20/02/2026
(FIDIC) is an acronym for "Federation Internationale Des Ingenieurs-Conseils", which means the international federation of consulting engineers.
The international standards organization is well known for publishing Suite of Contracts for engineering and construction.
📕Red Book is the standard, and most commonly used, construction contract form in all projects where the design is provided by the Employer, following the traditional procurement route of Design, Bid and Build. The Contractor is paid on a measurement basis for the actual quantities of work performed.
📓Silver Book which refers to Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects. The Silver Book is recommended for turnkey provision of process or power plants, factories and/or infrastructure when the Employer wishes the maximum degree of certainty in terms of costs and time of the works and intends to have the Contractors entirely responsible (and liable) for the design and ex*****on of the Works.
📒Yellow Book is the recommended "design and build document for projects where the employer wishes to protect its interests by appointing an engineer to supervise the overall construction of the works, notwithstanding that the overall responsibility for design lies with the contractor".
In the ordinary course, the contractor designs and provides, according to the client's requirements, plant and/or other works which may include a combination of civil, mechanical, electrical and/or construction works.
📗Green Book is a short form of contract and is recommended for engineering and building works of a smaller scale. A maximum of USD$500,000 and a six-month construction period was initially considered as a reasonable limit on the capital value and duration.
However, the World Bank has suggested its use for contract values up to USD$10 million. Depending on the type of works, the Green Book may be suitable for contracts of considerably greater value. Also, it is considered more likely to be suitable for fairly simple or repetitive work or work of a short duration without the need for specialist subcontracts.
📒Gold Book being a contract form where the design is made by the Contractor. Additionally the Contractor assumes the responsibility for the construction and the operation of the Works.
The Gold Book adopts a "green-field" DBO scenario with a 20-year operation period and a single contract awarded to a single contracting entity (which will almost certainly be a joint venture or consortium) to optimize the coordination of innovation, quality, and performance.
The Contractor is not responsible for the project's funding or eventual commercial success under the DBO contract.
📔Pink Book: The Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) Harmonized Edition of the Red Book.
In using the FIDIC Conditions it has been the regular practice of the MDBs to introduce additional Clauses in the Conditions of Particular Application (or “Particular Conditions”) in order to amend provisions contained in the FIDIC General Conditions. These additional clauses in many cases have standard wording which has to be repeated whenever procurement documents are being prepared for a new project. Furthermore, the provisions in bid documents, including the additional clauses contained in the Particular Conditions, varied between the MDBs, and this created inefficiencies and uncertainties amongst the users of the documents, and increased the possibilities for disputes.
📙has developed model forms for two types of associations between services suppliers – this Model Joint Venture Agreement and a Model Sub-Consultancy Agreement.
These two model forms of agreement are compatible with the 2017 fifth edition of FIDIC’s “Client/Consultant Model Services Agreement” (the White Book).
This model Joint Venture Agreement will allow the parties to agree, on a project-specific basis, their obligations, services and rewards within the Joint Venture created among them by the effect of this Model Joint Venture Agreement. It is not intended to create a legal entity or to be used to create a more permanent non-project specific legal association.
