Contract Management in the South African construction industry

There are 4 main standard construction contracts currently in use in the South African construction industry namely:

• FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers)
• GCC (General Conditions of Contract)
• JBCC (Joint Building Contracts Committee)
• NEC (New Engineering Contract)

The FIDIC, GCC and NEC forms of contract are mainly used on engineering and construction projects. Whereas the JBCC is commonly used on projects which predominantly involve building works.

1. FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers):

This form of contract is widely accepted internationally. It is recommended for use on engineering and building work of small project value, which is simple, repetitive, of a short duration and where no specialist sub-contractor is needed.

This contract is distinguished by 3 main books:

• Red Book
• Yellow book
• Silver book

Cons:

This form of contract allocates most of the risk to the contractor.

2. GCC (General Conditions of Contract)

The GCC also known as the “blue book” was established by the South African Institution of Civil Engineering. This form of contract is suitable for application for both construction and building work contracts.

3. JBCC (Joint-building contracts committee)

The Joint Building Contract Committee form of contract is the most commonly used construction contract in the South African construction industry. It is mostly suitable for building projects where the work has been designed and administered by the employer’s representative and principal agent.

Cons:  In “state”/ government/ public contracts disputes arising in terms of the contract are immediately referred to litigation. This dispute resolution mechanism can be costly, time consuming and public.

4. NEC: New Engineering Contract

The New Engineering contract is applicable to both building and engineering projects. It is also known as the Engineering and construction contract has 3 main components:

• Project management
• Risk management
• Conditions of contract

Let Triumphant Zoe handle your contract management needs to help you better manage your projects and keep track of all your communications. We are a team of qualified quantity surveyors, cost managers and project managers with years of experience. We have been helping our clients from across the country with their projects for over a decade. Email us on info@triumphantzoe.com or visit our website www.triumphantzoe.com