FIDIC 2017 and the Sri Lankan infrastructure tender — a counsel's reading.

The second edition of FIDIC's Red, Yellow, and Silver Books — published in 2017 and now a decade into use — has become the reference point for Sri Lankan infrastructure procurement. This briefing sets out how the 2017 forms are landing in local practice.

The most consequential changes remain the expanded role of the Engineer, the symmetrical claims machinery of Clause 20, and the standing Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board. Each has practical implications for how Sri Lankan employers and contractors staff and price a tender.

In the firm's experience, the notice regimes are where disputes are won and lost. The 2017 forms attach firm time bars to claims by both parties; a contractor that treats notices as an administrative afterthought will find its entitlements extinguished before the merits are ever reached.

Employers, for their part, should resist the temptation to amend the balanced risk allocation out of the Particular Conditions. Tenders priced against heavily amended forms carry the cost of that risk transfer back to the employer — visibly in the tender sum, or invisibly in the disputes that follow.

The firm advises on FIDIC drafting and review, procurement, claims management, and the constitution of Dispute Adjudication Boards. A partner in the construction practice can advise on the application of the 2017 forms to a specific project.