conference takes
up the energy and environment theme as part of Consulting
Engineers Africa 2008, a series of events organized by ANBEICTunisia in Tunis on 22-25 June 2008. The events include not
only the FIDIC GAMA-Africa 2008 Regional Conference but also
ANBEIC Energy and the Environment Workshops and a FIDIC-ANBEIC Contracts
and Dispute Resolution Seminar. Featured in the GAMA conference are African
Development Bank workshops that highlight the bank's policies, operations andcapacity development programmes. Participants can register for each event
separately or for all events, each with a special reduction of 30% for FIDIC-GAMA
members. To register for Consulting Engineers Africa 2008 (22-25 June 2008),
click Add to Order (Euro 595); to register for the FIDIC-GAMA 2008 Conference(22-23 June 2008), click Add to Order (Euro 175). Details are available at
FIDIC.org/GAMA together with the programme and a registration form PDF
Key strategic issues tackled by the Executive Committee [full item: 102Ac]
At the strategic level, the FIDIC Executive Committee meeting in
Madrid in late-January 2008 and in Seoul in late-April 2008
agreed to finalise a strategic plan for FIDIC based on a balanced
scorecard approach, and to comment on an excellent FIDICEFCA Task Force (see News item) survey and report on more
effective representation in Europe and on closer integration of
the common interests of FIDIC and of the European federation
EFCA. Regarding committee activities, following a member
survey (see News item) it was agreed that ISO quality
management liaison status would be maintained by boosting activities. Also, theBusiness Practices Committee would prioritise its work plan, and the Risk andLiability Committee should reconsider a work plan based on updating existing
publications. A training policy (see News item) was also approved that not only
sought a greater commitment by committees to develop training materials but
also clarified the current training strategy based on modules delivered on acommercial basis by training suppliers, in association wherever possible with alocal partner such as a FIDIC Member Association (MA). It was noted that the
FIDIC-CNAEC-Tsinghua Training Centre and the CNEAEC-China pilot scheme for
FIDIC certification (see News item) would be placed on hold pending changes ingovernment strategies. Young professionals activities received special attention
with agreement on a Young Professionals Forum (YPF) business plan (seeFIDIC.org/ypf), a decision to help distribute a clearly branded YPF newsletter via
MAs, and a recommendation to focus YP management training on career pathtraining (the 2008 FIDIC Young Professionals Training Programme with over 30
participants, see FIDIC.org/ypmtp, is mainly case-based). The executive
appointed Alex Eyquem, UK, as the YPF chair. He takes over from Richard Stump(see photo) who has piloted the YPF from modest beginnings to becoming a truly
global network.

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CoursesponsorOperational aspects under executive scrutiny [full item: 103Ac]
Regarding FIDIC operations, Executive Committee meeting in
Madrid and Seoul (see News item), approved audited accounts
for 2007 that gave a 300 kSFR surplus, owing mainly to the timelag between an unexpected 30% increase in FIDIC Bookshop
sales for 2007 and the reprinting of new stock. With financial
reserves amounting to 2730 kSFR, it was decided that theyshould continue to be built up to the 2800 kSFR level wheneverpossible to cover FIDIC's growing liabilities. The executive also
considered limiting by statute the working language for official
documents to English to reduce administration costs, approved
procedures for licencing FIDIC contracts (see News item), and accepted forrelisting members of the FIDIC President's List of Approved Dispute Adjudicators(see FIDIC.org/DAB). Concerning members: Implenia (Switzerland), Les
Contracteurs (France), Robert Mclean (Canada), and A. Siddiqui (UAE) wereadmitted as Affiliate Members; Albania was excluded from membership owing to
unpaid fees; South America's consulting engineering associations would beapproached directly to explore membership; the impact of inflation adjusting theLess-Developed Country (LDC) factor for membership fees would be assessed;
procedures for admitting the new category of Associate (see FIDIC.org/members)
agreed at the 2007 General Assembly Meeting (GAM) were approved. The
Associate's fee will be based on the number of industry staff in a country times
any LDC factor times the Eased Entry Factor of 0.25 times a purchasing parityadjusted Unit Fee (now 3.1 CHF per staff member). MAs will be consulted on a
proposal that for an Associate joining under an umbrella arrangement, the staff
number would be the relevant portion of the industry staff number.
Approved for publication were a new Definition of Scope Guide andPrequalification, part of a new, three-part Project Procurement guide (see photo
above) that incorporates updated prequalification forms for contractors (thesecond part will replace Tendering Procedure 2nd Edition 1994 and the third part
covers project strategy). To be published are a joint FIDIC - World Federation ofEngineering Organizations (WFEO) - UNESCO report on engineering (in 2008) anda FIDIC state of the world infrastructure report (in 2009). The executive also
agreed in principle that FIDIC News would be circulated to firms having directcontact with FIDIC through the federation's activities. The WFEO's 2009 WorldEngineering Congress in Geneva would be supported by FIDIC speakers and otherproposals for collaboration with non-governmental organizations would be decided
on a case-by-case basis, recognizing that many NGOs have become both clientsand competitors to the consulting engineering industry. Finally, a task force willdraft proposals for the FIDIC centenary conference in 2013, with input from MAs,
for a preliminary discussion at the FIDIC 2008 Quebec GAM (10 September 2008;
www.fidic2008.org).
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Some 25 countries represented at the FIDIC Asia-Pacific conference[full item: 58Ev]

