International Federation of Consulting Engineers

FIDIC News

March 2007
Online at FIDIC.org/news
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Activities
Singapore 2007 open for business
Online registration for the FIDIC 2007 Conference in Singapore on 9-12
September opens shortly at www.fidic2007.org.
Executive Committee sought to address strategic issues
With the increase in FIDIC committee and Secretariat activities, the January 2007 Agreements
Online course
Executive meeting focussed on strategic aspects.
Jun07
Bank guidelines envisage more emphasis on cost
ORDER NOWThe Asian Development Bank issues new procurement and selection guidelines.
Asian Development Bank visit consolidates interest in capacity development
With new procurement and consultant selection guidelines released, a FIDIC
delegation was able to raise policy issues with an ADB Vice-President.
Events
FIDIC GAMA Africa conference kicks off GAMA action plan
The FIDIC 2007 Africa regional conference in Botswana in May has as a backdrop
the new appreciation of Africa's riches.
Forthcoming visits and meetings
Regional events in Asia and Africa feature in the lead up to the FIDIC 2007
Singapore Conference.
Contracts
FIDIC consolidates Gulf contracts training
Consulting engineers and their clients in the Gulf are now offered a coherent
range of FIDIC training events.
FIDIC DBO contract under review
With the new FIDIC contract for design-build-operate projects now under review,a programme of roll-out seminars is being organized.
Representation

Contracts
Abu Dhabi
16-17 May07

ClaimsBrussels
4-5 Jun07
ORDER NOW

Conference
9-13 Sep06
Singapore07

Philippines association lays down a challenge
The CECOPHIL board plans to attend the FIDIC 2007 Singapore conference at atime when the Philippines consulting industry is facing many new challenges.
Portugal aims to support member firms entering foreign markets
APPC-Portugal initiatives to help firms enter foreign markets includes a survey of
support instruments, translations of FIDIC contracts and training.
Business practiceCommittees tackle professional liability issues
Surveys and best practice will be the focus of joint work by FIDIC and EFCA on
professional liability to be reported at the FIDIC 2007 conference.
Business development
FIDIC PSM seminars in Brussels and New Delhi
John Boyd, FIDIC President-Elect, presented Project Sustainability Management toEuropean association executives and Indian firms.
New Delhi seminar promotes capacity development
As part of a drive to expand membership services, FIDIC and CEAI-India
organized a seminar emphasizing the importance of capacity development.
Ethics
FIDIC to engage with standards association to promote business integrity
A memorandum of understanding with the Canadian Standards Association will
promote FIDIC's Business Integrity Management System.
Image
Association directors met to discuss EU neighbourhood instruments
The European Union has launched programmes to deepen economic and political,

