As artificial intelligence and digital tools reshape how construction projects are designed, procured and delivered, the value of human judgement, experience and ethical responsibility has never been more important. This keynote explores the evolving relationship between human intelligence and an increasingly digital world, and what it means for those who draft, administer and rely on FIDIC contracts. It will consider where technology can genuinely enhance decision-making, efficiency and risk management - and where human expertise, interpretation and accountability remain irreplaceable. 

Last year, FIDIC launched the Carbon Management Guide and CEM Guidance, providing a critical framework to help the global infrastructure and construction sectors integrate carbon-conscious thinking across the full project lifecycle. The guidance introduces practical approaches to embedding carbon management into procurement processes, tender evaluation criteria, and the application of FIDIC contracts. 

This session will explore the progress made so far in implementing these principles in real projects and contracts. Bringing together MDBs, industry experts, and early adopters, it will examine the current maturity of the market, share early experiences, and discuss how organisations are strategically approaching carbon management in practice. 

Key topics: 

• Overview of the FIDIC Carbon Management Guide and CEM Guidance  
• Embedding carbon considerations in procurement and tender evaluation  
• Integration of carbon management into procurement, FIDIC contracts and project delivery  
• Early experiences and feedback from industry users and MDBs  
• Industry readiness and maturity of carbon management practices  
• Strategic approaches to scaling implementation across projects  
• Challenges and opportunities in adopting carbon-conscious practices 

Disputes are not inevitable - they can often be avoided through proactive engagement and effective use of FIDIC contract mechanisms.  

This session explores the important role of the Engineer in agreeing the matters prior to determinations. It will also examine the roles of both the Employer and the Contractor in actively engaging in this process. 

The session will highlight practical approaches to applying FIDIC procedures to achieve agreement wherever possible, before matters progress into formal determinations. 

Key topics: 

• Engineer’s role in facilitating discussions and reaching agreement  
• Employer’s role: active participation in early issue resolution  
• Contractor’s role: constructive engagement and collaboration  
• Applying FIDIC procedures to achieve agreement prior to determinations  
• Early issue resolution to minimise escalation and disputes  
• Practical approaches to promoting agreement in day-to-day contract administration and early informal assistance 

Effective project delivery begins well before construction starts and even before procurement is launched.  

This session focuses on the critical importance of thorough project preparation, ensuring that projects are truly  “fit for tender” and “ “fit for contract” from the outset.  

It will explore how early studies, reliable site data, an appropriate level of design maturity and the selection of the appropriate FIDIC form can improve procurement outcomes and project performance, while reducing the risk of downstream disputes.  

The session will examine the roles of MDBs, Employers, Consultants, and Contractors in shaping strong project foundations to reduce downstream claims, variations, delays and disputes arising from inadequate preparation.

Key Topics: 

• Roles of MDBs, Employers, Consultants, and Contractors in project preparation 
• Design maturity and completeness as a basis for contracting 
• Selection of the appropriate FIDIC form based on project readiness and risk allocation  
• Data collection and reliability at early stages 
• Land acquisition, site access and permitting 
• Embedding Carbon Management  
• Risks and consequences of inadequate preparation 

This session explores FIDIC’s latest development in collaborative contracting, designed to strengthen cooperation between all project participants. This approach promotes early engagement, shared objectives, and joint decision-making across the project lifecycle. 

The session will present the core concepts and structure of the FIDIC collaborative approach, highlighting how it differs from other FIDIC forms and how it can be applied in complex, multi-party project environments. It will examine how collaboration among Employers, Contractors, Consultants, sub-consultants, and other project participants can be effectively structured to improve coordination, align interests, and support successful project delivery. 

Key topics: 

• Core principles and structure of the FIDIC collaborative contracting approach  
• Differences from traditional FIDIC contract forms  
• Early engagement and shared objectives across project teams  
• Collaboration between Employers, Contractors, Consultants, and supply chain  
• Governance, decision-making, and alignment of interests  
• Benefits for risk management, performance, and dispute avoidance  
• Practical application in complex, multi-party projects  
• Key success factors and challenges for implementation 

This session will provide an update on FIDIC's latest contract developments. Attendees will have an exclusive opportunity to engage directly with the FIDIC Contracts Committee in a Q&A session. Launch of FIDIC Golden Principles for Consultancy Agreements. 

This session brings together real-world project experiences from across different regions and jurisdictions to show how FIDIC contracts perform in practice. Through a series of case-based contributions, speakers will share both successes and challenges, highlighting what worked, what did not, and why - including how technology and digital tools have influenced contract administration and project delivery - 

 also connect contractual theory with day-to-day delivery on live projects. The aim is to give delegates practical takeaways on how different approaches shape project outcomes. 

Key Topics 

• Project examples from Middle East, Africa, Asia, and beyond 
• Do’s and don’ts from real project experience 
• Common challenges in contract implementation 
• Differences in regional practices and approaches 
• Application of FIDIC forms in various jurisdictions 
• Lessons learned in managing risk, claims, and disputes 
• Practical experiences with technology, digital tools and AI in contract administration and project delivery 
• Role of different stakeholders in shaping outcomes 
• Practical insights to improve future project delivery 

MDB procurement frameworks continue to evolve, with increasing emphasis on achieving quality, value and stronger engagement with private market. 

This session will discuss recent developments in MDB procurement practices and their implications for FIDIC contract users. It will consider the experience with Rated Criteria following their introduction, alongside the growing use of Early Market Engagement, increased focus on local labour and job creation, and approaches to assessing Value for Money. 

