Model Consortium Agreement For APPROVAL
Model Consortium Agreement For APPROVAL
Model Consortium Agreement For APPROVAL
The text below (in draft and final forms) is a collective work, initiated and drafted under the authority and
control of ICC, and to which ICC holds all rights.
Participation in the development of this text will not give rise to any rights for contributors in this
collective work, of which ICC is sole copyright holder.
This ICC working document is provided to you on condition that its contents remain confidential and
should not be disseminated further without express authorization from the ICC International Secretariat.
If you decide to participate in developing this ICC text, you agree to respect ICC’s policy as stated above and
at http://www.iccwbo.org/copyright-and-trademarks/
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for supplies and services provided through an open Consortium (including bidding phase)
by and between:
.....................................
and
.....................................
and
.....................................
This Agreement contains an arbitration clause and clauses limiting and/or excluding the liability of the Consortium Members in certain
circumstances.
Disclaimer
The user of this ICC Model Consortium Agreement must at all times realize that the ICC has had these Model Agreements created by a
team of specialists and with the greatest care, to facilitate small and medium size businesses to form consortia or joint ventures to
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expand and enhance their business and to enlarge their footprint in the world theatre of international business. However it is not
possible to create a model whereby “one size fits all” and therefore each and every user should obtain separate legal and/or financial
and/or tax advice to make this model fit the specific business purpose for which he intends to use this model and the ICC disclaims any
liability for the use of this model by anyone.
FOREWORD
International as well as national cooperation between companies, be they small and medium sized or
large, in complex transactions require solid and balanced terms and conditions for such cooperation
and it is vital that the arrangements put in place be durable, clear and equitable thereby enhancing
business in general. ICC has prepared this Model Agreement for use in cooperation between said
companies, in order to provide them with a unique, balanced platform that is fair to all parties to it.
At the same time, the model accommodates the desire of all parties for a solid unanimous decision
making process, a clear allocation of participation and provision of resources, the need for swift and
effective dispute resolution, and the need for complete and informed allocation of risks.
This model contract, one of a successful series produced by ICC’s Commercial Law and Practice
Commission under the chairmanship of Fabio Bortolotti (Italy), has benefited from the active
participation of the following members of the Major Project Group, co-chaired by Eric Eggink
(Netherlands) and Isabelle Smith Monnerville (France): Jens Machoy (Germany), Martin Kurtze
(Germany), Bettina Geisseler (Germany), Francine Gurral (France), Mireille Bouzols-Breton (France),
Arnoud Penseel (Netherlands), Giovanni Leo (Italy), Claudio Perella (Italy), Helena Prata (Angola),
Rana Obeid (UAE), Jane Davies Evans (UK), Ben Beaumont (UK), Galyah Natan-Epstein (Israel),
Linna Li (China), Haifeng Li (China), Julien Maire du Poset (France), Erick Castellanos (Colombia),
Terry F Moritz (United States).
Secretariat support was provided by ICC Secretariat staff: Emily O’Connor, Rachel Dignam, Zoë
Smoke.
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INTRODUCTION
The International Chamber of Commerce’s (“ICC”) Commission on Commercial Law and Practice is,
like ICC, in business for business, and acts as a focus group for all parties to international
transactions. In recent years, the Commission on Commercial Law and Practice has published a
number of model forms of contracts. Although the forms have covered a wide range of international
transactions they have all been distinguished by the imperative that they be balanced and fair to all
parties involved, since ICC represents all parties to all transactions.
In its role as facilitator the ICC Commission on Commercial Law and Practice has started to provide a
number of standard forms of contract for the world of engineering, procurement and construction
(EPC) projects. After its publication of the ICC Model Turnkey Contract for Major Projects and the ICC
Model Subcontract the ICC Commission on Commercial Law and Practice has now developed two
more model forms, one for joint ventures and the other for consortia.
For Employers the single point of responsibility makes the management of the whole project much
simpler as they do not have to manage the supply of each individual supplier or the interfaces
between suppliers.
A word of caution is appropriate here. The Employer may select companies that may bid on a yet to
be issued “invitation to bid” through a so called “pre-qualification procedure” whereby either a group of
companies that have organized themselves in a joint venture or a consortium is pre-qualified, or
whereby individual companies are pre-qualified individually. Once the pre-qualification procedure has
been closed by the employer, pre-qualified joint ventures or consortia may usually not be changed in
their composition. In the case of companies individually pre-qualifying, non pre-qualified companies
may not join a joint venture or consortium of pre-qualified companies. Not abiding by these good
practices may severely compromise the whole of the tender procedure and hence the Employer
cannot accept the admission of a non-qualified company, as awarding the project to a compromised
joint venture or consortium may be successfully challenged by non-awarded parties in a court of law.
