The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (commonly known as FIDIC, acronym for its French name ''Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils'') is an international

standards organization A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpr ...

for construction technology and consulting engineering. The organization is best known for the FIDIC suite of contract templates.

History

There were 59 participants at the inaugural meeting during a World Exhibition in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, in July 1913, called to discuss the possibility of forming a global federation of consulting engineers. Of these, 19 were official delegates from the US,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, with the remainder coming from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the UK. This meeting led to FIDIC's formal constitution being adopted on 22 July 1913. Some countries maintained only provisional links during the first few years. The founding members of FIDIC were Belgium, France, and Switzerland. FIDIC led a difficult life until the late 1940s with changing numbers of members, all from European countries. The United States,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Canada, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

joined these in 1959. The first member associations from the

developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...

, from

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

(now

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, joined in 1962.

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

joined in 1967. FIDIC has members in 104 countries. In March 2018, Nelson Ogunshakin was appointed as the new CEO of FIDIC, to replace its retiring managing director, Enrico Vink. The current president is Catherine Karakatsanis.

Services

FIDIC has a mission of representing consulting engineering globally, including through promoting the interests of companies, organizations and engineers who provide technology-based services. The organization arranges a number of seminars and training courses, including the World Consulting Engineer Conference.

Standard form contracts

FIDIC publishes international contracts and business practice documents which are used globally. The organization published an updated "rainbow suite" of contracts in 1999, which established a number of different conditions of contract depending on the circumstances of the works: *the Red Book, which dates back to 1957, covers engineering and building projects that the employer designs. *the Orange Book was published in 1995 to establish an option for design–build and turnkey contracts *the Yellow Book covers circumstances of design–build, where

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

and

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

(M&E), building and engineering works are designed by the Contractor. *the Silver Book covers projects which will follow the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and turnkey approach. *the Green Book created a short form of contract. The Yellow Book and the Silver Book effectively superseded the Green Book, as it is common for them to be used in the relevant circumstances. In 2005 FIDIC published an amended version of the Red Book for use by

Multilateral Development Banks An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to international law. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, alt ...

. In 2017, FIDIC published the second edition of all of its Books.

References

External links

Official website

FIDIC news
{{Authority control 1915 establishments in France Civil engineering organizations Construction organizations International organisations based in Switzerland International organizations based in Europe Organizations established in 1915 Construction law