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Coursesponsorcultural and security cooperation between Mediterranean counties.
FIDIC to collaborate in IFC ADR survey
FIDIC attended an IFC meeting with the view to an ADR programmme.
Notices to Member Associations
MA Notices: March 2007
Activities
Singapore 2007 open for business [full item: 90Ac]
Local hosts ACES-Singapore, together with FIDIC, will bewelcoming participants from all FIDIC member countries andbeyond, together with many whose business and professional
interests link back to the consulting engineering industry. Lyingat the heart of a thriving and resurgent Asia, Singapore
promises to attract both the hearts and minds of participants.
The success story of Singapore and its amazing rise from rags toriches was greatly influenced by consulting engineers, and therecognition that robust and efficient infrastructure fosters
economic growth. The setting provides an ideal background tothe conference, which focuses on business growth through strategic collaboration.
The consulting engineering industry is a leader in developing the opportunities
from cross-border trade in a truly global market. A number of workshops will
focus on the key aspects of collaboration to maximize potential and to realize thegrowing opportunities around the world. The old adage of think global, act local
has never been truer.
Executive Committee sought to address strategic issues [full item: 92Ac]
The FIDIC Executive Committee (EC) meeting in New Delhi in January 2007
approved a new position paper on the role of engineers in public-private
partnerships (PPP), with the exhaustive complementary report on the status of
PPP in various countries being published as an electronic "living document". The
committee also approved the review and publication schedule and the roll-out
seminar programme for the new Design-Build-Operate contract which was sent toselected reviewers in March 2007. Bayo Adeola, EC member, was appointed as
the chair of the Capacity Building Committee; he will re-establish the committee's
membership and propose a detailed action plan. Other committees reported
heavy workloads across a broad range of activities. The draft 2006 accounts
indicated a substantial surplus owing to record bookshop sales, significant income
from events, substantial new income from licensing, and a healthy surplus for the
Budapest 2006 conference. In view of trends, the Executive agreed to boost
Secretariat staff by a half-time position to help with public relations and websites,
notably the new eFIDIC training platform launched in January 2007. It alsodecided to take a strategic look at finances at the next meeting (London; 21-22
May 2007). Regarding the annual conference: a framework was drafted for
discussing possible cooperation with the European federation EFCA in the 2009
London conference; it was agreed that Africa was a strategic destination for 2011
(Member Associations would be asked for further proposals); arrangements forthe 2010 New Delhi conference were clarified with CEAI-India. Ways to refocus
promotion of the importance of quality in consultant selection were discussed in
the context of reprinting FIDIC publications and the importance of making themost use of annual conference outputs.
Bank guidelines envisage more emphasis on cost [full item: 93Ac]
The Asian Development Bank released in February 2007 revised Procurement
Guidelines (available at www.adb.org) and in March 2007 revised Guidelines on
the Use of Consultants by ADB and Its Borrowers (available at www.adb.org). In
the latter, in ranking proposals for the procedure for selecting consultants under
quality-cost based selection, a "flexible weighting" approach is adopted, as wasrecommended (see www.adb.org) by the ADB operations office COSO in
December 2006 in response to an ADB Board of Directors request. So "The weight
for technical quality will be 80%; the weight for cost will be 20%" is replaced by"The weight for the cost shall be chosen ...." The justification is that the ADB now"harmonises the approaches of ADB and other MDBs, principally the World Bank"

Agreements
Online course
Jun07
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Abu Dhabi
16-17 May07

ClaimsBrussels
4-5 Jun07
ORDER NOW

Conference
9-13 Sep06
Singapore07

Regional
Conference
14-16 May07

Coursesponsorwhose "operational practice" apparently allows a cost weighting of up to 30% foraudits and the like. The ADB referred to a 2005 survey that is claimed to showthat "In some cases, applying a 70-30 quality cost ratio can result in considerable
cost savings, particularly under ADB-financed loans, with marginal impact, if any,on quality."
FIDIC will continue to react strongly to any use of price weighting in the selectionof consultants, as this detracts from the key focus on quality. The next occasion
to discuss the issues will be at the biennial BIMILACI meeting at theInteramerican Development Bank, Washington DC, 10-11 May 2007. FIDIC
Member Associations have been asked to send to FIDIC comments and items thatshould be raised with the development banks (see draft agenda at
www.fidic.org/bimilaci).
Asian Development Bank visit consolidates interest in capacity
development [full item: 91Ac]
Several key issues were discussed with senior representatives of the Asia
Development Bank (ADB) during a visit by FIDIC in early March 2007. The FIDIC
delegation led by Dr Jorge Diaz Padilla, FIDIC President, received a very positive
reception from Liqun Jin, ADB Vice-President, who recalled the successful FIDIC
Agreements
2005 Beijing conference in assuring strong support for the 2007 conference inOnline course
Singapore. The FIDIC delegation received an update on new bank programmes
Jun07
ORDER NOW
supporting capacity development. Interest was expressed in collaborating with
FIDIC, building on the programme of FIDIC in-house contracts training courses for
ADB resident missions in six countries in early-2007.
EventsContracts
Abu Dhabi
16-17 May07

FIDIC GAMA Africa conference kicks off GAMA action plan [full item: 53Ev]
FIDIC regional conferences in the lead up to the FIDIC
2007 Singapore Conference www.fidic2007.org included
the FIDIC Asia-Pacific ASPAC-TCDPAP Regional
Conference in Lahore in March 2007 and will include the
FIDIC Africa GAMA conference in Gaborone, Botswana
on 14-16 May 2007 (the photo shows Botswana's worldfamous Okavango delta). The conference will kick-off
the GAMA Task Force action plan under the theme "Engineering Services - value
for money" (see FIDIC.org/GAMA).

