Underground construction is more complex than ever. Demand for space is increasing, new technologies are constantly evolving, and more stakeholders are asserting influence. Yet one of the most challenging and frustrating characteristics of underground construction remains: often, contract language does not account for the unique nature of building underground. Recommended Contract Practices for Underground Construction is the first industry-wide effort to improve contract procedures in more than 30 years. Commissioned by the Underground Construction Association of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, this manual is an indispensable resource for contractors, consultants, suppliers, and owners anticipating underground projects. The authors suggest better practices during all stages of a project, when decisions are made that can affect the contract positively or negatively. Part one focuses on the practices and disciplines that build the foundation for effective contracts during the early phases of a project. Part two discusses best practices for contract provisions, payment mechanisms, and dispute resolution. By following these recommendations, you'll reduce the mistrust and costly disputes that often arise from the contract process. The result will be improved relationships, better contracts, and, most importantly, projects that are most cost-effective for owners and more profitable for contractors.
A successful underground project is one where relationships are strong, the objectives as understood by each party are met or exceeded, and the work product serves its stakeholders and is maintainable in a way that fits with the project vision. High-level metrics for project success relate to safety, quality, schedule, and budget. The first edition of Recommended Contract Practices for Underground Construction has become a valued resource for the underground industry, serving as a concise guide for drafting and implementation of contract provisions. It provided improvements to underground contracting practices during all project stages. It also presented clear roles and responsibilities for project participants to promote better contracts. This second edition was undertaken by the UCA of SME because the industry has undergone numerous changes over the last decade. Changes in tunneling technology, more common use of design-build as a contracting mechanism, and many lessons learned have sparked some creative contract approaches. The recommendations contained in this edition are intended to guide owners and their engineers in developing and administering contracts and to give contractors a better understanding of the rationale behind contract provisions. The goal is that more underground projects in this country can be best projects, where improved relationships and fair contracts enable all project participants to personally invest in cost-effective, profitable projects, ensuring the continued health of the underground industry.
Design-Build construction has become so widely accepted that owners and their advisors must seriously consider this approach when making decisions about project delivery. With its opportunities for cost containment and substantial risk transfer, Design-Build is increasingly becoming the delivery method of choice for owners with challenging funding limitations. But deciding to use the Design-Build system for underground projects is one thing; successfully implementing it is quite another. Design-Build Subsurface Projects, Second Edition, can help bridge that gap. First published in 2002, this cutting-edge book provides a straightforward, comprehensive look at how to make Design-Build work on complicated projects involving tunnels, highways, dams, and deep foundations. The authors are a "who's who" of subsurface construction experts, many of whom are key players in the most high-profile and challenging projects in the world. Drawing upon their wealth of practical experience, they spell out a list of common sense best practices that can be used by today's project owners and designers. Be advised: these authors don't shy away from the many thorny issues of Design-Build. Nor are they unabashed cheerleaders. They dispassionately explore both the advantages and disadvantages of this system, which must be carefully weighed and evaluated so planners can decide what is best for their projects based on all the important variables, including third-party impacts and environmental/community concerns. You'll find extensive information about procurement, as well as risk allocation issues, which are significantly different from the Design-Bid-Build approach. Team structure, agreements, design development, subsurface exploration, geotechnical reports, construction phase issues, and insurance are also examined in great detail. Design-Build Subsurface Projects is an indispensable resource for owners, engineers, construction managers, contractors, and others involved in the design and construction of subsurface projects. You'll gain a thorough understanding of how and why the system works and where the pitfalls can arise. The authors' years of experience will benefit even the most seasoned of practitioners.
Your timely source for more cost-effective and less disruptive solutions to your underground infrastructure needs. The North American Tunneling Conference is the premier biennial tunneling event for North America, bringing together the brightest, most resourceful, and innovative minds in the tunneling industry. It underscores the important role that the industry plays in the development of underground spaces, transportation and conveyance systems, and other forms of sustainable underground infrastructure. With every conference, the number of attendees and breadth of topics grow. The authors—experts and leaders in the industry—share the latest case histories, expertise, lessons learned, and real-world applications from around the globe. Crafted from a collection of 126 papers presented at the conference, this book takes you deep inside the projects. It includes challenging design issues, fresh approaches on performance, future projects, and industry trends as well as ground movement and support, structure analysis, risk and cost management, rock tunnels, caverns and shafts, TBM technology, and water and wastewater conveyance.
