Construction terms glossary

This glossary collects 53 of the most used construction contract and site terms, each with a short definition and its Arabic equivalent. The terms are arranged in five groups, and each links to the guide or page that explains it in detail.

By Ta3mir engineering team · Published · Last updated

The contract and its parties

Employer (owner) (صاحب العمل (المالك))
The party the works are built for and who pays for them: a public body, a company or an individual. FIDIC calls it the Employer; Egyptian public contracts call it the contracting authority.See also: Law 182 of 2018
Contractor (المقاول)
The party bound to build, complete and remedy defects in the works for the contract price, with its own resources or through subcontractors.
Engineer (consultant) (المهندس (الاستشاري))
The person or firm the employer appoints to administer the contract and supervise the work: it issues instructions, reviews and certifies payments, and acts neutrally when determining claims under FIDIC.See also: Supervision and quality
Subcontractor (مقاول الباطن)
A contractor engaged by the main contractor for part of the works; the main contractor stays answerable to the employer for its work. It has its own certificates, approved by the main contractor.See also: Subcontractor certificate template
Tender documents (كراسة الشروط والمواصفات)
The tender package describing the works, contract conditions, specification and bill of quantities on which bids are made. In Egyptian public contracts it sets matters such as the advance rate and the items subject to price adjustment.See also: Law 182 of 2018
General Conditions (الشروط العامة)
The standard text of a contract form used unchanged on every project, such as the 21 FIDIC clauses. It is not edited directly but amended through the Particular Conditions.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Particular Conditions (الشروط الخاصة)
The part that adapts the General Conditions to one project by adding to or amending them. Where they conflict, it takes priority over the General Conditions.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Contract Data (بيانات العقد)
Pages in the Particular Conditions of a FIDIC contract holding the values the General Conditions refer to, such as the retention rate and limit, the advance, delay damages and the time for completion.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Letter of Acceptance (خطاب القبول)
The letter in which the employer accepts the contractor's tender; periods such as delivering the performance security under FIDIC run from it.
Accepted Contract Amount (المبلغ المقبول للعقد)
The amount the employer accepted in the Letter of Acceptance for the works; many contract percentages, such as securities and limits, are based on it.
Contract Price (سعر العقد)
What the contractor is finally due: the measured work at its rates plus additions, deductions and adjustments. It differs from the fixed Accepted Contract Amount.

Quantities and pricing

Bill of quantities (BOQ) (جدول الكميات (المقايسة))
A table of work items with each item's description, unit, quantity, unit rate and amount. In remeasurement contracts its quantities are estimates and payment follows the quantities actually measured.See also: Take-offs and BOQ, Quantity take-off
Quantity take-off (حصر الكميات)
Working out each item's quantity from the drawings and specification in its unit, to prepare the bill of quantities or prove the work done in a certificate.See also: Quantity take-off, Slab rebar
Measurement sheet (مذكرة القياس)
The sheet where each item's measurements are recorded line by line with location, count and dimensions, and totalled into a quantity. It is what makes a quantity checkable.See also: Quantity take-off
Work item (بند الأعمال)
The unit of work in a bill of quantities: a description, unit, quantity and rate. The rate covers everything the description says.
Unit rate (سعر الوحدة (الفئة))
The price per metre, tonne or number of an item, multiplied by the quantity to give the item amount. It is usually built from a rate analysis.See also: Item price-analysis template
Rate analysis (تحليل الأسعار)
Breaking an item's unit rate down into materials, labour and equipment, then overheads and profit. It shows how a change in any material price affects the item rate.See also: Item price-analysis template, Estimating and tenders
Provisional Sum (المبلغ الاحتياطي)
An amount the employer puts in the contract for work or supplies not yet defined; nothing is spent from it without the Engineer's instruction.
Daywork (أعمال اليومية)
A way to value small or incidental work by the labour, materials and equipment actually used, at rates in a contract schedule, with daily statements of resources.
Price adjustment (escalation) (فروق الأسعار)
Adjusting the value of work up or down as the prices of its inputs change after a reference date, using a formula of official indices and a weight for each input.See also: Price adjustment for contractors

Certificates, payments and securities

Interim payment certificate (المستخلص الجاري)
A periodic statement of the value of work done to date: cumulative quantities at item rates, less what was paid before and the contractual deductions, so the contractor is paid the net due for the period.See also: How to prepare a payment certificate, Payment certificate template, Payment certificates and contracts
Final certificate (final account) (المستخلص الختامي)
The certificate prepared after taking-over that settles the contract's final account: all work done and adjustments, less everything already paid.See also: Final account template, How to prepare a payment certificate
Statement (الكشف (كشف المستحقات))
What the contractor submits under FIDIC to apply for payment, monthly, at completion or at the end; the Engineer issues the payment certificate on its basis.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Interim Payment Certificate (IPC) (شهادة الدفع المرحلية)
The certificate the Engineer issues under FIDIC for the amount it considers due from the monthly Statement, which the employer pays within the payment period.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors, Late certificate payments
Retention money (ضمان الأعمال (المحتجزات))
A share of the value of work the employer holds back from each certificate as security for remedying defects, returned to the contractor after taking-over as the contract provides.See also: Retention money, Payment certificates and contracts
Advance payment (الدفعة المقدمة)
An amount paid to the contractor at the start against a bank guarantee, recovered by deducting a share of later certificates until it is repaid.See also: Law 182 of 2018, How to prepare a payment certificate
Bank guarantee (خطاب الضمان البنكي)
A bank's undertaking to pay the beneficiary a stated amount on demand under the guarantee's terms, used to secure the advance and performance and in place of retention.See also: Retention money
Performance security (ضمان الأداء (التأمين النهائي))
Security the contractor provides after award in the employer's favour for performance of its obligations, returned after the defects period and the final settlement.See also: Retention money
Financing charges (تكلفة التمويل عن التأخير)
What the contractor is due for the time its payment is late after the payment period. Each contract or law sets the rate, the method and the conditions for claiming it.See also: Late certificate payments
Amount in words (التفقيط)
Writing an amount in words after its figures, such as «only one hundred thousand pounds», on cheques, invoices and certificates to prevent tampering.See also: Amount in words