ClaimsBrussels
4-5 Jun07
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Forthcoming visits and meetings [full item: 32Ev]
FIDIC-VBI-VUBIC Contracts Seminars, Berlin, starting Mar 07
FIDIC-ESCONE-CRCICA Contracts Seminar, Cairo, 1-2 Apr 07
FIDIC-ICC Dispute Resolution Conference, Dubai, 22-23 Apr 07
FIDIC-ECV Dispute Resolution Course, Zagreb, 26-27 Apr 07
FIDIC-JEA-AEBC Contracts Courses, Amman, 6-10 May 07
FIDIC-ECV Dispute Adjudication Course, Bucharest, 9-10 May 07
BIMILACI'07 Meeting, Washington DC, 10-11 May 07
FIDIC GAMA Africa Regional Conference, Gaborone, 14-16 May 07
FIDIC-Cornerstone Contracts Workshop, Abu Dhabi, 16-17 May 07
FIDIC-ECV Dispute Resolution Course, Barbados, 21-22 May 07
FIDIC-ECV Contracts Course, Brussels, 4-5 Jun 07

Conference
9-13 Sep06
Singapore07

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Contracts
FIDIC consolidates Gulf contracts training [full item: 66Co]
Timely support from FIDIC has led to the consolidationof training activities in the Gulf region, whereconsiderable construction and infrastructuredevelopment has led to much interest in FIDIC contracts
and procedures by both public and private clients. A
programme of regular training courses in English on
Module 1 (practical use) and Module 2 (claims anddispute resolution) of the FIDIC Contracts Manual got
underway in the UAE in February 2007 with the first

CoursesponsorFIDIC course organized jointly with the UAE Society of Engineers (UAESoE). The
UAESoE Vice-Chair, Dr Khalil Al-Hosani, is shown on the left in the photo, with
Enrico Vink, FIDIC Managing Director, during a recent visit. Further courses areplanned for Dubai in June and November 2007, in addition to a high-level FIDICCornerstone training seminar on 16-17 May 2007 in Abu Dhabi and training
courses (in English by Arabic-speaking experts) focussing on local issues
organized by the UAESoE. The first FIDIC training courses (in English by Arabic
speaking experts) in the programme organized jointly with Jordanian associations(see News item) will take place in Amman on 6-10 May 2007 covering contracts'
Modules 1 and 2. The first FIDIC contracts training seminar (in Arabic with English
translation) in the programme organized with ESCONE-Egypt and the Cairo
international arbitration centre CRCICA will be held on 1-2 April 2007. A planned
November 2007 seminar will focus on Module 2 issues. Meanwhile, SEC-Saudi
Arabia is considering a proposal to set up FIDIC training courses. See FIDIC.org
for details.
FIDIC DBO contract under review [full item: 67Co]
The count-down to publication of the trail edition of the new FIDIC Design-BuildOperate (DBO) Contract has accelerated with the release to selected reviewers in
March 2007 of a draft. While the Design-Build element is that found in the FIDIC
Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build, 1st Edition 1999, clauses
dealing Operation are totally new. This feature called for a fresh look at risk andAgreements
insurance provisions. The plan is to publish the document in time for the FIDIC
Online course
2007 Singapore conference (www.fidic2007.org) where a one-day launch seminar Jun07
ORDER NOW
will be organized. More FIDIC-organized DBO roll-out seminars are planned forother easily accessible locations, starting with London on 11-12 October 2007.
FIDIC Member Associations are being asked if they wish to extend the roll-out
seminar programme to their own countries using the FIDIC team of presenters led
by Axel Jaeger, FIDIC Contracts Committee chair, and Michael Mortimer-Hawkins, Contracts
Abu Dhabi
FIDIC DBO Task Group chair.
16-17 May07

Representation
Philippines association lays down a challenge [full item: 53Re]
During a visit of a FIDIC delegation to the Asian Development Bank Headquartersin Manila in early-March 2007, the FIDIC President, Dr Jorge Diaz Padilla,
accepted an invitation to act as the CECOPHIL-Philippines Inducting Officer for the
association's re-elected board. Accompanying him were Dr John Boyd, FIDIC
President-Elect, Xie Shaozhang, FIDIC Executive Committee member, and Enrico
Vink, FIDIC Managing Director, who also made presentations on Business
Integrity Management, Project Sustainability Management and capacity
development at the CECOPHIL annual meeting.

