Committee and advisory council reports

Lifeblood of FIDIC that’s so crucial to building success

FIDIC’s committees are the lifeblood of the organisation and are so important to achieving success. Over the past year, FIDIC’s committees have made further steps forward, enhancing links with key stakeholders, raising FIDIC’s profile and widening its influence in the global infrastructure industry. Brief reports from each of the FIDIC committee chairs appear below.

Contracts Committee

Update from the chair, Vincent Leloup, managing partner of contracts consultancy Exequatur in France.

The past year has been a busy one for the contracts committee (CC), with several significant milestones achieved.

First of all, the long-awaited update of the FIDIC Green Book (Short form of Contract) was published in December 2021 in conjunction with the International Contract Users’ Conference. Within the FIDIC suite of contracts, the Green Book is positioned as an alternative to the Red and the Yellow Book for projects where the perceived level of risk is low, and/or where parties wish to use a simplified contract machinery which does not require mobilising extensive contract administration resources. The new Green Book is perfectly fit for the purpose of the ‘small works’ contracts financed by multilateral development banks (capital value less than $10m). It can also be used in larger value projects, for example a $30m water pipeline construction contract. First market feedback is extremely positive, and the combined simplicity, completeness and robustness of the Green Book, together with its many user-friendly features and innovations, have been praised by many users across the globe. The CC has also been actively working throughout the year on the completion of a reprint of its flagship 2017 suite of contracts (Red, Yellow and Silver books), which includes many user-friendly improvements in the text. The CC also completed the Guide to the 2017 Suite, which was a colossal task (600+ pages) of drafting detailed and in-depth guidance to the users of the 2017 suite. Both the reprint and the guide will be published in December 2022.

On the organisation side, the CC increased its workforce from seven to ten active task groups and is now well on the way to reach its target of 15 task groups to fulfil its plan and objectives over the 2020-2024 period.

The following task groups have kicked off their work this year:• EPCM contracts. • Subcontracts to the 2017 suite, to the 2019

Emerald Book and to the 2021 Green Book. • Handbook for practitioners (for 1999 and 2017 suites), which aim at providing users with sample forms (for notices, letters, certificates, etc) for use on their projects and flowcharts to assist their understanding of the contract machinery.

Finally, the CC continued supporting the market in Covid-19 times by publishing a guidance memorandum for consultants working under FIDIC contracts and agreements, echoing what the CC did in 2020 for works contracts.

Update from the chair, Andrew Read, director of Pedersen Read in New Zealand.

The business practice committee (BPC) has continued its work despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, holding six teleconference meetings since the 2021 September conference. Whilst technology enables us to meet and work remotely from all points of the globe, we are looking forward to meeting face-to-face for the first time in three years at FIDIC’s September conference.

FIDIC has long advocated that the best practice for selecting consultants should be qualifications-based selection (QBS), where the decision is assigned to a qualified group that would base its decisions solely on the concept of qualifications, guided by their expertise and their ethics. However, recognising that some clients may be apprehensive about the consequences of moving too suddenly from cost-based selection (CBS) to QBS, a key activity in the past year has been the development of a guidance document provisionally titled Recommended Procedures to Improve the Application of Qualifications/ Quality & Cost Based Selection for Consultants. Led by BPC vice chair Fatma Colasan, one of the issues that the QCBS task group has been debating is the difference between ‘quality’ and ‘qualifications’ in consultant selection processes and how a better understanding of these terms can improve project outcomes.

Recognising that consultant selection is one of the most important decisions that a project owner can make and building on the development of the QCBS guidelines above, a BPC 2022 webinar focused on the evolving practices in consultant selection being experienced globally. A knowledgeable panel discussed key developments in consultant selection from client, consultant, World Bank and government perspectives.

Going forward, the Board has decided to restructure the committee with new title Business Practice Leadership Committee (BPLC) in Q4 2022.

New terms of reference (TOR) for the committee, formalised in March this year, sees the introduction of standing task groups on key industry themes. At the time of writing, the TOR for these groups are being developed with possible topics including, consultant and contractor selection, procurement, risk allocation, human resources, business management, project management, safety and security culture, etc. These task groups may create an opportunity for those with experience in the topics to provide thought leadership.

I would like to thank all those who give so greatly of their time, whether it be on the committee or on the various task groups that we have. The many guidance documents that we have produced over the years are testament to their dedication. I am particularly grateful to committee vice chairs Fatma Colasan and Chris Newcomb for their support. We will continue to work on your collective behalf in the year ahead.

International Financial Institutions Committee

Update from the chair, Manish Kothari, president and CEO at Sheladia Associates in the USA.

Over the past 12 months, the committee has continued to build on its ‘partnership with purpose’ approach to liaising with and influencing the international financial institutions (IFIs) which have an important influence on the global infrastructure sector.

