The winners of the 2024 FIDIC Contract Users’ Awards were unveiled this week at a high-profile awards gala dinner event in London on 3 December 2024. The awards, now in their sixth year, recognise excellence in the use of FIDIC contract forms for project delivery and showcase examples of good practice through collaboration from across the world.
From a global collection of entries, the judging panel, chaired by international judge and arbitrator Sir Vivian Ramsey, chose winners in a number of categories including Project of the Year, Client of the Year, Contractor of the Year, Trainer of the Year and Legal Firm of the Year. The winners were unveiled at a gala dinner event on Tuesday 3 December 2024 at the Park Plaza London Riverbank as part of the Official FIDIC International Contract Users' Conference.
Speaking at the event, the chair of the judging panel Sir Vivian Ramsey said: “Once again, this year, we have had a strong list of successful entries which includes organisations, companies and individuals. FIDIC is rightly proud of its contracts and the fact that they are used by many leading clients and funding organisations around the world.
“They are so well regarded because FIDIC contracts are seen as promoting fair and reasonable terms, which highlight the key role of the engineer and the project team in delivering successful outcomes. The range of entries we received this year are a testament to the growing reputation of the awards which are now firmly established as a key part of the industry’s global events calendar.”
The full list of winners in the 2024 FIDIC Contract Users’ Awards are listed below, together with judges’ comments for the winning entries.
Project of the Year
Winner - GED Africa Route.
The judges were impressed with a project in which there was good cooperation between the client and the legal team and indeed all the stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions. This project applied FIDIC Golden Principles and FIDIC training was provided to all project participants. Also, a number of FIDIC templates were created for the engineer to use to ensure that programming, site risks, interface and hold points could be coordinated.
Highly Commended - Grand Egyptian Museum (Egypt).
Client of the Year
Winner – Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre (UAE).
The judges were impressed with the approach of this client who had a brilliant idea to review performance of contracts and also a plan how to do it better. The client’s commitment to improvement is a welcome development and hopefully it will encourage other clients to do the same. The judges were pleased to see a high level of aspiration and compliance with the FIDIC Golden Principles and their desire to empower the engineer.
Highly Commended – CERN (Switzerland).
Contractor of the Year
Winner - China Railway Electrification Engineering Group Co.
The winner in this category goes to a contractor that has led electrified railway construction in China and made use of FIDIC forms on many international projects in Indonesia, Pakistan, Hungary and Israel. Their work with their clients said the judges reflects FIDIC contracts philosophy as to risk allocation, fairness, transparency as well as local practices. They also use FIDIC subcontracts for their international work and provide FIDIC training to their supply chain, which is to be welcomed, said the judges.
Trainer of the Year
Winner - Dr Sarwono Hardjomuljadi (Indonesia).
The winner has a long-lasting experience with FIDIC contracts. He has a solid track record as a trainer since 2009 and is a very active promoter of FIDIC contracts in Indonesia and beyond across southeast Asia. The judges were impressed with his very high level of engagement with FIDIC overall, his authorship of many books and articles and his work on FIDIC contract translations. He tailors his training to his audience and goes beyond training in his advocacy work for FIDIC.
Highly Commended - Stéphane Giraud (France).
Legal Firm of the Year
Winner – Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Singapore).
The judges were impressed with a clear and concise entry from a firm that has created a global FIDIC centre of excellence that allows experts to meet and discuss. They have a strong focus on anti-corruption provisions and also DAABs and have gone above and beyond in their ‘extra-curricular’ activities in promoting FIDIC documents. The winner has a broad global presence with 90 construction and engineering specialists, has spread the word on FIDIC forms and are active participants in FIDIC events.
Highly Commended - LnP Beyond Legal (South Africa).
Commenting on the awards, FIDIC president Catherine Karakatsanis said: “In highlighting our award winners tonight, we should also recognise the excellent work that our industry is doing to make a real difference to society, to the environment and to people’s lives. It is those professionals working in the engineering, construction and infrastructure sector that will ensure that we build the sustainable world that we all want to see.
“In building that sustainable world, FIDIC’s key values of quality, sustainability and integrity are crucial in ensuring that we conduct this work in the right way. Those values underpin everything that FIDIC does and provide a robust legal framework that enables our industry to deliver quality projects on a global scale.”
