Page 68 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

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Preparing contract documents
their liabilities. The contract thus binds the contractor to construct the works as
defined, and the employer to pay for them in the manner and timing set out.
As civil engineering works are often complex, involving the contractor in many
hundreds of different operations using many different materials and manu-
factured items, including employment of a wide variety of specialists, the
documents defining the contract are complex and comprehensive. The task of
preparing them for tendering therefore warrants close attention to detail and
uniformity of approach, so as to achieve a coherent set of documents which
forms an unambiguous and manageable contract. A typical set of documents
prepared for tendering will include the following.
Instructions to tenderers

These tell the contractor where and when he must deliver his tender and what
matters he must fill in to provide information on guarantees, bond, proposed
methods for construction, etc. The instructions may also inform him of items
which will be supplied by the employer, and sources of materials he should
use (e.g. source of filling for earthworks construction, etc.).

General and particular conditions of contract

The general conditions of contract may comprise any of the ‘standard’ forms of
contract mentioned in Chapter 4. The particular conditions adopted may contain
amendments or additions that the employer wishes to make to the standard con-
ditions. Usually the standard conditions (which are available in printed form)
are not reproduced in the tender documents but they will be named by specific
reference and a schedule will show what changes have been made to them.

The specification

This describes in words the works required, the quality of materials and
workmanship to be used, and methods of testing to be adopted to ensure
compliance. The specification usually starts with a description of the works
to be constructed, followed by all relevant data concerning the site, access,
past records of weather, etc. and availability of various services such as water
supply, electric power, etc. Further details are given in Section 5.5.

Bill of quantities or schedule of prices

These form an itemized list covering the works to be constructed, against each
item of which the tenderer has to quote a price. A bill of quantities shows the