Time limits and payments in the FIDIC Red Book 2017

How the FIDIC Red Book 2017 is organised

The contract is made of the standard General Conditions and the two-part Particular Conditions: the Contract Data (Part A), which fills in the values the General Conditions refer to, and the special provisions (Part B), which amend them. Where documents conflict, a set order of priority applies, starting with the Contract Agreement, then the Letter of Acceptance, the Letter of Tender, the Particular Conditions, the General Conditions, then the Specification, Drawings and Schedules (sub-clause 1.5). Sub-clause 1.1 defines the capitalised terms, which apply across all the contract documents.

Every contractual Notice must be in writing, identified as a «Notice» and refer to the sub-clause concerned, and takes effect when received (sub-clause 1.3). An ordinary letter or meeting minutes do not replace it.

The time limits that matter most to the contractor

These periods are the defaults in the General Conditions as summarised in Ta3mir's reference data. Some can be changed by the Contract Data or the special provisions, so check your contract before relying on them.

The payment cycle: from the monthly Statement to the final certificate

1. Advance payment, if the Contract Data provides one: the contractor provides its guarantee and application, the Engineer issues the Advance Payment Certificate within 14 days of the employer holding both the performance security and the advance payment guarantee, and the employer pays within 21 days by default of receiving it (sub-clauses 14.2 and 14.7).
2. Monthly Statement: after the end of each payment period (monthly unless stated otherwise) the contractor submits a Statement in a set order, starting with the value of work done and ending with the deduction of amounts previously certified, including the retention deduction and the advance repayment (sub-clause 14.3).
3. Interim Payment Certificate: the Engineer issues it within 28 days of receiving the Statement, and no certificate is issued before the employer has the performance security and the contractor has appointed its representative (sub-clause 14.6).
4. Payment: within 56 days by default of the Engineer receiving the Statement, not of the certificate being issued (sub-clause 14.7). Late payment carries financing charges compounded monthly, payable on request without a claim (sub-clause 14.8).
5. The Statement at completion within 84 days of the Date of Completion of the Works (the 1999 edition counted from receipt of the Taking-Over Certificate), then the final Statement after the Performance Certificate; the Engineer issues the Final Payment Certificate within 28 days of receiving the final Statement and the discharge, and the employer pays it within 56 days by default (sub-clauses 14.10 and 14.13).

By default, advance repayment starts once certified interim payments exceed 10% of the Accepted Contract Amount less Provisional Sums, and a quarter of each certificate is deducted until the advance is repaid (sub-clause 14.2). Plant and Materials intended for the works are certified at 80% of their value when the Contract Data lists them (sub-clause 14.5).

Retention and when it is released

The General Conditions set no default retention rate: the rate and its limit are written in the Contract Data, and if no limit is stated there is no cap (sub-clause 14.3). The first half is released after the Taking-Over Certificate and the second half after the latest Defects Notification Period expires, and the Engineer may withhold the estimated cost of any outstanding remedial work (sub-clause 14.9). If the Contract Data is silent on the Defects Notification Period, it is one year from the Date of Completion (sub-clause 1.1).

It is the contractor who includes each half in a Statement once it falls due, so do not wait for it to be released automatically. The calculation and a worked example are in the retention guide.

Variations and their valuation

The Engineer may instruct Variations at any time before the Taking-Over Certificate, covering quantities, quality, levels, additional work, omissions and the sequence of work. The contractor may object promptly if the work was unforeseeable for the scope, its goods cannot be obtained, or it harms safety or the environment (sub-clause 13.1). A Variation starts either by instruction or by a request for a proposal (sub-clause 13.3).

After an instruction the contractor submits, within 28 days, a description of the work, its effect on the programme, the extension requested and its valuation, and is entitled to the extension and the price adjustment without the claims procedure. Work is valued at contract rates or rates for similar work; a new rate applies when there is no similar item, or when all the quantity tests are met: a change of more than 10% of the item quantity, a value above 0.01% of the Accepted Contract Amount, a change in unit cost of more than 1%, and the item not being specified in the contract as a fixed-rate item. The new rate is then built from reasonable cost plus a 5% profit unless the Contract Data states another percentage (sub-clause 12.3).

The contractor may also submit, at its own cost, a value engineering proposal to speed up completion or cut cost; the decision rests with the employer alone (sub-clause 13.2).

Extension of time and delay damages

If the contractor finishes late, the employer is entitled to delay damages at the daily amount in the Contract Data, up to the maximum stated there if any, and these are the only damages for the delay except where the contract is terminated for the contractor's default before completion (sub-clause 8.8). A Notice of Claim on time is what protects the contractor from delay damages for time it was entitled to. Sub-clause 8.4 also requires each party to give advance warning of any expected event that may delay the work or raise the price.

Claims and dispute resolution

1. Notice of Claim to the Engineer within 28 days of awareness of the event, otherwise the right to the money or the extension is lost, though a late Notice may later be accepted on conditions (sub-clause 20.2). The Engineer has 14 days to say the Notice is late; otherwise it is deemed valid.
2. Contemporary records: the contractor keeps them from the day of the event, and the Engineer may monitor them without admitting liability.
3. The fully detailed Claim within 84 days of awareness: description, contractual or legal basis, records, and the amount or time claimed. Missing the statement of legal basis by then makes the Notice lapse. For a continuing effect, monthly interim claims are followed by a final claim within 28 days after the effect ends.
4. The Engineer consults for agreement within 42 days; failing agreement, it gives its determination within a further 42 days, and silence means the claim is deemed rejected (sub-clause 3.7).
5. A Notice of Dissatisfaction within 28 days of the determination, otherwise it becomes final; then referral to the DAAB within 42 days, whose decision within 84 days is binding at once; then a Notice of Dissatisfaction with that decision within 28 days, then amicable settlement and arbitration (sub-clause 21.4).

Amounts the contractor has reasonably substantiated are included in payment certificates while the claim is being decided, so payment does not wait for the whole claim to end.

Example: the deadlines of one monthly Statement

An illustrative date: the Engineer received the monthly Statement on 5 March 2026, and the Contract Data keeps the default periods. Every deadline runs from the Engineer's receipt of the Statement.

If no certificate is issued by 30 April 2026 (day 56), or the amount is still unpaid on 11 June 2026 (day 98), the contractor has grounds for a Notice of termination, and the employer has 14 days to remedy the matter before any termination. Before that, the contractor may suspend or slow down work no less than 21 days after giving Notice (sub-clause 16.1). Financing charges run from 30 April 2026, whatever the date the certificate was issued.

Practical steps for a contractor under FIDIC 2017

1. Read the Contract Data before signing: the retention rate and limit, the advance, delay damages and their cap, and any period that differs from the General Conditions.
2. Keep a time-limit log: for each event, the date you became aware of it, the Notice of Claim due 28 days later and the detailed Claim due 84 days later.
3. Send every Notice in writing, identified as a «Notice» with the sub-clause number, and keep proof of when it was received.
4. Submit each monthly Statement on time with its documents, and count the payment period from the Engineer's receipt of it.
5. Keep contemporary records daily: labour, equipment, instructions and photos, the basis of any claim.
6. Submit the particulars of each Variation within 28 days of the instruction, with its valuation and programme effect.
7. After the Taking-Over Certificate include the first half of retention in the next Statement, and the second half after the latest Defects Notification Period.