We have had multiple meetings with IFIs, including an important session between the committee and members the IFI advisory group which had senior representation from the European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Development Bank, the French Development Agency and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. All of the organisations were appreciative of the value of building FIDIC’s relations with the IFIs and can see many common areas where we can work together.

The IFIs can see an important role for FIDIC going forward in brokering conversations between key international stakeholders, including funders, on contractual and risk issues. The committee plans to organise a global webinar on some of these issues before the end of the year.

The IFI committee is meeting on a monthly basis and every three months we have met with the advisory group and discussed a range of issues like the effectiveness and the effect of sanctions in the industry, ESG issues, sustainability and what it means in contracts, funding and procurement. Key global issues like the energy crisis are also being discussed and we are also working closely with other FIDIC committees by assigning members to each committee to ensure that we have a joined-up approach across the organisation.

Going forward, we are planning two further webinars before the end of the year. The first, in October 2022, is an event in partnership with the European federation EFCA which will highlight the availability of project preparation funds based on quality infrastructure principles. The second webinar in December 2022, will address the challenges and opportunities faced by engineering services during and after conflicts or disasters.

The committee remains focused on its key ‘partnership with purpose’ approach which will continue to guide all its dealings with the crucial IFI audience. We are at the right place at the right time. Through dialogue, discussion and collaboration we will gain a better understanding of the global issues that we need to address to help guide our activities going forward. As the great Leonardo Da Vinci said: “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

Update from the chair, Adam Białachowski, CEO, B-Act/Vintage Consulting.

It’s been another very busy year for the FIDIC Future Leaders Advisory Council (FLAC), which streamlined its membership during the year to increase diversity and all members are now linked to other senior FIDIC committees to ensure that the voice of future leaders is heard at all levels of the organisation and able to offer support where appropriate. The chair of the FLAC participates in FIDIC board meetings and also chairs each FLAC monthly meeting.

FIDIC Future Leaders have actively participated in a number of activities during the year. These include contributing to the FIDIC State of the World reports and webinars on digital disruption, net zero and building sustainable communities. Members of the council also took part in World Engineering Day, helping to coordinate the relationship between FIDIC and the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO), including participating as a preliminary judge for the World Engineering Day Hackathon.

The FLAC also provided input into a WFEO webinar on “Engineering the future: Ethics in Engineering”, talking about the importance of professional codes of conduct in engineering and the role FIDIC has been actively advocating for by developing integrity management tools. We also took part in another WFEO webinar on “Build Back Wiser – Engineering the Future: An Inspiring and Collective Young Engineering Vision”, where we offered our thoughts on how young engineers can build a successful career path and best practice ways of engaging with young professionals’ groups.

FLAC members also organised and led a very successful FIDIC webinar entitled “Around the world in 90 minutes: changes and future trends in the delivery of consulting engineering services” in which council members provided an international perspective of what the next generation of consulting engineering professionals consider that are the most important changes and future trends impacting the industry.

FLAC member Rodrigo Juarez took part in the 50th anniversary celebration conference of FEPAC, the Pan-American Federation of Consultants and council members also participated as judges for FIDIC’s Future Leaders award, reviewing each of the applications and taking part in judging panel meetings. Council member Jeshika Ramchund has also actively participated in the FIDIC Future Leaders Management Certificate 2022 programme as a trainer.

September 2022 will see the end of my term as chair of the FLC and Rodrigo Juarez, a consultant at FOA Consulting in Mexico will take over. There will also be a call for new members of the council before the end of the year and I am sure that the next 12 months promise to be just as busy as the last.

Risk, Liability and Quality Committee

Update from the chair, Nora Fung, senior counsel, Arup Group.

The risk, liability and quality committee (RLQC) continued to undertake important work on behalf of the industry in developing and disseminating guidance on key risk management issues to the industry. The committee organised a very successful webinar on “Essential requirements for managing contractual risk” in April 2022 where leading risk contractual and insurance experts gave a comprehensive overview of how to improve the management of contractual risk.

The committee met three times during the year and much of its work has been spent developing and drafting three key briefing notes on limitations of liability, fitness for purpose and indemnities. These eagerly awaited briefing notes are expected to be published very soon and will help consultants to identify and better manage their contractual risks. The briefing notes are set to be even more important in the post-Covid environment and in the light of the hardening insurance market facing the industry.

Looking forward, the committee will continue to look at ways of supporting FIDIC’s member associations support their members to identify and navigate the key risk issues facing the sector. Some of the smaller consultancy firms in the industry in particular have a need to be better informed about key issues and, working with the contracts committee and other relevant FIDIC groups, the risk, liability and quality committee will look to ensure that FIDIC contracts are a benchmark of what is good practice and fair and reasonable in the marketplace.

In order to refine its focus going forward, the committee is due to change its name to the risk and liability committee from September 2022.

