International financing brings international contract forms. This note explains why FIDIC contracts are central to Ukraine's reconstruction and what parties should prepare for.
As reconstruction projects in Ukraine attract international financing, the contract forms used to deliver them are increasingly international as well. The FIDIC suite is the most widely used family of construction contracts on donor-funded and multilateral projects, and it is becoming the default reference point for major works in Ukraine.
What changes with FIDIC
FIDIC contracts allocate risk, time and money through a structured mechanism that differs from domestic practice in several respects:
- The Engineer. An independent administrator issues instructions, certifies payment and makes determinations — a role with no exact equivalent in many domestic forms.
- Notices and time bars. Entitlement can be lost if notice is not given within the contractual period. Record keeping is not administrative housekeeping; it is the foundation of a claim.
- Programme discipline. Extensions of time are assessed against a properly prepared and maintained programme.
- Tiered dispute resolution. Disputes pass through a Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Board before arbitration.
Practical preparation
Employers and contractors working on Ukrainian projects should invest early in three areas: contract administration capability, programme and records systems, and internal awareness of notice requirements. The cost of building this capability is a fraction of the value typically lost through unnotified claims.
The role of the Society
SCL Ukraine promotes education and research on these questions through workshops, seminars and publications, and supports the exchange of international best practice with fellow Society of Construction Law organisations worldwide.
For membership enquiries, please contact [email protected].
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