Reference · Standards clauses
The clauses this publication treats, and what each requires at the seam.
One entry per clause of ISO 55001, ISO 19650 and the FIDIC conditions that an article, a glossary entry, a framework domain or a tool on this site already treats: what the clause requires, what that requirement means where project assurance meets asset assurance, and the page that argues it. Quotations are short and stay in the language the standard was enacted in.
A clause is listed here when a page on the site treats it.
The entry states the requirement; the argument is on the page it links to.
ISO 55001:2024
35 clauses
Introduction
- Why the standard says so
- The standard states in its own introduction that the order of its requirements implies no order of implementation.
The order in which requirements are presented in this document does not reflect their importance nor imply the order in which they are to be implemented.
- At the seam
- An organisation reading the clauses in numerical order and implementing them in that order will produce something that satisfies an assessor and does very little else.
4
- What the standard requires
- The context clause has five parts, and the first four are familiar from the 2014 edition: understanding the organisation and its context, understanding the needs and expectations of stakeholders, determining the scope of the asset management system, and the asset management system itself.
- At the seam
- An organisation that drafts criteria before settling scope will write criteria for decisions it does not control and omit the ones it does.
4.1
- What the standard requires
- ISO 55001:2024, Clause 4.1, requiring the organisation to determine external and internal issues relevant to its purpose and affecting its ability to achieve the intended outcomes of the asset management system.
- At the seam
- When the outcome is never separated from the solution, every later question collapses into whether the thing was built as drawn.
4.3Determining the scope of the asset management system
- What the standard requires
- ISO 55001:2024, Clause 4.3, determining the scope of the asset management system, and Clause 4.4, asset management system.
- At the seam
- Scope is the cheapest thing to define at the start and the most expensive thing to reconstruct later.
4.4Asset management system
- What the standard requires
- Clause 4.4 covers the asset management system and Clause 4.3 the determination of its scope.
- At the seam
- The asset management system is the way the organisation decides what to do with its assets, and it is perfectly possible to buy the first while having none of the second.
4.5Asset management decision-making
- What the standard requires
- Clause 4.5 is new in the 2024 edition and asks for three things, a decision-making framework, the criteria, and the methods.
- At the seam
- An organisation that can produce all three and still cannot follow one decision back to one objective has satisfied the clause and missed the point of it.
- Argued in
- ISO 55001 now requires you to write down how you decideThe decision-making frameworkISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build firstAudited on the transactions, unaudited on the basisEvery organisation has a risk register. Ask for the other oneNothing tells you when a record stopped being trueA gate that has never been failed is not a control
4.5.1Framework
- What the standard requires
- The framework is the easiest and the one most organisations can half-produce already: who decides what, at what value, under whose delegation.
- At the seam
- A delegation of authority matrix is a start and it is rarely sufficient, because it says who may sign and not what they are supposed to weigh.
4.5.2Criteria
- What the standard requires
- The absence of documented criteria is now a nonconformity against the standard rather than an observation about maturity, which changes the conversation with a board considerably.
- At the seam
- Criteria that stop at capital cost will, reliably and forever, select assets that are cheap to build and expensive to own.
4.5.3Methods, processes and tools
- What the standard requires
- An organisation that has to name its method can no longer answer "judgement".
- At the seam
- Once a method is named it can be examined, taught and applied consistently by someone else.
5
- What the standard requires
- Clause 5 puts the policy at 5.2, between leadership and commitment at 5.1 and roles, responsibilities and authorities at 5.3.
- At the seam
- The criteria say what is weighed; the policy says which way the organisation leans when weighing produces a tie.
5.3
- What the standard requires
- Clause 5.3 then requires that roles, responsibilities and authorities are assigned and communicated.
- At the seam
- Responsibility without authority is the standard condition of asset management functions, and it is the condition in which plans get written and not applied.
6.1
- What the standard requires
- The second edition splits Clause 6.1 into three parts: 6.1.1 general, 6.1.2 actions to address risk, and 6.1.3 actions to address opportunities.
- At the seam
- When one process has to serve both, loss avoidance wins, because it is the half with a committee, a template and an auditor.
