Construction Insurance and UK Construction Contracts

Marshall Levine and Roger ter Haar KC

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APPENDIX 14 Page 497

FIDIC Plant and Design-Build Contract (Yellow Book First Edition 1999)

17 Risk and responsibility

17.1 Indemnities

The Contractor shall indemnify and hold harmless the Employer, the Employer’s Personnel, and their respective agents, against and from all claims, damages, losses and expenses (including legal fees and expenses) in respect of:

(a) bodily injury, sickness, disease or death, of any person whatsoever arising out of or in the course of or by reason of the design, execution and completion of the Works and the remedying of any defects, unless attributable to any negligence, wilful act or breach of the Contract by the Employer, the Employer’s Personnel, or any of their respective agents, and
(b) damage to or loss of any property, real or personal (other than the Works), to the extent that such damage or loss:
- (i) arises out of or in the course of or by reason of the design, execution and completion of the Works and the remedying of any defects, and
- (ii) is attributable to any negligence, wilful act or breach of the Contract by the Contractor, the Contractor’s Personnel, their respective agents, or anyone directly or indirectly employed by any of them.

The Employer shall indemnify and hold harmless the Contractor, the Contractor’s Personnel, and their respective agents, against and from all claims, damages, losses and expenses (including legal fees and expenses) in respect of (1) bodily injury, sickness, disease or death, which is attributable to any negligence, wilful act or breach of the Contract by the Employer, the Employer’s Personnel, or any of their respective agents, and (2) the matters for which liability may be excluded from insurance cover, as described in sub-paragraphs (d)(i), (ii) and (iii) of Sub-Clause 18.3 [Insurance Against Injury to Persons and Damage to Property].

17.2 Contractor’s care of the works

The Contractor shall take full responsibility for the care of the Works and Goods from the Commencement Date until the Taking-Over Certificate is issued (or is deemed to be issued under Sub-Clause 10.1 [Taking Over of the Works and Sections]) for the Works, when responsibility for the care of the Works shall pass to the Employer. If a Taking-Over Certificate is issued (or is so deemed to be issued) for any Section or part of the Works, responsibility for the care of the Section or part shall then pass to the Employer. After responsibility has accordingly passed to the Employer, the Contractor shall take responsibility for the care of any work which is outstanding on the date stated in a Taking-Over Certificate, until this outstanding work has been completed.

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If any loss or damage happens to the Works, Goods or Contractor’s Documents during the period when the Contractor is responsible for their care, from any cause not listed in Sub-Clause 17.3 [Employer’s Risks], the Contractor shall rectify the loss or damage at the Contractor’s risk and cost, so that the Works, Goods and Contractor’s Documents conform with the Contract. The Contractor shall be liable for any loss or damage caused by any actions performed by the Contractor after a Taking-Over Certificate has been issued. The Contractor shall also be liable for any loss or damage which occurs after a Taking-Over Certificate has been issued and which arose from a previous event for which the Contractor was liable.

17.3 Employer’s risks

The risks referred to in Sub-Clause 17.4 below are:

(a) war, hostilities (whether war be declared or not), invasion, act of foreign enemies,
(b) rebellion, terrorism, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power, or civil war, within the Country,
(c) riot, commotion or disorder within the Country by persons other than the Contractor’s Personnel and other employees of the Contractor and Subcontractors,
(d) munitions of war, explosive materials, ionising radiation or contamination by radioactivity, within the Country, except as may be attributable to the Contractor’s use of such munitions, explosives, radiation or radio-activity,
(e) pressure waves caused by aircraft or other aerial devices travelling at sonic or supersonic speeds,
(f) use or occupation by the Employer of any part of the Permanent Works, except as may be specified in the Contract,
(g) design of any part of the Works by the Employer’s Personnel or by others for whom the Employer is responsible, if any, and
(h) any operation of the forces of nature which is Unforeseeable or against which an experienced contractor could not reasonably have been expected to have taken adequate preventative precautions.

…

18 Insurance

18.1 General requirements for insurances

In this Clause, “insuring Party” means, for each type of insurance, the Party responsible for effecting and maintaining the insurance specified in the relevant Sub-Clause. Wherever the Contractor is the insuring Party, each insurance shall be effected with insurers and in terms approved by the Employer. These terms shall be consistent with any terms agreed by both Parties before the date of the Letter of Acceptance. This agreement of terms shall take precedence over the provisions of this Clause. Wherever the Employer is the insuring Party, each insurance shall be effected with insurers and in terms consistent with the details annexed to the Particular Conditions. If a policy is required to indemnify joint insured, the cover shall apply separately to each insured as though a separate policy had been issued for each of the joint insured. If a policy indemnifies additional joint insured, namely in addition to the insured specified in this Clause, (i) the Contractor shall act under the policy on behalf of these additional joint insured except that the Employer shall act for Employer’s Personnel, (ii) additional joint insured shall not be entitled to receive payments directly from the insurer or to have any

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other direct dealings with the insurer, and (iii) the insuring Party shall require all additional joint insured to comply with the conditions stipulated in the policy. Each policy insuring against loss or damage shall provide for payments to be made in the currencies required to rectify the loss or damage. Payments received from insurers shall be used for the rectification of the loss or damage. The relevant insuring Party shall, within the respective periods stated in the Appendix to Tender (calculated from the Commencement Date), submit to the other Party:

(a) evidence that the insurances described in this Clause have been effected, and
(b) copies of the policies for the insurances described in Sub-Clause 18.2
- [Insurance for Works and Contractor’s Equipment] and Sub-Clause 18.3
- [Insurance against Injury to Persons and Damage to Property].

