There are 2 forms of contract commonly used ;
a) ICE Contract
b) FIDIC Contract
Availability of Contract / Sub-Contract Documents
The original of full set contract documents and sub-contract documents together with contract drawings shall be kept in project office by the commercial / QS staff . A copy of the same set of documents ( with omissions of tendered price ) and drawings shall also be produced and kept in site office for the staff’s reference . However , if the commercial staff found that there are some BQ items which carry a too high or too low unit rate , this should be highlighted for the site supervisors’ information and awareness . The too high / too low rates might be the incidental tender errors , however if the front loading technique is applied to the BQ items ( ie. high rates at start and low rates at completion ) , it may not so easily to control up to the completion of the Contract .
Signing of Contract Documents
When signing or countersigning the contract documents , particularly for Sub-Contracts , it must be checked very carefully against the agreed terms and conditions , tendered price and addendums . Once signed on it means accepted it . However beside the Main Contract entered into with the Employer , some main contractors are reluctant to sign back and return the sub-contract to the sub-contractor until near completion of work . This is obviously not fair at all to the counter-party .
In the recent years , “ back to back ” becomes a common term when discussing contracts . In this situation , the whole terms and conditions of a contract and its specifications are taken aboard by the contractor . This term “ back to back ” is sometimes used incorrectly when referring to situations such as subletting parts of the contract work and the contractor needs only to abide to the technical aspects of the contract and the contractual terms are to be separately dealt with .