6.1.2Actions to address risk
- What the standard requires
- ISO lists the split among the main changes from the first edition, describing it as making a clear distinction between how an organisation shall address risk and how it shall address opportunities.
- At the seam
- Two separate subclauses also means two sets of requirements, which means an assessor can find one satisfied and the other not.
6.1.3Actions to address opportunities
- What the standard requires
- ISO lists the split among the main changes from the first edition, describing it as making a clear distinction between how an organisation shall address risk and how it shall address opportunities.
- At the seam
- In an asset context the opportunities are rarely windfalls and almost always decisions to do less, later, or differently.
6.2.1Strategic asset management plan
- What the standard requires
- The new subclause requires the development of the SAMP and specifies what it should include and bring about.
- At the seam
- The committee promoted the SAMP because it is the instrument that connects what the organisation is trying to do with what it does to its assets, and an instrument doing that job cannot sit downstream of the objectives it is supposed to align.
- Argued in
- A strategic asset management plan that has never stopped anything is a descriptionStrategic asset management plan (SAMP)The SAMP and the line back to organisational objectivesWhole-life cost and the operating consequenceAn entity is asked for four asset registers and builds oneISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build firstISO 55001 now requires you to write down how you decideAsset lifecycle method
6.2.2Asset management objectives
- What the standard requires
- Clause 6.2.2 requires asset management objectives, and 6.2.3 requires planning to achieve them.
- At the seam
- A break upward is more serious: it means the asset function has set itself a target the organisation has not asked for, and that target will lose every time it competes for money against something the organisation did ask for.
- Argued in
- Every organisation has a risk register. Ask for the other oneA strategic asset management plan that has never stopped anything is a descriptionStrategic asset management plan (SAMP)The SAMP and the line back to organisational objectivesNeed and outcomeAsset lifecycle methodAsset register packageISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build first
6.2.3
- What the standard requires
- Clause 6.2.2 requires asset management objectives, and 6.2.3 requires planning to achieve them.
- At the seam
- A break downward means the objective is aspirational, which is common and relatively easy to fix.
6.3Planning of changes
- What the standard requires
- The reading taken here, from its title and its place, is that it concerns changes to the asset management system itself rather than to assets, and that is the reading the rest of this section rests on.
- At the seam
- The system change most likely to damage an asset management system is the one being made to improve it, and the subclause on planning such changes arrived only with the 2024 edition.
8.2Control of change
- What the standard requires
- This publication reads it as concerning changes that affect assets and the delivery of asset management activities.
- At the seam
- Most organisations have some version of a management of change procedure, and it is generally attached to physical and operational modification.
7Support
- What the standard requires
- Clause 7 lists seven: resources, competence, awareness, communication, documented information, data and information, and knowledge.
- At the seam
- The handover pack is not a poor proxy for readiness but an accurate record of the only part of readiness a contract was able to reach.
7.1Resources
- What the standard requires
- Clause 7.1 requires the organisation to determine and provide the resources needed.
- At the seam
- A system that has been resourced by absorption has added tasks and removed none, and the tasks it quietly displaced were the discretionary ones, which in most organisations means the analysis.
7.2Competence
- What the standard requires
- ISO 55001:2024, Clause 7.2 on competence: the organisation shall determine the necessary competence, ensure persons are competent, and retain documented information as evidence.
- At the seam
- A register of attendance is not evidence of competence.
- Argued in
- Turnover package composerThe competence you need is not in the asset management functionCompetence of whoever is assuringOperational readiness of the organisationOperational readiness checkOperational readiness has seven conditions. Handover delivers two.Knowledge has a departure dateISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build first
7.3Awareness
- What the standard requires
- Awareness answers whether they know the decision is theirs to make.
- At the seam
- Awareness in this sense is not information but the transfer of a decision from one that appeared purely functional to one understood to have consequences the function does not measure.
7.4Communication
- What the standard requires
- Clause 7.4 asks the organisation to determine what it will communicate, when, to whom and how.
- At the seam
- In an asset context the most consequential communication in the organisation is the asset register, which is the object through which the finance function and the engineering function describe the same physical things to each other.