ClaimsBrussels
4-5 Jun07
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Michael Reyes, CECOPHIL President, in acknowledging the growing profile of
FIDIC in the region, undertook to take the entire CECOPHIL board to the FIDIC
2007 Singapore conference. This strong interest stemmed from a very positive
experience at the FIDIC 2006 Budapest 2006 conference, and a desire to follow
the progression of conference themes. He noted that the networks established,and experiences shared, were invaluable. CECOPHIL, which celebrated its 30th
anniversary in late-2006, reported that: the Gulf region was drawing many middle
ranking engineers; a CECOPHIL Young Professionals Forum has started activities(it had held a training course and undertaken a study mission to Korea sponsoredby KENCA-Korea); the association was undertaking a membership drive as mostmember firms were based in the capital. CECOPHIL sought FIDIC's help to combata recent court ruling that corporations as opposed to individuals and partnerships
could not undertake government funded work.

Conference
9-13 Sep06
Singapore07

Portugal aims to support member firms entering foreign markets

Coursesponsor[full item: 54Re]With the expansion of the European Union (EU) that has reduced
considerably EU structural funding, vigorous competition in
Angola from China and other Asia-Pacific countries, andcontinuing difficulties in gaining a ready access to the Brazilian
market, APPC-Portugal has launched a series of initiatives tohelp improve the capacity of member firms in international

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markets. A key aspect will be a survey of support for firms working overseas led
by Antonio Antunes Moreira of SNEDE (snede@snede.pt) and Jose Rayagra, aformer President of the European federation EFCA. Initiatives to improve theunderstanding of FIDIC works contracts and consultancy agreements are also
envisaged. During a visit to the APPC (the central Lisbon building that houses
APPC is shown in the photo) in February 2006 by Dr Peter Boswell, FIDIC General
Manager, to meet Fernando Silveira Ramos, APPC President, and Victor Carneiro,
APPC Director, APPC agreed to establish a task force to prepare Portuguese
translations of the 1999 suite of FIDIC contracts in time for a seminar in late2007 announcing their availability. Translations will be harmonized with thePortuguese version (available online) of the Multilateral Development Bank
Harmonised Edition of the FIDIC Construction Contract that was released in
December 2006 by the Interamerican Development Bank (the MDB Harmonised
Contract is mandatory for all IADB-financed projects). APPC is also discussing
with FIDIC the possibility of organizing contracts training courses in Portugal
starting in early-2008.
Business practiceCommittees tackle professional liability issues [full item: 72Pr]
In a collaborative initiative agreed in 2006, FIDIC and European Federation ofConsultancy Association (EFCA) committees are working together on identifying a
way forward in the increasingly obstructive and corrosive world of unreasonable(and uninsurable) professional liabilities. EFCA is looking closely at the market inEurope, and will share information with FIDIC as it consults with members firms
and the insurance industry. Initial results indicated a need for an improved
understanding of how to manage risk, both within the consulting industry andclient bodies. Examples of best practice for tackling the worst aspects ofprofessional liability are also being sought. They will also form the basis for aworkshop at the FIDIC 2007 Singapore conference (www.fidic2007.org).
Business development

Agreements
Online course
Jun07
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Abu Dhabi
16-17 May07

FIDIC PSM seminars in Brussels and New Delhi [full item: 52De]
A well-attended gathering of European association executives in mid-January
2007 found a specially prepared presentation on FIDIC's trademarked Project
Sustainability Management (PSM) to be of considerable value. Dr John Boyd,
FIDIC President-Elect and the main presenter, outlined the increasingly popular
PSM approach, and demonstrated its practical commercial application for
consulting engineering firms. It is clear that PSM adds value to the services
available to member firms. Several associations, in addition to ACEA-Australia,
ACEC-Canada, CEAI-India (see News item) and ACEI-Ireland that have organized
PSM seminars, have expressed interest in learning more about the application of
PSM and how it can be embedded within company structures.
The CEAI-India PSM seminar took place immediately following a FIDIC Executive
Committee meeting in New Delhi at the end of January 2007. Consulting
engineers were provided with clear evidence of how PSM could enhance theircapabilities, particularly in view of recent changes to Indian building regulations
requiring a more robust approach to sustainability. John Boyd also explained thebackground to PSM and, through case studies, showed how PSM indicators could
make a real difference in the assessment of project options.
New Delhi seminar promotes capacity development [full item: 53De]

