Several months ago, the Client/Engineer instructed the Contractor to install Heras panels around a compound, which was not part of the original scope of work. The Contractor purchased the fencing and installed it, and has since been charging the client hire fees based on CECA rates. The Engineer now claims that the hire arrangement is too expensive and has directed the Contractor to purchase the fencing and stop hiring it from them.Can the Client/Engineer under FIDIC force the contractor to stop hiring the fencing to them?
@stevencevans is this something that you would be able to advise on?
On the basis that the Engineer can instruct the installation of the Heras fencing in the first place, the Engineer can also instruct that the fence is purchased rather than hired. There are several issues that need to be discussed and addressed: cost of dismantling the hired fence and erecting the new fence; who is responsible for damage or loss to the new fence; who benefits from the sale of the fence at the end of the project or who bears the cost of disposal; how is the fence maintained; and so on