7.5Documented information
- What the standard requires
- Clause 7.5 covers documented information.
- At the seam
- A register can be perfectly controlled under 7.5, with version history, approvals and retention, and be substantially wrong.
- Argued in
- Nothing tells you when a record stopped being trueISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build firstThe competence you need is not in the asset management functionAsset registerOperational readiness checkTurnover package composerOperational readiness has seven conditions. Handover delivers two.Knowledge has a departure date
7.6Data and information
- What the standard requires
- The questions that matter for a register sit on the 7.6 side of that line, in this publication's reading: what data the organisation needs, what attributes it has to carry, what quality it has to meet, where it comes from, and how financial and non-financial data relate to each other.
- At the seam
- Controlling a record and knowing it is still true are different questions, and it is the difference between holding a register and being able to defend one.
- Argued in
- Nothing tells you when a record stopped being trueISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build firstAudited on the transactions, unaudited on the basisAt handover, every review arrives after the leverage has goneThe competence you need is not in the asset management functionKnowledge has a departure dateA delivered file is not an accepted recordISO 55001 now requires you to write down how you decideOperational readiness has seven conditions. Handover delivers two.Asset registerComponentisationCapital work in progressInformation requirements, set before designInformation transfer against stated requirementsRecognition onto the asset registerAsset data and its qualityAlignment of the financial and technical viewOperational readiness checkAsset register packageTurnover package composerWarranty register builderCorporate accountantProposals
7.7Knowledge
- What the standard requires
- The committee describes the clause as requiring an organisation to determine the knowledge needed to operate the asset management system, to implement processes for dealing with knowledge, and to ensure that knowledge remains current and reflects changing requirements and trends.
- At the seam
- The clause asks for knowledge that stays current, and that is a continuing obligation on the receiving organisation rather than a deliverable anybody can hand across.
- Argued in
- Knowledge has a departure dateKnowledge, as distinct from informationAt handover, every review arrives after the leverage has goneISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build firstThe competence you need is not in the asset management functionYou cannot buy an outcome you cannot specifyISO 55001 now requires you to write down how you decideOperational readiness has seven conditions. Handover delivers two.Operational readiness checkTurnover package composerCorporate accountantProposals
8
- What the standard requires
- Clause 8 then asks the organisation to plan and control the operation itself.
- At the seam
- Clauses 7 and 8 describe the destination state without any assumption about who caused it or which contract paid for it.
8.1Operational planning and control
- What the standard requires
- The committee says the revised 8.1 now addresses life cycle processes explicitly, and names them: creation, acquisition, utilisation, maintenance, improvement, renewal and disposal.
- At the seam
- The clarification is not general encouragement to think long term but puts two specific decisions, the ones usually made by capital planning or an investment committee, inside the clause governing how the asset is run.
- Argued in
- Operational control now says life cycle management, which is a larger change than it looksWhole-life cost and the operating consequenceAsset lifecycle methodAsset register packageTurnover package composerCompletion describes the asset. Readiness describes the owner.You can place the activity outside. You cannot place the accountability thereISO 55001 now requires you to write down how you decide
8.3Externally provided processes, products, technologies and services
- What the standard requires
- Clause 8.3 was retitled in the 2024 edition from Outsourcing to externally provided processes, products, technologies and services.
- At the seam
- Whatever the drafting reason, the four nouns describe a wider field than the single word outsourcing did, and an organisation scoping Clause 8.3 from its contracts register will miss arrangements the title plainly covers.
9.1Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
- What the standard requires
- Clause 9.1 requires monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation, and it sits upstream of all of this, because nothing can be predicted that is not first measured.
- At the seam
- An organisation can achieve 98% planned maintenance compliance on an estate that is deteriorating steadily, and the dashboard will be green throughout, because the dashboard is reporting on the department rather than on the assets.
9.2
- What the standard requires
- Clause 9.2 requires internal audit of the asset management system itself, on a programme that considers the importance of the processes concerned and the results of previous audits.
- At the seam
- The subject is the system, not the spend.
