Ethical problems resulting from conflicts of interest are widespread among professions and construction is not spared. The FIDIC 1999 form of construction contract is a popular form used worldwide. Its structure, though, is such that the engineer administering the works is an agent of the employer, except as otherwise stated. The engineer is also quite often the designer of works. When an issue occurs between the parties, the engineer is required to act in a mediatory role in an effort to reach an agreement. When no agreement is reached, the engineer is then required to make a fair determination. In this role as determiner, the engineer is required not to act as an agent of the employer, but to use his professional skill and best endeavours to reach the right decision. The engineer, thus, has three roles to play, as an agent of the employer, as a mediator and as an independent professional. The three roles inevitably conflict, resulting in ethical problems. Surveys indicate that the engineer is a main cause of the claims and disputes which he/she then has to preside over by mediating and then making a determination. This is the core of this article.

The FIDIC Red Book has its origins in the English common law system5 and as such its legal principles are mostly derived from that system.6 The roots of the Red Book emanate from the