FIDIC Yellow and Orange books as used in international procurement

The need for special Conditions of Contract for use on international assignments was first recognised by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) back in 1957 when it published the first edition of the now well-known Red Book (Conditions of Contract for Civil Works). For the first few years after its publication, the document was used for all disciplines, whether civil or electrical and mechanical. It soon became evident however that the Red Book conditions did not properly reflect the needs of an electrical and mechanical project, and situations were arising which were not adequately covered by the provisions of the civil conditions. So in May 1963, FIDIC published the first edition of Conditions of Contract prepared exclusively for projects involving the supply and erection of electrical and mechanical plant (the Yellow Book). The Yellow Book is now in its third edition, published in 1987, and this third edition is currently under review for revision and possible preparation of a fourth edition. The author discusses why the yellow book is needed and its content. The author then discusses the Orange Book ("Conditions of Contract for Design-Build and Turnkey" published by FIDIC in 1995), a document written especially for design/build and turnkey contracts.