10.1Continual improvement
- What the standard requires
- Clause 10.1 covers continual improvement and 10.2 nonconformity and corrective action.
- At the seam
- Organisations can predict, but what they lack is any route by which a prediction becomes a funded instruction, because every existing route begins with something being wrong.
10.2Nonconformity and corrective action
- What the standard requires
- Clause 10.1 covers continual improvement and 10.2 nonconformity and corrective action.
- At the seam
- Organisations can predict, but what they lack is any route by which a prediction becomes a funded instruction, because every existing route begins with something being wrong.
10.3Predictive action
- What the standard requires
- The new subclause replaces preventive action and requires processes for predictive actions, which the committee defines as actions that predict future behaviour of a parameter required to support decision-making.
- At the seam
- An optimal intervention point is a date, and a date can only be produced by something that models how a parameter moves.
- Argued in
- Preventive became predictive, and the second needs three things the first did notPredictive actionPredictive actionAudited on the transactions, unaudited on the basisISO 55001 tells you what to build. It will not tell you what to build firstNobody will give you a deterioration curveISO 55001 now requires you to write down how you decide
ISO 55001:2014
4 clauses
7.5Information requirements
- What the standard requires
- The 2014 contents put information requirements at 7.5 and documented information at 7.6; the 2024 contents put documented information at 7.5 and data and information at 7.6.
- At the seam
- The second edition changed enough that advice written against the 2014 edition is no longer safe.
7.6Documented information
- What the standard requires
- The 2014 contents put information requirements at 7.5 and documented information at 7.6; the 2024 contents put documented information at 7.5 and data and information at 7.6.
- At the seam
- Most of the implementation advice in circulation still describes the 2014 structure, which no longer matches the standard it claims to explain.
8.3Outsourcing
- What the standard requires
- Clause 8.3 of ISO 55001 was titled Outsourcing in the 2014 edition.
- At the seam
- The question that separates a purchase from a delegation is narrow: if the provider is wrong, how would we find out, and how long would it take.
10.3Preventive action
- What the standard requires
- Clause 10.3 was called preventive action in the 2014 edition.
- At the seam
- A rename plus a full technical revision is a statement that the previous content was answering a different question.
ISO 19650
10 clauses
Whole part
- What the standard requires
- ISO 19650-3, information management during the operational phase of assets, under which asset information requirements derive from organizational information requirements.
- At the seam
- Information requirements set after design has started cannot change what is captured, only what is compiled.
- Argued in
- Information requirements, set before designInformation transfer against stated requirementsKnowledge, as distinct from informationA delivered file is not an accepted recordTurnover package composerAsset lifecycle methodOperational readinessAs-built recordsTaking overAt handover, every review arrives after the leverage has goneA gate that has never been failed is not a controlCompletion describes the asset. Readiness describes the owner.Knowledge has a departure dateNothing tells you when a record stopped being trueHandover is where the cost lands, and the Gulf is now taking deliveryYou can place the activity outside. You cannot place the accountability there
5.1.4Establish asset information requirements
- What the standard requires
- ISO 19650-3, clause 5.1.4, establish asset information requirements.
- At the seam
- An owner who did not write it is negotiating the contents of the package after the leverage has gone.
- Argued in
- Turnover package composer
5.1.6
- What the standard requires
- The UK BIM Framework guidance on ISO 19650-3 also lists clauses under which the appointing party establishes an asset information standard (clause 5.1.6), the asset information model itself (clause 5.1.11), and links to its enterprise systems (clause 5.1.10).
- At the seam
- The same guidance is plain about the standard's force: it describes it as voluntary, with no obligation of its own, and says the obligation has to be created, by a contract or by an organisational policy.
5.1.10
- What the standard requires
- The UK BIM Framework guidance on ISO 19650-3 also lists clauses under which the appointing party establishes an asset information standard (clause 5.1.6), the asset information model itself (clause 5.1.11), and links to its enterprise systems (clause 5.1.10).
- At the seam
- The links to the systems that will use the information are something the owner establishes, not something the delivery produces.