Participants from some 25 countries attended the 2008 FIDIC
ASPAC Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in Seoul on 22-25 April
2008 that was organized in collaboration with the TCDPAP
regional development programme which is supported by India's
Consultancy Development Centre, a FIDIC Affiliate Member. The
169th meeting of the FIDIC Executive Committee meeting (seeNews item) was held immediately before the conference to allow several
members, including John Boyd, FIDIC President, to address the conference.
The FIDIC ASPAC conference theme, The role of engineering in the globalisationera, allowed speakers from Australia, Azerbaijan, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,
Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, to review the roles played byconsulting engineers in their countries, how industry capacity was being
developed, resource gaps between the region's more developed and lessdeveloped countries, and how consultants were being selected under various
national procurement systems. Presentations are available on the conference
website. Korea has proposed to host the FIDIC 2012 Conference at themagnificent COEX conference centre (see photo above) next to the ASPAC
conference venue.

CoursesponsorForthcoming meetings and events [full item: 56Ev]
FIDIC-Indonesia Contracts Seminar, Jakata, 28-29 May 08
FIDIC-ICC Dispute Resolution Conference, Houston, 2-4 Jun 08
FIDIC-ECV Claims & Dispute Resolution Course, Brussels, 9-10 Jun 08
FIDIC-MDB Sustainability & Integrity Seminars, Washington DC, 9-10 Jun 08
FIDIC GAMA-Africa Regional Conference, Tunis, 22-25 Jun 08
FIDIC-Tunisia Contracts Seminar, Tunis, 25 Jun 08
FIDIC-Cornerstone Claims & Dispute Resolution Workshop, Budapest, 26-27 Jun
08
FIDIC-VBI Contracts Seminars, Berlin, 26-27 Sep 08
FIDIC 2008 Quebec Conference, Quebec, 7-10 Sep 08
FIDIC-ECV Contracts Course, Brussels, 6-7 Oct 08

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Contracts
Dispute adjudication training expands [full item: 70Co]
ClaimsWith the growing use of FIDIC contracts worldwide (FIDIC sales
Workshopincreased by 30% in 2007), several FIDIC Member Associations
Budapest
have established national lists of adjudicators offering
26-27 Jun 08
experienced and qualified adjudicators capable of working in
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their own language and understanding the local situation. As
detailed at FIDIC.org/DAB, the lists follow FIDIC guidelines, with
FIDIC maintaining an access point for information. In the AsiaPacific region, an Adjudicators Forum (Manila; August 2007) isContracts
Conference
being organized by CECOPHIL-Philippines and the local chapter
Houstonof the Dispute Review Board Foundation, with support from AJCE-Japan and theJapanese development bank, JBIC (see News item). Salvador Castro (see photo), 2-4 Jun 08
is the coordinator. The forum accompanies a FIDIC-CECOPHIL-DBRF Contracts
Training Course (Manila; 22-27 August 2008). In the Balkans, the International
Finance Corporation is finalising an agreement with FIDIC to support alternative
dispute resolution services, including adjudication. Meanwhile, building on the
demand for training courses for Module 1 (practical use) and Module 2 (claims
and dispute management) of the FIDIC Contracts Manual, the FIDIC training
Regional
course supplier ECV and the FIDIC training workshop supplier DBTraining areplanning, in association with FIDIC and local partners wherever possible, Module 3 Conference
22-25 Jun 07(DAB) training courses and workshops in Bosnia, Trinidad, UAE, and Vietnam
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(details will be announced on FIDIC.org). ECV has organized FIDIC-ECV DAB
training courses in Romania and the UAE, and a course will be held in Sri Lanka
on 27-28-May 2008, with local support from The World Bank.