Update from the chair, Richard Stump, vice president of RS&H in the USA.

Coming out of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the consulting engineering and construction sectors have an opportunity to reshape the playing field on the challenges of corruption and the opportunities successful integrity management can bring to the built environment.

The opportunity to re-engage customers, teaming partners, consultants and supply chain providers is a welcome one – at the same time, vigilance is needed to avoid slipping back into old habits. The FIDIC integrity management committee (IMC) initiated a four-part series of integrity webinars entitled “Integrity in the Americas”. This series highlights integrity issues and anti-corruption initiatives at the IMC level and provides a vehicle for each North American member association (USA, Canada, Mexico).

In addition to the IMC-hosted webinar in April 2022, which focused on the integrity of infrastructure delivery during times of conflict, ACEC-USA hosted its webinar with a focus on the successfully executed $257m transportation and power sector infrastructure programme in Liberia, which was bilaterally executed by the US government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Members of the IMC have also regularly participated in integrity and anti-corruption webinars for several member associations, including Brazil, Canada, and India.

Additional activities have included engagement with the FIDIC contracts committee in addressing clauses in the White Book that are intended to discourage corruption and encourage integrity. The IMC has also engaged the FIDIC Academy on the review and development of integrity training modules.

Sustainable Development Committee

Update from the chair, Tracey Ryan, managing director of Aurecon – New Zealand

We are currently in the UN’s decade of action, with climate change and loss of biodiversity seen as the most pressing challenges of the next ten years. With that in mind, the sustainable development committee has continued its focus on the role that the infrastructure and engineering sector plays in providing solutions to these complex issues.

It has been an extremely busy year, most notably with the development and launch of FIDIC’s Climate Change Charter at COP26 in Glasgow in November. This is a significant piece of work that the committee is rightly immensely proud of.

The charter is a call to action to the one million-strong international engineering body to respond to the urgency of the climate crisis. It sets out clear commitments and actions for reducing and eventually eliminating carbon and other climate emissions from the sector and has been drawn up with the support of experts from around the world. Creating it has been a truly collaborative effort from the committee and its networks. I hope that readers of this annual report have had the opportunity to review and sign up to the charter and are committed to taking what actions you can to bring it to life. Whether on a project, in a leadership role, or at industry level, every positive action makes a difference.

We continue to collaborate with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to promote an ecologically sustainable, resilient, and inclusive infrastructure development agenda. Together, we are working to create a ‘playbook’ showcasing best practice in sustainable infrastructure development that ensures ecological health and biodiversity gain. We hope to launch the playbook together in time for COP27, so do keep an eye out for that.

As I look back on the last two years, I am extremely proud of what the committee has been able to achieve while working remotely and facing the differing challenges of the pandemic in our respective regions and time zones. But nothing beats real connection, so I am really looking forward to the opportunity to meet the committee and the wider FIDIC community in person in Geneva in September.

Directors and Secretaries Advisory Council

Update from the chair, Chris Campbell, CEO of Consulting Engineers South Africa.

FIDIC’s directors’ and secretaries’ advisory council (DNSAC) has effectively been in existence for five years since its formal inception in 2017. Volunteers serving on the council have come and gone, some due to time constraints and others owing to their changing roles in their respective associations.

Despite this and with the previous two years of only virtual meetings, we have been able to retain a core of committed members to this council. In the past year we managed to get closer to a relative balance in respect of gender diversity by adding the executive director from our Kenya member association to our team.

The council remains focused on encouraging new volunteers to join, regardless of their specific levels of experience in managing a member association. Managing an MA is encouraged, however volunteers from an MA with a passion for the industry are equally encouraged to join the council. This is necessary to ensure that we have a healthy level of succession whilst being able to continue to fulfil the advisory mandate required of this council.

Over the past year, the DNSAC chair has been invited to attend FIDIC board meetings to provide an MA perspective as well as give input on discussions related to various FIDIC initiatives being considered and their impact on MAs, which are in fact its main constituency. In addition, we have been able to provide substantial input to the FIDIC conference planning efforts, as well as providing input from our experiences as MA’s to the planning and improvements on the FIDIC awards process.

Over the past year, the DNSAC has also continued to host specific focused town hall sessions to implement its undertaking at the previous DNS meeting as far back as September 2020. This year’s most significant one being on lessons on best practice communication for MAs, which proved to be topical enough to host additional town hall sessions providing more granular insights on this aspect to assist MAs in being able to demonstrate the benefits of membership to their own members, the perennial vexing existential question all MAs need to deal with.

Unfortunately, the aspiration to start production of an MA Best Practice Guidebook, has not progressed sufficiently enough and we also had to accept that with 2022 presenting the opportunity for a return to normality with the pandemic risks being manageable, many would be focusing on the business of getting their own associations back to levels of functionality, limiting the time available to contribute to this project. Additional volunteers will be solicited at the next DNS meeting as there are no doubt enthusiastic and knowledgeable persons who may not be currently serving on the DNSAC, who could contribute to this project.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge all the members of the DNSAC as well as the FIDIC staff team, for providing the support to ensure that the council is continuously able to fulfil its role.