5.1.11
- What the standard requires
- The UK BIM Framework guidance on ISO 19650-3 also lists clauses under which the appointing party establishes an asset information standard (clause 5.1.6), the asset information model itself (clause 5.1.11), and links to its enterprise systems (clause 5.1.10).
- At the seam
- The same guidance is plain about the standard's force: it describes it as voluntary, with no obligation of its own, and says the obligation has to be created, by a contract or by an organisational policy.
5.7.2
- What the standard requires
- The UK BIM Framework guidance on ISO 19650-3 lists separate activities to review and accept an information model (clause 5.7.2) and to aggregate an accepted information model into the asset information model (clause 5.8.1).
- At the seam
- What the titles show is structural: in the sequence presented by the guidance, accepting what was delivered and incorporating it into the model the organisation operates from are different steps.
5.8.1
- What the standard requires
- The UK BIM Framework guidance on ISO 19650-3 lists separate activities to review and accept an information model (clause 5.7.2) and to aggregate an accepted information model into the asset information model (clause 5.8.1).
- At the seam
- What the titles show is structural: in the sequence presented by the guidance, accepting what was delivered and incorporating it into the model the organisation operates from are different steps.
5.2.1
- What the standard requires
- Where ISO 19650 is adopted, each exchange information requirement is derived from the project and asset information requirements and issued at the invitation-to-tender stage.
- At the seam
- Before the tender is released, the function expected to operate and maintain the asset reviews the operating, maintenance, information and acceptance requirements while the brief and design are developed, and reviews the final requirement set again before release.
- Argued in
- Asset lifecycle method
5.7.4
- What the standard requires
- Where ISO 19650 is adopted, the appointing party reviews and accepts the information model; acceptance is a step of its own.
- At the seam
- A contractual no-objection shows the information was received and not objected to; it does not show the information was accepted into the systems that will use it.
- Argued in
- Asset lifecycle method
5.8.2
- What the standard requires
- Where ISO 19650 is adopted, the appointing party compiles lessons learnt for future projects at project close-out.
- At the seam
- None of the external requirements the method relies on requires the organisation’s own operating cost and life data to feed its next estimate; this publication argues that they should, because reference-class forecasting depends on outturn data of exactly that kind.
- Argued in
- Asset lifecycle method
FIDIC conditions of contract
28 clauses
1.1.3.7Defects Notification Period
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 1999 edition, Sub-Clause 1.1.3.7: the DNP is the period stated in the Appendix to Tender, calculated from the date the Works or Section is completed as certified under Sub-Clause 10.1.
- At the seam
- Unlike 2017, the 1999 conditions supply no fallback period.
1.1.27Defects Notification Period
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 2017 edition, Sub-Clause 1.1.27: the DNP is the period stated in the Contract Data, or one year if none is stated.
- At the seam
- One year is the fallback, not the norm.
5.2
- What the standard requires
- Under FIDIC 2017, as Howard Kennedy’s commentary summarises Sub-Clause 5.2, approval or review of the Contractor’s Documents does not relieve the Contractor of any obligation or responsibility.
- At the seam
- The operator reviews operability and maintainability; none of the external requirements the method relies on makes it an approver of the design.
- Argued in
- Asset lifecycle method
5.5 to 5.7
- What the standard requires
- In FIDIC's 1999 Yellow Book, the obligation to supply as-built records, operation and maintenance manuals and training sat in Sub-Clauses 5.5 to 5.7, away from the completion machinery.
- At the seam
- The 2017 change moves asset information from a schedule item to a completion condition.
9.1
- What the standard requires
- The commissioning plan and the tests on completion under FIDIC Sub-Clause 9.1, and, where the project is certified, the LEED fundamental commissioning and verification prerequisite.
- At the seam
- Commissioning proves the machine; readiness is a property of the operator.
10.1
- What the standard requires
- Under Sub-Clause 10.1 of the 2017 Red Book the works are taken over only once the Engineer has given, or is deemed to have given, a Notice of No-objection to the as-built records and to the operation and maintenance manuals, and the contractor has carried out any training the contract requires.
- At the seam
- Neither test asks whether the material was loaded into anything, by anybody, or whether it worked when it was.
