FIDIC Yellow Book Roles and Responsibilities

The Yellow Book is designed for plant and design-build projects where the Contractor generally carries the responsibility for designing and executing the works in accordance with the Employer’s Requirements.

The Employer

The Employer initiates the project and defines the requirements that the completed works must satisfy.

Depending on the project-specific contract, the Employer’s responsibilities commonly include:

• Providing access to the site

• Defining the Employer’s Requirements

• Making payments in accordance with the contract

• Appointing the Engineer

• Providing information or assistance allocated to the Employer

• Making key commercial and strategic decisions

The Employer must also ensure that its internal stakeholders understand how communications and decisions are to be routed through the contractual organisation.

The Contractor

Under the Yellow Book, the Contractor has a central role in both design and execution.

Its responsibilities commonly include:

• Designing the works

• Executing and completing the works

• Providing plant, materials and personnel

• Complying with the Employer’s Requirements

• Submitting designs and documents for review

• Planning and coordinating the work

• Performing tests

• Managing subcontractors

• Giving contractual notices

• Maintaining records supporting time and cost claims

The Contractor’s legal, commercial, engineering and construction teams must therefore work together. Contract management cannot be isolated within a single department.

The Engineer

The Engineer administers the contract and performs the functions assigned to the role.

Depending on the contract and its amendments, these functions may include:

• Reviewing Contractor submissions

• Issuing instructions

• Certifying payments

• Assessing progress

• Managing variation procedures

• Making contractual determinations

• Supporting the handling of claims

• Certifying completion-related milestones

FIDIC’s Golden Principles state that the duties, rights, obligations, roles and responsibilities of the contract participants should generally remain as implied by the General Conditions and be appropriate for the project.

It is therefore important to check whether the Particular Conditions have changed the Engineer’s authority, obligations or independence.

The wider project team

The formal contract names only certain participants, but contractual performance depends on many operational roles, including:

• Project managers

• Contract managers

• Commercial managers

• Design managers

• Planners

• Site managers

• Document controllers

• Procurement teams

• Legal advisers

Each role should understand which contractual events it may identify and what action must follow.

Turn contractual roles into workflows

A written responsibility matrix is useful, but it should be connected to specific processes. For every important event, the team should be able to answer:

1. Who identifies the event?

2. Who evaluates its contractual significance?

3. Who prepares the communication?

4. Who approves and submits it?

5. Who follows up?

6. Where is the evidence stored?

VIXCO’s visual FIDIC playbooks translate formal contractual responsibilities into practical workflows that project teams can apply throughout delivery.