Conditions of Contract for Construction – known universally as the Red Book – published by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (known by its French acronym FIDIC) is the most widely used standard form of international construction contract. This book is a detailed commentary on the 2022 reprint of the 2017 FIDIC Red Book. For each of the Red Book’s 168 Sub-Clauses the commentary: identifies changes from the 1999 edition; analyses the meaning and significance of the Sub-Clause and lists related Sub-Clauses; describes related international arbitration awards, national court decisions and legal principles; and, where appropriate, proposes amendments to improve the Sub-Clause. As the FIDIC Yellow and Silver Books are very similar to the Red Book, much of the commentary is equally applicable to those forms of contract. The author is a FIDIC ‘insider’ having served for more than thirty years as Legal/Special Adviser to, or Member of, the FIDIC Contracts Committee which is responsible for preparing FIDIC’s contracts. This book is an indispensable resource for all parties called on to work with a FIDIC contract. With guidance for every stage of a construction project, whether in drafting, negotiating, performing, interpreting, or administering a FIDIC contract, the book’s easy-to-use structure includes such issues and topics as the following: introduction to FIDIC and its contracts and to publications of FIDIC and others relevant to the Red Book including the 2022 FIDIC Contracts Guide; critical examination of each Sub-Clause and advice for amending the same in order to better adapt it to the interests of each party (the Employer or the Contractor); special attention to each Sub-Clause relating to the Contractor’s and the Employer’s claims and claims procedure and to how to assert claims effectively, as well as to time bars and other pitfalls and how they may be overcome; detailed examination of Sub-Clauses relating to the referral of issues or disputes to the Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board and, if necessary, to international arbitration, and optimal strategies for doing so; discussion of the changes required to the 2017 Red Book by The World Bank’s Conditions of Particular Application (‘COPA’); reference, where appropriate, to the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and trade usages; comprehensive discussion of practical issues that arise under common law, civil law and international legal principles, especially when a contract is with a state or public body; comparison of common law and civil law methods of contract interpretation and a suggested practical approach to interpretation given a FIDIC contract’s international arbitration clause; and overcoming problems that can arise when a contract is governed by the law of a less-developed country. Legal and technical terms are clearly defined, and numerous figures and tables are included to illustrate steps in contract procedures. Detailed attention is paid to terminological distinctions among the various legal traditions, including a comparison of British-English and American-English construction contract terms. Unquestionably the most detailed and thorough commentary ever published on the FIDIC Red Book, this highly practical work enables preparers of FIDIC contracts to amend and adapt the Red Book’s provisions to a particular project. Dispute adjudicators, arbitrators, and judges will welcome the book’s authoritative guidance on interpreting the provisions of a FIDIC contract, and engineers and other construction professionals involved in contract administration will appreciate the book’s many practical features.
FIDIC contracts are the most widely used contracts for international construction around the world and are used in many different jurisdictions, both common law and civil law. For any construction project, the General Conditions of Contract published by FIDIC need to be supplemented by Particular Conditions that specify the specific requirements of that project subject to the relevant laws. FIDIC Contracts in Asia Pacific provides readers with detailed guidance and resources for the preparation of the Particular Conditions that will comply with the requirements of the applicable laws for a number of the jurisdictions in which FIDIC contracts are used. The laws that apply to the governing law of the contract, construction works and dispute resolution in each jurisdiction are identified. This book offers chapters on the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Underground Works, and the perspective of a bilateral aid agency on the use of FIDIC contracts. Each jurisdiction features an outline of its construction industry and information on the impact of Covid-19 on both the execution of construction projects and the operation of construction contracts. This book is essential reading for construction professionals, lawyers and students of construction law using FIDIC contracts.
This book examines the role of the geotechnical baseline report (GBR) as a means of allocating and managing subsurface risks associated with subsurface construction.