- Argued in
- A delivered file is not an accepted recordTaking overTaking over, and what was waived to achieve itHandover is where the cost lands, and the Gulf is now taking deliveryAt handover, every review arrives after the leverage has goneCompletion describes the asset. Readiness describes the owner.Under FIDIC, taking over comes before acceptanceKnowledge has a departure dateThe evidence finance needs is in a file finance never seesYou can place the activity outside. You cannot place the accountability thereAs-built recordsOperational readinessDefects Notification PeriodAsset registerTesting and commissioningPunch listExternally provided processes and servicesInformation transfer against stated requirementsHandover & TransitionAsset lifecycle methodWhat follows the certificate, and whenOperational readiness checkAsset register packageTurnover package composer
10.2
- What the standard requires
- Under FIDIC 2017, as Tyson summarises Clause 10, a taking-over certificate for a part identifies outstanding work, including Tests on Completion, so some testing may continue after taking over.
- At the seam
- Which tests are contractual, and the criteria they are judged against, come from the requirements fixed before award.
- Argued in
- Asset lifecycle method
10.3
- What the standard requires
- Tyson notes that because of how Sub-Clause 10.3 was redrafted, deemed taking over following interference with tests on completion seems to occur even without the as-built records, the manuals and the training.
- At the seam
- That is one experienced practitioner's reading rather than a settled position, and it may never be tested.
11
- What the standard requires
- The contractor’s obligation to remedy defects after taking over, and the period it runs for, are set by the contract: FIDIC 2017 Clause 11 and the Saudi procurement regulations.
- At the seam
- A supplier’s or manufacturer’s warranty is a separate document with its own period and its own start.
11.1
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 2017 edition, Sub-Clause 11.1: the obligation to remedy runs to the end of the DNP for the Works, for a Section or for a Part.
- At the seam
- Which one this item sits in determines which period applies to it.
11.2
- What the standard requires
- Published commentary on the 2017 conditions describes the contractor as obliged to rectify everything notified, including defects and damage it did not cause; where the cause is not the contractor’s responsibility, Sub-Clause 11.2 treats the work as if the Engineer had instructed it, so it is a variation and is paid for.
- At the seam
- The cost runs the other way for defects caused by improper operation or maintenance that trace back to the contractor’s as-built records, manuals or training: in the 2017 Red Book, Sub-Clause 11.2 leaves those with the contractor.
11.3
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 2017 edition, Sub-Clause 11.3: an extension may not carry the DNP more than two years beyond the expiry of the period stated in the Contract Data, and in 2017 an extension is available only where the defect results from an act listed in Sub-Clause 11.2(a) to (d).
- At the seam
- In 1999 an extension was available wherever the defect or damage affected the Works; 2017 narrowed it to defects resulting from the contractor’s own acts.
11.3
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 1999 edition, Sub-Clause 11.3: the DNP shall not be extended by more than two years.
- At the seam
- In 1999 an extension was available wherever the defect or damage affected the Works; 2017 narrowed it to defects resulting from the contractor’s own acts.
11.4
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC 2017, Sub-Clause 11.4: what happens next depends on whether the contractor unduly delayed, and that is measured from these two dates.
- At the seam
- The contractor’s defects period and the supplier’s warranty on the same item: two obligations, two clocks, two expiry dates, and one owner left holding both.
- Argued in
- Warranty register builder
11.6
- What the standard requires
- On Fenwick Elliott's summary, where the defect is not the contractor's responsibility, the work is treated as a variation and attracts additional payment under Sub-Clause 11.2, as does additional testing under Sub-Clause 11.6.
- At the seam
- The defects period is not a warranty but a mechanism guaranteeing that somebody competent will attend, with the question of who pays settled afterwards, on evidence.
11.7
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 2017 edition, Sub-Clause 11.7: the right of access extends to 28 days after issue of the Performance Certificate, where under the 1999 edition it ended on issue.
- At the seam
- Check your Contract Data and any Particular Conditions: every one of these periods can be amended, and on most Gulf contracts at least one has been.
