Major Challenges Facing the Implementation of the FIDIC in Construction Projects in Palestine

One of the major parts for any Contract Documents is the General Conditions. The purpose of these documents is to define the relationship between the contractual parties, setting out the responsibilities, gives greater certainty in operation, and reduces the parties’ exposure to risk. In Palestine, Conditions of Contract for Construction “FIDIC 1999” have been ratified by the Palestinian cabinet in 2006 to represent the Palestinian Unified General Conditions of Contract for Construction together with the Palestinian Particular Conditions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the major obstacles and constrains that face the implementation of the FIDIC in construction projects in Palestine. In order to achieve the research objectives, the methodology utilized in this study was mainly based on investigating the implementation of FIDIC in Palestine through analyzing the results of a questionnaire, which was designed to assess the obstacles that hinder the implementation of the FIDIC. Also, several interviews were held with experts and arbitrators. Results from the study showed different obstacles and challenges that hinder a healthy implementation of FIDIC. Some of them are related to the Contractor such as administrative weakness, inexperience in legal aspects, lack of attention, and difficulties in dealing with tenders in English language. Moreover, there is a need for reconsidering the current Contractors' classification procedures to be more precise and appropriate. A major challenge for implementation of the FIDIC is related to the different types of General Conditions due to multitude of donors and International NGO’s. The financial situation of the Palestinian National Authority is considered as a main obstacle. Due to that, bills for Contractors are delayed and therefore many of the FIDIC items are not being honored. The respondents thought that the concerned authorities in Palestine are not doing their duties in raising awareness and education in the contractual and legal aspects related to the application of the FIDIC. The political situation in Palestine is hindering the execution of the FIDIC on ground. All respondents agreed that there is a need for training for all parties including the Employers, the Engineers, and the Contractors in dealing with the FIDIC. Beside that, there are some obstacles related to the Engineering Firms such as the bad quality of tender documents. In addition to the questionnaires and interviews analysis, a roadmap was derived to help a healthy implementation of FIDIC in Palestine, various procedures were identified, whether administrative or legal, based on the in-depth understanding of the obstacles and challenges that face the implementation of FIDIC. Examples of the roadmap identified procedures include the adoption of Short Form of Contract and harmonization of the Unified Contract with current situation in Palestine. Finally, main recommendations are presented that help the contracting parties to overcome the related obstacles and to develop the implementation of the FIDIC in Palestine.