What is the order of precedence in fidic amongst General conditions, special conditions, General specifications, special specifications,Drawings,BOQ ?

Sir, you didn't mentioned to which of the FIDIC forms of contract your question is related to. Based on the fact that only the FIDIC Red Book refers to a Bill of Quantities as the basis for valuation of variations, I suppose your question is related to FIDIC Red Book.

Between FIDIC1987 and FIDIC1999 there are major differences.

 

Under Sub-clause5.2 [Priority of Contract Documents] from FIDIC1987, in case of ambiguities or discrepancies, the Engineer shall issue instruction according to the following priority of Contract documents:

1)  The Contract agreement 

2) The Letter of Acceptance

3) The Tender

4) Part II of General conditions

5) Part I of General conditions

6) Any other document forming part of the Contract

 

Under Sub-clause1.5 [Priority of Documents] from FIDIC1999, in a situation of contractual disputes or ambiguities the priority of documents is set out as:

a) the Contract agreement

b) the Letter of Acceptance

c) the Letter of Tender

d) the Particular conditions

e) the General conditions

f) the Specifications

g) the Drawings

h)  the Schedules and any other documents forming part of the Contract

 

As I mentioned above, there are major differences between FIDIC1987 and FIDIC1999 and I will emphasis the situation for "Bill of Quantities".

Under FIDIC1987, Sub-clause1.1 (b) (iv) [Definitions], Bill of Quantities (BOQ) is forming part of the Tender, ranked3 as order of precedence in case of ambiguities or disputes.

Under FIDIC1999, Sub-clause1.1.1.10 defines Bill of Quantities to be the documents so named which are comprised in the Schedules, ranked8 as order of precedence in case of ambiguities or disputes.

A typical Order of Precedence clause provides: In case of a difference between drawings and specifications, the specifications shall govern. ... The government authored the order of precedence clause as a mechanism to automatically remove conflict between specifications and drawings by assigning preeminence to the former.

Can someone elaborate this further? “If an ambiguity or discrepancy is found in the documents, the Engineer shall issue any necessary clarification or instruction.” Does it mean if i have a discrepancy in BOQ I’ll force the contractor to execute as per drawing without additional cost? And when i have discrepancy in drawing i force the contractor to execute from boq without additional cost?

Priority of Documents

The documents forming the Contract are to be taken as mutually explanatory of one another. For the purposes of interpretation, the priority of the documents shall be in accordance with the following sequence:

a) The Contract Agreement (if any),

Means the contract agreement (if any) referred to in Sub-Clause 1.6[Contract Agreement].

b) The Letter of Acceptance,

Means the letter of formal acceptance, signed by the Employer, of the Letter of Tender, including any annexed memoranda comprising agreements between and signed by both Parties, if there is no such letter of acceptance, the expression “Letter of Acceptance” means the Contract Agreement and the date of issuing or receiving the Letter of Acceptance means the date of signing the Contract Agreement.

c) The Letter of Tender,

Means the document entitled letter of tender, which was completed by the Contractor and includes the signed offer to the Employer for the Works.

d) The Particular Conditions, Contract conditions, usually included in the book of specifications (or in the accompanying architectural drawings) of a contract, that set the minimum performance requirements for the contractor. These conditions also include the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved.

e) These General Conditions, Provisions of a contract that is peculiar to the project under consideration and do not fall under the general conditions or supplementary conditions.

f) The Specification,

Means the document entitled specification, as included in the Contract, and any additions and modifications to the specification in accordance with the Contract. Such document specifies the Works.

g) The Drawings,

Means the drawings of the Works, as included in the Contract, and any additional and modified drawings issued by (or on behalf of) the Employer in accordance with the Contract.

h) The Schedules and any other documents forming part of the Contract.

Means the document(s) entitled schedules, completed by the Contractor and submitted with the Letter of Tender, as included in the Contract. Such document may include the Bill of Quantities, data, lists, and schedules of rates and/or prices.

If an ambiguity or discrepancy is found in the documents, the Engineer shall issue any necessary clarification or instruction.