11.7
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 1999 edition, Sub-Clause 11.7: the right of access ends on issue of the Performance Certificate.
- At the seam
- The further 28 days is a 2017 addition.
11.9
- What the standard requires
- Contractual acceptance of the works comes later: Sub-Clause 11.9 makes the Performance Certificate the document that constitutes it, and the certificate follows the Defects Notification Period, which is one year where the Contract Data states no different period.
- At the seam
- Almost everything commercially interesting happens in between.
11.9
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 1999 edition, Sub-Clause 11.9: the Engineer issues the Performance Certificate within 28 days after the latest of the expiry dates of the Defects Notification Periods, or as soon thereafter as the Contractor has supplied all the Contractor’s Documents and completed and tested all the Works.
- At the seam
- If the Engineer does not issue, the 1999 contract offers no date at which one is treated as issued, which is the gap 2017 closed.
11.10
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC 2017, Sub-Clause 11.10: liability for unfulfilled obligations in respect of Plant is limited to two years after the end of the DNP for that Plant, unless the law provides otherwise or in cases of fraud, gross negligence, deliberate default or reckless misconduct.
for that Plant
- At the seam
- The clause says "for that Plant", which is the standard assuming a period per item.
14
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 2017 edition, Clause 14 on interim payment certificates, which fix what cost is recorded against.
- At the seam
- The consequence is that the structure of the eventual transfer is being fixed, irreversibly, by a decision nobody is treating as an accounting decision: whether cost is captured against contracts or against assets.
- Argued in
- Capital work in progress
14.6
- What the standard requires
- The Engineer certifies "the amount which the Engineer fairly determines to be due", so a statement is not thrown back because part of it is disputed: the disputed part is trimmed, the rest is certified, and where work is not in accordance with the Contract only the cost of rectification may be withheld.
the amount which the Engineer fairly determines to be due
- At the seam
- Whether the Engineer would in fact trim rather than reject is a matter of how 14.6 is administered, and a wholesale failure to meet the contractual preconditions for a statement is a different case from a disputed line in it.
14.7
- What the standard requires
- The 56 days run from receipt of the Statement and its supporting documents, so a package short of its evidence has not started the clock.
- At the seam
- That completeness gate is in all three rules, and it is the part most likely to be where the real delay lives.
14.8
- What the standard requires
- Where an employer pays late, FIDIC entitles the contractor to "financing charges compounded monthly on the amount unpaid during the period of delay", running from the date for payment "irrespective ... of the date on which any Interim Payment Certificate is issued", at "three percentage points above the discount rate of the central bank in the country of the currency of payment", and payable "without formal notice or certification".
three percentage points above the discount rate of the central bank in the country of the currency of payment
- At the seam
- Pricing the wait needs a cost of money, and the temptation is to assume one; the contract nominates one instead.
14.9
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC 2017 Red Book, Sub-Clause 14.9: once the Taking-Over Certificate is issued, or deemed issued under Sub-Clause 10.1, the contractor includes the first half of the Retention Money in a Statement.
- At the seam
- The date here is when that Statement can be submitted, not when the money is paid.
14.9
- What the standard requires
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 1999 edition, Sub-Clause 14.9: the first half of the Retention Money is certified when the Taking-Over Certificate has been issued.
- At the seam
- In this region assume the Particular Conditions have moved at least one of these periods, and read them before relying on any date above.
20.1
- What the standard requires
- The contractor must give the Engineer notice describing the event or circumstance giving rise to the claim, as soon as practicable and not later than 28 days after it became aware, or should have become aware, of it.
- At the seam
- The same judgment shows the gap between a record and a notice.
20.2.4
- What the standard requires
- Gowling WLG's summary of the 2017 Red Book, published in May 2024, describes a Notice of Claim within 28 days of becoming aware of the event and a fully detailed claim within 84 days, under Sub-Clause 20.2.4.
- At the seam
- The two editions are different contracts, and a project's particular conditions can change either.
Cite this page
Projects Advisors, “The clauses this publication treats, and what each requires at the seam.,” revised 2026-10-24, https://projects-advisors.com/reference/clauses
Correspondence
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