Representation
FIDIC Syria Awareness Seminar [full item: 59Re]

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Consulting engineering in Syria is characterised by a large government controlled
consulting organization, the General Company for Consulting, and a single
procurement law that regulates the private sector and applies to all government
purchases. Given the considerable opportunities for international developers andCoursecontractors and the growing need for modern infrastructure - both public andsponsorprivate - the government is examining ways to incorporate FIDIC works contracts,
services agreements and best practice guidelines into government procurement,
while at the same time facilitating the use of FIDIC contracts in the private sector.
Meethak, a Damascus-based consulting and legal firm, and Halcrow Syria
arranged for Maxime Mazloum, former FIDIC Executive Committee member, andPeter Boswell, FIDIC General Manager, to meet the Prime Minister, Dr Mohammad
Naji Ottri, in February 2008 (see news agency report). It was agreed to organize
a FIDIC Awareness Seminar under his patronage. The seminar, attended by over
100 participants including senior officials from the major ministries, was held in
April 2008 in Damascus. It was opened by Eigil Pedersen, FIDIC Past-President,
and Dr Boswell, with Nabil Abbas, Saudi Arabia, Munther Saket, Jordan, andDavid Yaw, Halcrow, moderating sessions on FIDIC contracts, consultancy
services agreements and the organization of a consulting industry. An expert
group that met immediately after the seminar recommended adopting the FIDIC
Construction Contract, possibly as an annex to the procurement law, and updating
consultancy agreements according to the FIDIC Client/Consultant Model Services
Agreement. The next step will be to explore the need for training, and to discuss
ways for Syria to work towards a viable consulting engineering industry withmembership in FIDIC.

Business practice
SB Alliance launched [full item: 75Pr]
The French and UK building research organizations responsible
for the HQE and BREEM building certification schemes havelaunched the Sustainable Building Alliance (SB Alliance) whereorganizations and their stakeholders will collaborate in thedevelopment of a core building assessment system (the photoshows a HQE rated building). The aim is to establish common
metrics for key issues so as to provide transparency between rating systems thatrecognize regional and national differences. Most rating systems (see BRE website
for a useful comparison) are moving towards procedures for allowing ratings to be
adjusted for local characteristics, something that FIDIC's Project Sustainability
Management (PSM) indicator system recognized right from the start.
Incorporating PSM will ensure that local customisation is done rigorously anduniformly throughout systems participating in the SB Alliance. It is envisaged thatinstead of having buildings rated according to several systems (US LEED, French
HQE, and UK BREEM, for example) a single certification by a SB Alliance teammember will meet clients' expectations.
Sustainable Development Committee member to chair UNEP initiative[full item: 76Pr]

Dr Ike van der Putte (RPS, The Netherlands, and a member of
FIDIC's Sustainable Development Committee) has been elected
to chair the Board of the UN Environmental Programme
Sustainable Buildings and Construction Initiative (UNEP SBCI)for 2008-9. He represents FIDIC, a founding member of the
SBCI, a global partnership between UNEP and worldwide leading
companies to support sustainable solutions for the construction
sector. A SBCI climate change think tank aims to develop
mechanisms for including buildings in carbon markets because it
has found that the Kyoto Agreement's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is
not working for buildings (only 14 of CDM's 2700 projects are for buildings, which
are is responsible for 30 - 40% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions). Other
think tanks (see summaries in PDF) will: a) report on progress towards zeroemissions buildings; b) draft a Global Benchmarking System for Sustainable
Buildings and Construction using parameters selected from established building
rating systems (see News item); c) develop a web-based tool for selecting themost suitable package of policies under various conditions.