Update from the chair, Dr Michele Kruger, Functional General Manager Water and Environment, SMEC South Africa.

FIDIC’s diversity and inclusion advisory council held a well-attended webinar in March 2022 on International Women’s Day on “Using Design Thinking to drive diversity and inclusion in the engineering industry”. The successful event saw a range of excellent panel speakers focusing on using an integrated design approach and processes to create flexible diversity and inclusion solutions that are both fit for purpose and relevant to local conditions.

During 2022, the shortened version of the FIDIC Diversity and Inclusion Policy was launched. The shortened version has focus points and recommendations on: • Education and diversity of staff and skills. • Engagement of diverse groups on the FIDIC board and other committees. • Employment (salary, training, skills). • Social return on investment. • Social behaviour. In line with the updated policy, the council has developed diversity and inclusion training material and will provide training in partnership with the new FIDIC Academy. Training on the policy will serve as a base line with customised modules added depending on the audience. For example, different regions of the world see diversity in different ways that are closely associated to culture than say gender. Training can also be customised for specific companies that have specific diversity goals that they want to achieve.

The second important document that the council is updating in line with the shortened policy, looks at recommended key performance indicators (KPIs) regarding diversity and inclusion in the FIDIC community, including definitions, scope of work, calculation methods, frequency, responsible/reporting parties etc. Agreeing on and monitoring a certain set of KPIs will help in demonstrating how effective FIDIC and its partners and stakeholders are progressing in achieving key objectives, in addition to helping in agreeing on response strategies and actions to overcome any challenges and issues.

The diversity and inclusion council has also continued to interview diversity leaders in the consulting industry to get their views and recommendations, as well as their experiences. Videos of these interviews are posted on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/ groups/8692814/

The council is also reviving its diversity and inclusion survey in order to compare the results pre- and post-Covid, which should make for very interesting reading. We are also working with FIDIC staff to look at how the extensive international research repository of knowledge on all elements of diversity and inclusion, most notably examples of policy successes and failures, can be published in line with FIDIC requirements to provide maximum impact.

Update from the chair, Enni Soetanto, Executive Director/senior advisor of Mott MacDonald Indonesia.

FIDIC’s membership committee has set up the task group focusing on reviewing the terms of reference for the committee, especially related to its primary function and strategic priorities. The committee continues to provide strong support to the FIDIC secretariat to update registered member associations, associate members and affiliate members with the aim of retaining, attracting and improving communications with MAs. The committee has also been identifying trends around membership within similar global associations in order to look at how FIDIC can improve its offer when attracting new membership by focusing on the benefits of joining FIDIC such as provide training, support governments in those countries related to the use of FIDIC guidance, enhancing communications with the international financial institutions, supporting the translation of FIDIC contracts and also advising on all aspects of FIDIC membership across the consulting engineering industry. The committee is also looking to play a greater role in FIDIC’s liaison with member associations by nominated members liaising with MAs, under secretariate supervision, or members being involved in discussions with FIDIC regional groups and also with the directors and secretaries advisory council to provide a global exchange of ideas, find new ways to open up FIDIC to a wider user group and seek regular engagement with MAs on their specific needs.

Digital Transformation Committee

Update from the vice chairs, Stacy Sinclair, partner and head of technology and innovation at Fenwick Elliott (UK) and Yoshihiro Katsuhama, chief specialist at Nippon Koei Co (Japan).

Launched in April 2022, under the chairmanship of Mark Enzer from Mott MacDonald, the new digital transformation committee (DTC) has made great strides in just a matter of months. Comprising 12 members from across the digital and technological landscape, the DTC met three times since its formation to set the direction and development of its initiatives and to discuss and agree the focus and priorities of the committee. The strategic priorities, as outlined in the terms of reference, include: • Advocate and guide on the use of new and existing technologies across the consulting engineering industry. • Complete and publish guidance on digital platforms that would be of use to FIDIC members. • Advise and assist FIDIC in the exploration of digitising and developing the FIDIC contract

suite to aid productivity and user friendliness. • Explore new technologies, products and services FIDIC could offer its members and the wider sector.

The DTC has also established a list of activities aligned with the above strategic priorities and has identified those of high priority to progress at the outset. For example, the DTC is looking forward to developing its vision for digital transformation of the industry.

Looking ahead, the DTC will be forming specific task groups to promote and progress its identified activities and priorities. The DTC is also planning its first webinar for November 2022.

The committee is grateful for Mark Enzer’s time, energy and enthusiasm in leading the DTC and laying the foundation for what is set to be an exciting and productive first year.