CONTRACT DOCUMENTS

Q1: Prepare a list of contract documents. Answer: Engineering contract documents usually contain the following: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) Tender notice General rules and directions for the use of contractors The letter of submission of tender The letter of acceptance of tender The addenda nos. Form of contract Conditions of contract Schedule A- showing the details of materials, if any, to be supplied by the owner to the contractor 9) Schedule B- Bill of Quantities 10) Specifications: a) General b) Detailed or particular 11) Contract Drawings Q2: Why it is necessary to include the tender notice in the contract documents? Answer: The tender notice, inviting bids from different builders, is included and forms of contract apart of the contract documents. It includes information such as the name of the work, estimated cost, amount of earnest money and security deposit, and time of completion, which is referred to in conditions of contract. The main purpose of reprinting the entire advertisement in the contract documents is to protect the engineer against the possibility of a claim that he misrepresented the nature and conditions of the proposed work. Q3: What is the advantage of using a standard set of Conditions of contract? Answer: A set of well prepared conditions of contract is invariably included in the agreement which define in detail the rights, duties and liabilities of 1) The contractor who carries the work; 2) The owner for whom the construction is to be executed; 3) The architects and engineers who design and supervise the work.

Advantages of the standard set of Conditions of contract: 1) It avoids the task of preparing a new conditions of contract every time a new contract comes up. 2) The standard conditions of contract are so drafted that with a little alteration and addition, the same can be adopted for all types of work. 3) Contractors, who are quite familiar with the standard form of conditions, able to access additional risks that they feel may arise when an unusual form of contract is adopted. Q4: What is Schedule A? What information does it contain? Answer: Schedule A is a list of materials, if any, agreed to be supplied to the contractor by the owner. The particulars mentioned in it are listed as follows: 1) Kind of material: Cement and steel used to be two examples of materials agreed to be supplied to the contractor by owner. The employer can agree to supply the other material which he desires to be incorporated in the works. The alternative used in some cases is to nominate the supplier in the contract from whom alone the contractor is required to obtain the materials. 2) Approximate Quantity: Approximate quantities of materials under different categories, likely to be required for the execution of the work, are determined and mentioned against respective categories. 3) Place of delivery: The place at which the contractor will have to take delivery of the materials is mentioned. 4) Rate of issue and mode of payment: Written the rates per unit quantity at which the contractor will have to pay for the materials received. These rates are inclusive of the storage and transportation charges in addition to the price paid by the owner. The cost of materials is recovered from the monthly bill in the proportion of the approximate quantity of materials actually consumed on work 5) Ownership of materials: The material supposed to be the property of the owner and the contractor cannot remove the materials from the site or use them elsewhere. 6) Return of excess materials: Excess materials are to be returned to the owner in a satisfactory condition and the cost thereof, if already paid by the contractor, is refunded to him.

Q5: Why should the owner or engineer preserve one set of original drawings? Answer: One of the conditions of contract specifies that the original drawings are subject to change and the contractor has to carry out the work as per revised drawings (working drawings). This is likely to result in disputes in future. To avoid such disputes, it is desirable for owner to preserve at least one set of original contract drawings for record on the basis of which tenders had been called for. These original drawings are helpful in working out the adjustment in payment to be made to the contractor in case the drawings are revised, for they facilitate the comparison between what the contractor had bid on and what was actually constructed. The original set can be used to prove that the contractors claim for extras is unwarranted. Q6: Write short notes on: i) ii) iii) iv) v) Answer: i) Bill of Quantities: The bill of quantities is a list of constructional items necessary for completing the work. Those items, which are definite, readily measurable, of customary type, and of sufficient scope to cover the greatest practicable portion of the entire work, are normally included in the bill. Each item is fully described in description column and the approximate quantity of each is mentioned in the quantities column. The tenderer has to insert the following in the schedule. a) Tender rate per unit quantity; b) Cost of each item (i.e. Approx Qty x the bid rate) c) The total of all items After signing the contract, these statements cannot be changed. Bill of quantities Specifications Contract drawings Working drawings Record drawings

ii)

iii)

Specifications: Specifications are written instructions providing a clear and concise descriptions of material, labour, workmanship to be employed in or around a construction; and the methods, precautions, etc required thereof. It is not practicable to include all information in the bill of quantities or in drawings. Every civil engineering contract should therefore contain detailed specifications as a part of agreement. Following types of specifications are normally included; a) General specifications: These describe, in general, the nature of the proposed work, quantities of materials and workmanship for the work as a whole. They form a part of the conditions of contract. b) Particular Specifications: Detailed specifications are given for every items mentioned in bill of quantities specifying the materials to be used, the workmanship, and the results to be produced, the mode of measurement etc. The specifications are written in same serial order in which the items are listed in the schedule. It is not uncommon to give cross reference to printed standard specifications published in the forms of books. Contract Drawings: It is a complete set of drawings which give full particulars of the proposed work are prepared to invitation of the tender. It is used to give the contractor the necessary information, which can be transmitted more effectively, diagrammatically than by written description They enable the contractor to visualize the nature of the work anticipate probable constructional and other difficulties. The condition of contract usually specify that the contractor has to carry out the work as shown in the drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the drawings are the property of the owner although the engineer prepares them.

iv)

Working Drawings: One of the conditions of contract specifies that the original drawings are subject to change and the contractor has to carry out the work as per revised drawings (working drawings).

Working drawings are generally supplied after the work order is issued or along with it. These can be supplied in a phased manner to match the programme of work agreed to by the parties so as not to hinder the progress for want of drawings. v) Record Drawings: The condition of contract generally stipulate that the contractor should submit to the employer a set of as built drawings on completion of the work. These drawings are called record drawings. These drawings can be referred to in the future if any repairs or additions and alterations are to be carried out and in general for maintenance of the work.