If you work as a subcontractor on a FIDIC project — Red Book, Yellow Book, Silver Book, 1999 or 2017 — there is one rule that matters more than any other. You have 28 days to issue Notice of a Claim under Sub-Clause 20.1 (1999) or 20.2.1 (2017), or the claim is gone. Not reduced. Not subject to negotiation. Gone, regardless of merit, regardless of value.
This free 3-page guide explains how the cliff works, what activates the 28-day clock, what entitlements you lose if you fall off it, and the five operational traps that catch FIDIC subcontractors in practice.
What's inside:
- The verbatim Sub-Clause 20.1 and 20.2.1 wording from both editions, plus the 20.2.5 backstop introduced in 2017
- Eight categories of trigger event mapped to clock-start dates (direct instructions, site conditions, access denial, under-certification, force majeure, constructive variations and more)
- The four substantive rights you lose on a missed notice — including a worked example showing how a $480k unforeseeable conditions claim becomes $780k of exposure
- The five traps: back-to-back deadlines that are shorter than 28 days, objective awareness, why email is rarely a valid notice, what makes a Notice of Claim contractually valid, and how constructive variations trigger the clock
- Three operational habits that prevent almost every notice forfeiture
Built by a working commercial QS — practical, not academic. The international counterpart to my UK Construction Act 1996 free guide.
