The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (commonly known as FIDIC, acronym for its French name ''Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils'') is an international

standards organization A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpr ...

for construction technology and consulting engineering. The organization is best known for the FIDIC suite of contract templates.

History

There were 59 participants at the inaugural meeting during a World Exhibition in

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Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, in July 1913, called to discuss the possibility of forming a global federation of consulting engineers. Of these, 19 were official delegates from the US,

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France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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and Switzerland, with the remainder coming from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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and the UK. This meeting led to FIDIC's formal constitution being adopted on 22 July 1993. Some countries maintained only provisional links during the first few years. The founding members of FIDIC were Belgium, France and Switzerland. FIDIC led a difficult life until the late 1940s with changing numbers of members, all from European countries. In 1959, these were joined by Australia, Canada,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and the USA. The first member associations from the developing world, from

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...

(now

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, joined in 1962. Colombia joined in 1967. FIDIC has members in 104 countries. In March 2018, Nelson Ogunshakin was appointed as the new CEO of FIDIC, to replace its retiring managing director, Enrico Vink. The current president is Anthony Barry, with Catherine Karakatsanis as the president-elect.

Services

FIDIC has a mission of representing consulting engineering globally, including through promoting the interests of companies, organizations and engineers who provide technology-based services. The organization arranges a number of seminars and training courses, including the World Consulting Engineer Conference.

Standard form contracts

FIDIC publishes international contracts and business practice documents which are used globally. The organization published an updated "rainbow suite" of contracts in 1999, which established a number of different conditions of contract depending on the circumstances of the works. The Red Book, which dates back to 1957, covers building and engineering works which are designed by the employer. The Yellow Book covers circumstances of

design–build Design–build (or design/build, and abbreviated D–B or D/B accordingly) is a project delivery system used in the construction industry. It is a method to deliver a project in which the design and construction services are contracted by a sin ...

, where mechanical and

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

(M&E), building and engineering works are designed by the Contractor. The Silver Book covers projects which will follow the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and

turnkey A turnkey, a turnkey project, or a turnkey operation (also spelled turn-key) is a type of project that is constructed so that it can be sold to any buyer as a completed product. This is contrasted with build to order, where the constructor builds ...

approach. The Green Book created a short form of contract. These revised contracts effectively superseded the Orange Book, which was published in 1995 to establish an option for design–build and

, as it is common for the Yellow Book or Silver Book to be used in each relevant circumstance.

References

External links

Official website

FIDIC news
{{Construction overview 1915 establishments in France Civil engineering organizations Construction organizations International organisations based in Switzerland International organizations based in Europe Organizations established in 1915 Construction law