ClaimsBrussels
4-5 Jun07
ORDER NOW

Conference
9-13 Sep06
Singapore07

Regional
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14-16 May07

Although India has a strong reputation for engineering, most new graduates focus
on information technology to the detriment of consulting engineering. Throughseveral new activities, CEAI-India is seeking to expand membership and increase
representation in the years leading up to the FIDIC 2010 conference in New Delhi. Course
In conjunction with the FIDIC Executive Committee January 2007 meeting in New sponsor
Delhi, committee members played a major role in a FIDIC-CEAI capacity
development seminar that gave local consultants an overview of FIDIC bestpractice, and its importance in meeting the needs of a rapidly expanding economy
and in improving opportunities for collaboration with foreign firms. Dr Jorge Diaz
Padilla, FIDIC President, and Enrico Vink, FIDIC Managing Director, set out FIDIC

policies; Gregs Thomopulos, Stanley Consultants, USA, and Geoff French, Scott
Wilson, UK, highlighted with case studies how capacity development initiatives
provided a win-win situation; Bayo Adeola, CPMS, Nigeria, summarised FIDIC
recommendations.
Ethics
FIDIC to engage with standards association to promote business integrity[full item: 32Et]

Following initial contacts with Wayne Bowes, FIDIC Past-President, andpreliminary discussions with the FIDIC Secretariat, representatives of theCanadian Standards Association's Quality Management Institute met Dr Jorge
Diaz Padilla, FIDIC President, and Dr Felipe Ochoa, FIDIC Integrity Management
Committee chair, in Mexico City on 21 February 2007, to discuss ways in which
QMI and FIDIC could work together to promote FIDIC's Business Integrity
Management System. An memorandum of understanding is being drafted tooutline the commitments and actions needed to reach defined objectives. It isenvisaged that are series of agreements will evolve as the partners work together
in the areas of marketing, incentive programmes, training, auditing, per review
and registration.
Image
Association directors met to discuss EU neighbourhood instruments[full item: 35Im]

Association directors from the Mediterranean rim countries met in Rome in earlyMarch 2007 to discuss joint initiatives. These mainly arise out of opportunities
presented by the European Union (EU) European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Jan
van der Putten, Secretary General of the European federation EFCA explained thatthe key operational and financial instruments include the Euro 12 billion European
Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) to support priorities agreed in
the ENP action plans, technical assistance and institutional capacity-building,
European Investment Bank lending, long-term twinning arrangements with EU
Member States' administrations and the Neighbourhood Investment Fund whichleverages loan resources. Tenders under EU assistance programmes are open tofirms from some 42 countries comprising EU member states, candidates, potential
candidates and ENP partners (see ec.europa.eu/world/enp).
FIDIC to collaborate in IFC ADR survey [full item: 36Im]
FIDIC was invited to attend the 2007 International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Monitoring and Evaluation Meeting (Cairo; 6-7 March 2007) as the only industry
observer in view of the federation's close involvement with the IFC regional
programme in the Balkans that had piloted an Alternative Dispute Resolution
Programme (ADR). The programme included support for FIDIC contracts training
seminars and courses. The IFC plans to roll out a similar programme in the MidEast after it has undertaken a detailed survey in which FIDIC has been invited toparticipate. The evaluation meeting aimed to establish measures for theeffectiveness of IFC initiatives in overcoming market barriers. Dispute resolution
in the booming construction and infrastructures sectors is a key issue. FIDIC's
adjudication mechanisms are receiving greater attention with the introduction of
the Multilateral Development Bank harmonised Edition of the FIDIC Construction
Contract.

Agreements
Online course
Jun07
ORDER NOW

Contracts
Abu Dhabi
16-17 May07

ClaimsBrussels
4-5 Jun07
ORDER NOW

Conference
9-13 Sep06
Singapore07

Notices to Member Associations
Meetings: see Meetings
Contracts Committee, Berlin, 3 May 07
Executive Committee, London, 21-22 May 07
MA Letters
01/07: EC nominations PDF
02/07: BIMILACI'07 input PDF
02/07: ADR survey PDF
03/07: Young Professionals PDF

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CoursesponsorThis email edition of FIDIC News is sent to FIDIC Member Associations, contacts and members of working
committees, groups, task forces and forums as a multipart formatted email message with an attached print
friendly PDF file. If difficulties arise, please download the newsletter from FIDIC.org/news. Member Associations
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International Federation of Consulting Engineers
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