When each premium is paid, the insuring Party shall submit evidence of payment to the other Party. Whenever evidence or policies are submitted, the insuring Party shall also give notice to the Engineer. Each Party shall comply with the conditions stipulated in each of the insurance policies. The insuring Party shall keep the insurers informed of any relevant changes to the execution of the Works and ensure that insurance is maintained in accordance with this Clause. Neither Party shall make any material alteration to the terms of any insurance without the prior approval of the other Party. If an insurer makes (or attempts to make) any alteration, the Party first notified by the insurer shall promptly give notice to the other Party. If the insuring Party fails to effect and keep in force any of the insurances it is required to effect and maintain under the Contract, or fails to provide satisfactory evidence and copies of policies in accordance with this Sub-Clause, the other Party may (at its option and without prejudice to any other right or remedy) effect insurance for the relevant coverage and pay the premiums due. The insuring Party shall pay the amount of these premiums to the other Party, and the Contract Price shall be adjusted accordingly. Nothing in this Clause limits the obligations, liabilities or responsibilities of the Contractor or the Employer, under the other terms of the Contract or otherwise. Any amounts not insured or not recovered from the insurers shall be borne by the Contractor and/or the Employer in accordance with these obligations, liabilities or responsibilities. However, if the insuring Party fails to effect and keep in force an insurance which is available and which it is required to effect and maintain under the Contract, and the other Party neither approves the omission nor effects insurance for the coverage relevant to this default, any moneys which should have been recoverable under this insurance shall be paid by the insuring Party. Payments by one Party to the other Party shall be subject to Sub-Clause 2.5 [Employer’s Claims] or Sub-Clause 20.1 [Contractor’s Claims], as applicable

18.2 Insurance for works and contractor’s equipment

The insuring Party shall insure the Works, Plant, Materials and Contractor’s Documents for not less than the full reinstatement cost including the costs of demolition, removal of debris and professional fees and profit. This insurance shall be effective from the date by which the evidence is to be submitted under sub-paragraph (a) of Sub-Clause 18.1 [General Requirements for Insurances], until the date of issue of the Taking-Over Certificate for the Works. The insuring Party shall maintain this insurance to provide cover until the date of issue of the Performance Certificate, for loss or damage for which the Contractor is liable arising from a cause occurring prior to the issue of the Taking-Over Certificate, and for loss or damage caused by the Contractor in the course of any other operations (including those under Clause 11 [Defects Liability] and Clause 12 [Tests after Completion]).

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The insuring Party shall insure the Contractor’s Equipment for not less than the full replacement value, including delivery to Site. For each item of Contractor’s Equipment, the insurance shall be effective while it is being transported to the Site and until it is no longer required as Contractor’s Equipment. Unless otherwise stated in the Particular Conditions, insurances under this Sub-Clause:

(a) shall be effected and maintained by the Contractor as insuring Party,
(b) shall be in the joint names of the Parties, who shall be jointly entitled to receive payments from the insurers, payments being held or allocated between the Parties for the sole purpose of rectifying the loss or damage,
(c) shall cover all loss and damage from any cause not listed in Sub-Clause 17.3 [Employer’s Risks],
(d) shall also cover loss or damage to a part of the Works which is attributable to the use or occupation by the Employer of another part of the Works, and loss or damage from the risks listed in sub-paragraphs (c), (g) and (h) of Sub-Clause 17.3 [Employer’s Risks], excluding (in each case) risks which are not insurable at commercially reasonable terms, with deductibles per occurrence of not more than the amount stated in the Appendix to Tender (if an amount is not so stated, this sub-paragraph (d) shall not apply), and
(e) may however exclude loss of, damage to, and reinstatement of:
- (i) a part of the Works which is in a defective condition due to a defect in its design, materials or workmanship (but cover shall include any other parts which are lost or damaged as a direct result of this defective condition and not as described in sub-paragraph (ii) below),
- (ii) a part of the Works which is lost or damaged in order to reinstate any other part of the Works if this other part is in a defective condition due to a defect in its design, materials or workmanship,
- (iii) a part of the Works which has been taken over by the Employer, except to the extent that the Contractor is liable for the loss or damage, and
- (iv) Goods while they are not in the Country, subject to Sub-Clause 14.5 [Plant and Materials intended for the Works].

If, more than one year after the Base Date, the cover described in sub-paragraph (d) above ceases to be available at commercially reasonable terms, the Contractor shall (as insuring Party) give notice to the Employer, with supporting particulars. The Employer shall then (i) be entitled subject to Sub-Clause 2.5 [Employer’s Claims] to payment of an amount equivalent to such commercially reasonable terms as the Contractor should have expected to have paid for such cover, and (ii) be deemed, unless he obtains the cover at commercially reasonable terms, to have approved the omission under Sub-Clause 18.1 [General Requirements for Insurances]. …

19 Force Majeure

19.1 Definition of Force Majeure

In this Clause, “Force Majeure” means an exceptional event or circumstance:

(a) which is beyond a Party’s control,
(b) which such Party could not reasonably have provided against before entering into the Contract,
(c) which, having arisen, such Party could not reasonably have avoided or overcome, and
(d) which is not substantially attributable to the other Party.

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