Evaluating the FIDIC's termination for convenience clause in General Conditions under common law in Iranian civil law system for Construction Contracts

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Civil Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Department of Construction Engineering and Management, Faculty of Civil, Architecture, and Art, Science, and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Center of Excellence on Soft Computing and Intelligent Information Processing, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

The Iran civil code is based mainly on the Egyptian Civil Law (ECL), which is itself derived from two principal sources like French civil law and Islamic law. On the other hand, the general conditions of contracts published by the Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils or International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), which are based on common law principles and this standard form of contract, have been applied in large construction projects in Iran. Due to Iran's legal system is rooted in civil law, FIDIC forms of contract may face serious challenges. This research, through a comparative method, has analyzed the Egypt Civil Code (ECC) and Iran (as two members of the Islamic legal system) for better decisions in FIDIC-based contracts. Our study offers some strategies for modification of the FIDIC 1999 Red Book [FIDIC (CONS)] and also the Iran Civil Code for construction contracts, which are associated with the termination for convenience clause. Therefore, with a better understanding of the termination for convenience by the employer clause, which has been referred to in many contractual claims in arbitration centers and courts, can be prevented disputes. Moreover, this study is useful for other Middle East countries because most of them follow civil law jurisdictions.

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