The session will explore how these evolving procurement approaches are influencing the way projects are prepared, tendered and ultimately delivered, and how objectives and commitments established during procurement can be effectively translated into contractual provisions and monitored throughout implementation. It will also examine the role of Dispute Boards in avoiding and resolving disputes, as well as the approaches adopted by financing institutions, particularly multilateral development banks, to promote effective contract management and dispute avoidance. 

Bringing together the perspectives of MDBs, Employers, Consultants and Contractors, the discussion will identify emerging lessons, practical challenges and opportunities to strengthen the link between procurement strategy and successful contract delivery. 

Key Topics: 

• Rated Criteria – experience and lessons learned since introduction 
• Early Market Engagement and its role in informing procurement strategy and market response 
• Local labour, job creation and skills development 
• Assessment of Value for Money in procurement and contract delivery 
• Translating procurement commitments and evaluation criteria into contractual obligations 
• Implications of evolving MDB procurement practices for Employers, Consultants and Contractors 
• Promoting Dispute Avoidance and effective contract management.  

Under FIDIC contracts, effective claims management is intended to be contemporaneous and structured, yet in practice many projects still culminate in broad, consolidated Global Claims raised at the end of the project. This session examines best practices to avoid global claims by adhering to FIDIC claims procedures and addressing issues as they arise, including how technology and digital tools can support timely and effective claims management. 

It will explore the critical distinction between prospective (contemporaneous) analysis and retrospective (forensic) analysis, and how these approaches impact the clarity, efficiency, and cost of dispute resolution. The session will also consider how digital records, delay analysis tools and emerging technologies, including AI, can support these processes. By promoting timely claim management and limiting disputes to clearly defined issues, parties can improve outcomes before DAABs and arbitration, reduce complexity, and accelerate decisions or awards. 

The session will bring together delay analysts, consultants, and practitioners to share practical experiences and demonstrate how better practices in claims management can significantly improve project delivery and dispute resolution. 

• Risks and consequences of global claims at the end of projects  
• Importance of following FIDIC claims procedures  
• Prospective vs retrospective analysis: key differences, benefits and challenges  
• Role of technology, digital tools and AI in effective claims management and delay analysis 
• Practical approaches to limiting disputes to defined issues  
• Use of the DAABs 
• Avoiding dispute resolution costs, improving efficiency, clarity, and cost-effectiveness in DAAB and arbitration proceedings 

Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Boards (DAABs) play a vital role in the effective delivery of construction and infrastructure projects, providing a continuous mechanism for addressing issues before they escalate and for resolving disputes while projects remain underway. 

This session will explore the full spectrum of support that DAABs can provide throughout the life of a project – from their proactive role in dispute avoidance and informal assistance, through to formal decision-making when disputes arise. It will consider how standing DAABs can contribute to effective project delivery, maintain momentum and relationships, and provide timely decisions that allow the parties and the works to move forward. 

The session will also examine the relationship between DAABs and arbitration, including how arbitral institutions and tribunals approach DAAB decisions when disputes proceed to arbitration. The discussion will consider both the substantive treatment of DAAB decisions and the practical questions surrounding compliance and enforcement. 

Bringing together the perspectives of DAAB members, practitioners, arbitral institutions and contract users, the session will explore how the interaction between dispute boards and arbitration can operate efficiently as an integrated dispute resolution system for major construction projects. 

Key Topics: 

• The role of standing DAABs throughout the project lifecycle 
• Dispute avoidance, informal assistance and early intervention 
• DAABs as a mechanism for timely and effective decision-making 
• Efficiency of the DAAB process and maintaining progress of the works 
• The relationship between DAAB decisions and subsequent arbitration 
• Treatment of DAAB decisions by arbitral tribunals and institutions 
• Compliance with and enforcement of DAAB decisions 
• Strengthening the interaction between dispute boards and arbitration 

The FIDIC Gala Dinner and Contract Users' Awards Ceremony celebrates excellence in the use of FIDIC contract forms for project delivery and showcases examples of good practice through collaboration from across the world. 

Winners to be announced during the Gala Dinner and Contract Users' Awards Ceremony on 2 December 2026. 

• Date: Thursday 3 December 2026 
• Time: 09:00 – 17:00 UK time  
• Trainers: Taner Dedezade (Lawyer) and Abdel Moniem (Engineer)
• Price: 550 GBP + VAT
• Language: English 

This will be a hands-on practical workshop, so don’t come thinking that you will just listen and then leave. Each participant to the workshop will be carrying out practical exercises that closely resemble actual FIDIC projects. 

Participants will learn about the Engineer’s role from inception of the project when the Engineer notifies the commencement date to the close-out of the project setting out the detailed process that the Engineer must follow to issue the Taking-Over Certificate.

Particular focus will be given on the Engineer’s certification role as well as its neutral agreement and determination role.  We will be looking at the skills that Engineers must develop in order to effectively carry out their functions under Sub-Clause 3.7 to agree or determine matters in a neutral way.

There will also be a dedicated session on how an Engineer should draft a Sub-Clause 15.1 Notice to Correct and what these notices mean in practice. Should a Sub-Clause 15.1 notice be used as a project management tool or just as a pre-requisite for termination?

The course is ideal not just for consulting Engineers that wish to, or are already carrying out the role of the Engineer, it is also for Contractors and Employers to the construction contract who wish to understand better how to get their Engineer to participate more fully in the project.

The course bridges the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge to ensure the smooth running of construction projects.