Time, variations and claims

Time for Completion (مدة الإنجاز (مدة التنفيذ))
The period the contract sets to complete the works, counted from the commencement date plus any approved extension.
Commencement Date (تاريخ البدء)
The date the time for completion runs from. Under FIDIC the Engineer sets it by Notice; in Egyptian public contracts the period runs from the latest of dates such as handover of an unobstructed site.
Programme (schedule) (البرنامج الزمني)
The plan of the work by activities, dates, sequence and links, updated whenever it drifts from reality. It is the reference for measuring delay and extensions.See also: Scheduling and planning
Variation (change order) (الأمر التغييري)
An instruction to change the works, adding, omitting or modifying quantities, specification or sequence; it is valued and adjusts the contract price and time.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors, Technical office and documents
Extension of time (EOT) (تمديد المدة)
Time added to the time for completion for a cause the contractor does not bear, such as a variation or employer delay, so it is not charged delay damages for that time.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Delay damages (غرامة التأخير (مقابل التأخير))
An amount charged to the contractor for finishing late, at a rate and up to a cap set by the contract or the law. FIDIC calls them delay damages; Law 182 calls them a delay charge.See also: Law 182 of 2018
Notice (الإشعار)
A written communication its sender expressly identifies as a Notice, referring to the clause concerned, effective when received. Many FIDIC entitlements depend on a Notice on time.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Claim (المطالبة)
A request by one party to the other for an entitlement under the contract, such as more money or more time. Under FIDIC it starts with a Notice of Claim within a set period, then a fully detailed claim with its basis and records.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors, Payment certificates and contracts
Engineer's determination (تقرير المهندس)
The decision the Engineer makes neutrally on a claim or matter when the parties cannot agree; it becomes final unless one of them gives a Notice of Dissatisfaction in time.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board (DAAB) (مجلس تجنب وفض النزاعات)
One or three members the parties appoint under FIDIC 2017 to help avoid disputes and decide them; its decision binds until changed by settlement or arbitration.See also: FIDIC Red Book 2017 for contractors
Value engineering (الهندسة القيمية)
Reviewing the design or construction method to deliver the same function at lower cost, in less time or more efficiently. Under FIDIC the contractor proposes it and the employer decides.
Request for information (RFI) (طلب الاستيضاح الفني)
A written question from the contractor to the consultant about an ambiguity or conflict in the drawings or specification, with the reply recorded. It protects the contractor from building on a wrong assumption.See also: RFI template, Technical office and documents

Execution, control and handover

Daily site report (التقرير اليومي)
A daily record of what happened on site: labour and equipment, work done, materials received, instructions and remarks. It is among the contemporary records claims are built on.See also: Daily site report template, Site management and daily logs
Material submittal (اعتماد المواد)
Submitting a material's data or sample to the consultant before delivery for approval against the specification, so it is not rejected after installation.See also: Technical office and documents, Supervision and quality
Shop drawings (المخططات التنفيذية)
Detailed drawings the contractor prepares from the design drawings to show how the work will be built, with details and dimensions, approved by the consultant before construction.See also: Technical office and documents
Critical path (المسار الحرج)
The longest chain of linked activities in the programme; any delay to an activity on it delays the whole project. Activities off it have float.See also: Scheduling and planning
Baseline (خط الأساس)
An approved, frozen copy of the programme and budget against which progress, variance and earned value are measured.See also: Earned value (EVM), Scheduling and planning
Earned value (EVM) (القيمة المكتسبة)
A way to measure project performance by comparing planned value, work done at budget prices and actual cost at one date.See also: Earned value (EVM), Scheduling and planning
Schedule performance index (SPI) (مؤشر أداء الجدول)
Earned value divided by planned value. Below 1 means the project is behind its schedule.See also: Earned value (EVM)
Cost performance index (CPI) (مؤشر أداء التكلفة)
Earned value divided by actual cost. Below 1 means the work done cost more than its budget.See also: Earned value (EVM), Cost control
Taking-over (provisional acceptance) (الاستلام الابتدائي (المؤقت))
The employer taking over the works once complete and tested, with a list of outstanding items. The defects period starts from it, and full or partial release of retention is tied to it.See also: Handover minutes template, Retention money
Final acceptance (الاستلام النهائي)
Final acceptance of the works after the defects period ends and defects are remedied; the final account is then settled and the performance security returned. Under FIDIC its equivalent is the Performance Certificate.See also: Handover minutes template, Final account template
Defects Notification Period (فترة الضمان (فترة الإخطار بالعيوب))
The period after taking-over in which the contractor must remedy defects it is notified of. FIDIC calls it the Defects Notification Period.See also: Retention money

Sources

These definitions are short explanations written by the Ta3mir engineering team, not the text of any contract or law. Your contract may define a term differently, and the contract's definition governs.