Page 107 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

Civil Engineering Project Management
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the works or which add entirely new items; these are matters the engineer
must refer to the employer who will need to negotiate with the contractor his
agreement to undertake the addition (see Section 17.3).
Although the engineer is given a wide range of powers, he should not use
them without reference to the parties to the contract, either of whom may wish
to state his view on matters the engineer has to decide. The FIDIC conditions, for
instance (see Section 4.3), specifically call for such consultation by the engineer
as part of the procedure he must adopt before arriving at his decision.
However, if the employer wishes to restrict the engineer’s powers which
would otherwise be exercisable under the contract, the employer must state
in the tender documents the specific powers which the employer reserves for
himself. Both the ICE conditions Clause 2(1)(b), and the FIDIC 4th edition
conditions require this. But it is unwise for the employer to reserve too many
powers for himself, because this could affect the basis of contract and reduce
the benefit of having an independent engineer. Tenderers might then take a
different attitude towards the contract, since a tenderer may only offer his low-
est price if he is confident that an independent engineer will administer the
contract. Employers should also be aware that prior approving of matters such
as extension of time or claims may restrict their ability to dispute them later.
However an employer may sometimes wish to ensure that he is involved in
decisions likely to cause additional expenditure above some given limit, or
which alter significantly some aspect of the works. In practice, such restric-
tions are unlikely to detract from the engineer’s independent position because
the engineer should keep the employer advised of such matters and endeav-
our to agree with him what should be done. Most extra costs arise from hav-
ing to deal with unforeseen conditions which must necessarily be dealt with,
or from alterations required by the employer himself.
A different situation can arise if it becomes evident that the estimated final
cost of the contract is approaching or likely to exceed the contract sum. In that
case the engineer must forewarn the employer in good time, because an
employer such as a government or local government authority, may have no
authority to spend more than the contract sum, or may need to go through
a lengthy procedure to obtain sanction for any excess expenditure. In these
circumstances the employer may need to step in and negotiate with the con-
tractor a change to the works required, or perhaps deferment of construction
of part of the works to some later date.

8.5 The engineer’s duty to provide all necessary
drawings to the contractor

Under the ICE conditions the engineer has a duty to provide the contractor
with the drawings and further instructions needed to carry out the works. This
is additional to the tender drawings issued which do not need to show every
detail. The engineer must therefore watch construction progress to ensure any