Have you used the ICE Conditions of Contract?

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The loads of wonga guarantee is not in the wonderful contract, but the ENGINEER is involved in all the other ICE contracts with somebody called the EMPLOYER. The ENGINEER does things for the EMPLOYER, totally and without a consultant, for which the EMPLOYER gives money to the ENGINEER at various rates that are very carefully detailed in the contract with the EMPLOYER. In almost all of the ENGINEERS contracts there is THE MAN. WHAT is interesting is in the wonderful contract with anything to do with archaeology are derived from contracts originally based on ground works and minor works, THE MAN is never involved. For the wonderful contract the ENGINEER, really design engineer, becomes the EMPLOYER and where you might imagine the situation of somebody called the ARCHAEOLOGIST, like where the ENGINEER was located in all the contracts with THE MAN, is affectivly positioned a so called consultant archaeologist. An example of sticking on a consultant engineer in to the engineers contract with the MAN does not appear to occur in any other ICE contract. Each level is being paid wonga by the level above to administer the level below often by a percentage of costs.

The consultant also has to be named and they can also name replacements and if any of the multitude don’t bother to turn up for work, there are clauses in the contract to take care of that so that it is not too much of a problem for them. This is in a contract in which there is nothing called an ARCHAEOLOIST in the whole caboodle, which could be more to an ifa RAO design than a sinister engineer rip off. The consultant sits over, at the bottom of the food chain, someone called the contractor. Might be you or anybody who can be bothered to call them an archaeologist.

I would be unconcerned about a consultant and 1man has pointed out that the one that was on the committee was self-employed.

I have read the wonderful contract from my point of view. Is it of any relevance to me, in what I do. It doesnt seem to be.

In the committee that set up this obscure piece of wonderful contract, as 1man has pointed out, there were three representatives for the ICE side, a lawyer on contract law, then a expert author on construction contracts and then along for the ride someone from a Gas supply/distribution company who was good at procurement (expert shopper?- Not exactly a design engineer, more somebody who buy things (not people)). I would suggest that the point of negotiation was lawyer based with an example from an obscure gas brokerage point of view. In terms of the archaeologists on a pipeline there is three or more levels of contract hierarchy before you got to the EMPLOYER. Engineering does not even get involved.

Sorry numeralUnOman,. still sorting out my shrubbery. Currently trying to get hold of a NEC 'Professional Services' contract. ICE not good enough. Consultants are without president in ice and I have to say that who ever got them included in the wonderful contract must have had a reason.