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Business development
Development bank sustainability and integrity seminars [full item: 57De]

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It was agreed in late-2007 with the multilateral development banks' heads ofprocurement to develop workshops in June 2008 on the two key issues ofsustainability and integrity management. The aim would be to explore in detail
how sustainability and corruption mitigation practices can incorporated in
procurement processes, and how they would work in practice. John Boyd, FIDIC
CoursePresident, and Enrico Vink, FIDIC Managing Director, visited all the majorsponsordevelopment banks in February 2008 in order to consolidate the banks'
commitment and to focus the seminar programmes. FIDIC Executive Committee
members who assisted where Geoff French, in London, Pablo Bueno Tomas, inWashington, Xie Shaozhang, in Manila, and Patrick Batumbya, in Tunis. To
reinforce regional interests, Akihito Hirotani, FIDIC-ASPAC chair, joined thediscussions in Manila, and Exaud Mushi, FIDIC-GAMA chair, those in Tunis. The
seminars, by invitation only, will take place on 9-10 June 2008 in Washington DC.
Ethics
FIDIC signs a MoU with professional associations organization[full item: 38Et]

While some professional engineers working in the public sector are represented byassociations, most rely upon the professional associations that make up the World
Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) to promote their interests as
individual professionals. FIDIC recognizes that public sector staff have a key roleto play in developing high quality, sustainable projects (see News item). During
the Executive Committee meeting in Madrid in late-January 2008 (see Newsitem), FIDIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the WFEO withthe view to expanding joint activities, notably programmes to ensure integrity inproject procurement.

ImageWorld Bank country systems pilot programme to go ahead [full item: 41Im]
The World Bank has been "defining a methodology for piloting the use of country
systems" for procuring bank-financed projects since 2005. A discussion paper was
revised in the light of the comments received, and disclosed for further commenton in March 2008. In late-April 2008, the bank's Executive Directors approved apilot programme involving 8-10 carefully selected countries with procurement
systems that meet bank standards and participating in accordance withinternational best practice. In two years time, the Board will take stock anddecide whether to continue the pilot and, if so, in what manner. Recognizing thespecial challenges related to the procurement of consulting services, such services
were in the end not included. In liaising with bank, FIDIC has offered advisory
services for the pilot programme. FIDIC's comments on key issues are available
on the bank's country systems website.
Japan development bank envisages contract licence [full item: 42Im]

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ClaimsThe Japan Bank for International Cooperation, JBIC, has a
Workshop
project portfolio of some USD 2 billion and is active in some 30
Budapest
26-27 Jun 08
countries throughout Asia and Africa. It is currently merging
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with Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, as majorpart of a comprehensive overhaul on Japan's Overseas
Development Agency, ODA, with disbursements totalling USD 20
billion. Following the example of AusAID, Australia's
Contracts
development agency, JBIC is arranging to licence the MDB
Conference
Harmonised Edition (see FIDIC.org/MDB) of the FIDIC
HoustonConstruction Contract for the projects it funds. Opportunities to
2-4 Jun 08
assist with training of bank staff in the use of the contract will follow. This isalready happening in Indonesia where AusAID's use of the Harmonised Contract
on major roads projects triggered translations of both the harmonised andstandard 1st Edition of the Construction Contact into Bahasa-Indonesia (see FIDIC
Bookshop), with the first training seminar planned for 28-29 May 2008 (Ritz
Carlton Hotel; Jakarta) to launch a FIDIC-INKINDO contracts training course
programme. John Boyd, FIDIC President, and Enrico Vink, FIDIC Managing
Regional
Conference
Director, met with senior JBIC officials in late-February to review licencearrangements and procurement polices and procedures. While in Japan, the FIDIC 22-25 Jun 07
ORDER NOW
delegation was also able to support AJCE-Japan in pushing for improved
procurement practices at a meeting with the Vice-Minister of a "super ministry"
for infrastructure, construction, transport and other key economic areas that
promotes the export of consulting services.
Notices to Member Associations
Meetings: see Meetings
Executive Committee, Quebec, 4-5 Sep 08
Contracts, Copenhagen, 30 Jun 08
MA Letters
01/08: EC Nominations PDF
02/08: Quality Management Survey PDF
03/08: GAMA-Africa Conference PDF

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CoursesponsorThis 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
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