The aim of the ICC in producing a standard form for a Joint Venture Agreement and for a Consortium
Agreement is to provide a balanced model form of agreement for those parties that wish to cooperate
not on a sub-contract basis but as joint operators (in a non-incorporated form, thus not as a legal
entity) in the execution of majors project. It is the cooperation as partners that brings about a risk
sharing scheme that is fundamentally different from the one that forms the basis of the ICC Model
Subcontract.
For both joint-ventures and consortia it can equally be said that counterparty risk, i.e. the Employer’s
ability to pay, with regard to the Employer is shared amongst the joint venturers or operators. Unlike in
subcontracts, payment on an “if and when” basis is the rule and not the exception. Similarly, joint
venturers or operators, unlike subcontractors, typically assume counterparty risk of each other for the
benefit of the Employer (joint and several liability).
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and understand each other’s business and the risks therein.
In a consortium the co-operating parties, though jointly and severally liable for the whole of the
contractual obligations towards their employer, are, towards the other consortium members, liable for
the proper execution of only their individual parts of the total scope of work. This form of co-operation
should be chosen if the consortium members are not familiar with the intricacies of the other members’
business and risks therein and therefore have no means to control either the probability of the risk
event materializing or the impact that the occurrence of the risk event may have. Consortium
members are often operating in industries adjacent to each other, e.g. civil contractors and
engineering contractors or dredging contractors.
The ICC Model Consortium Agreement is that of an open Consortium 1 whereby the employer contract
is entered into between the employer and all of the members of the consortium; all of the members of
the consortium are jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract. Generally, one
consortium member is appointed by the other consortium members as the consortium leader for
managing the contract with the employer; usually it has the authority to conduct negotiations for the
members, but cannot enter into any binding agreements on their behalf.
Anti-trust caution
While there is typically no general rule whereby it would be forbidden for competitors to co-operate on
one or several specific project(s), high caution must be exercised in the forming of such co-operations,
which must be justifiable in terms of objective economic or technical necessity, so as to avoid any
infringement of competition law. In particular, the reasons for a co-operation can never be to form a
strong block vis-á-vis the employer by forming a price cartel as that would be against the law in any
jurisdiction.
Joint Governance
It is the generally accepted view that decisions in a joint venture or a consortium will be made by the
members collegially (in most cases in unanimity). It can never be that one member is forced to go
along with a decision that it cannot agree to. It can be regarded as a universal principle that unlike the
sovereign no subject has the power to impose its will to the other party(ies) to the joint operation.
For the benefit of the project however, the principle of joint governance requires the back up of a
robust system to efficiently deal with differences, and to avoid that such degenerate into disputes.
Where there is a deadlock with the potential to severely delay or harm the project, the solution may be
that one of the joint operators, which will be the leader, is empowered to make unilateral decisions that
are binding on the other(s), provided, that such decision is only binding on the other(s) unless and
until it has been overturned in the agreed dispute resolution process.
The insurance section of the model agreements (Article 9 of the General Conditions) focusses on the
project-related insurances under the assumption that any responsible party engaging in a major
project though a joint venture or a consortium will have sufficient professional indemnity coverage in
place to mitigate the risk of professional indemnity and thus such insurance is not mentioned in the
insurance section. Moreover, if any additional joint insurance not mentioned in this model agreement
is needed for the project, it is envisioned such insurance will be taken out by the members pro rata
according to their respective participation in the project.
As mentioned above, the ICC Model Joint Venture Agreement and the ICC Model Consortium
1 It is not uncommon in practice that a silent (or internal or undisclosed) consortium can be formed whereby the
Employer contract is entered into between the Employer and one of the companies involved as the sole ostensible
contractor. In that case, only the ostensible contractor is party to and is liable to the Employer for fulfilment of the
contract. For those supplies and services that the ostensible contractor wishes to source from the outside, he can e.g.
form a silent consortium with other companies. The “silent” members are not liable for the fulfilment of the contract in the
contractual relationship with the Employer who will hence not benefit from joint and several liability. Lack of transparency
to the Employer is another downside, such being alleviated, in a vast proportion of jurisdictions by the fact that, for
human safety and other project management purposes, all and any party present on the worksite must be identified and
declared to the Employer.
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Agreement have been drafted with the ICC Model Turnkey Contract for Major Projects and the ICC
Model Subcontract in mind. For ease of reference and work with the forms, the authors have
endeavoured to make sure the forms are aligned both in terms of structure and terminology.
Applicable law
In an international contract, parties have the choice of the applicable law, which is part of the
negotiation. Some arguments might militate in favour of any particular legislation: the nationality of the
largest number of parties; the nationality of the party whose intake is the most significant, the law of a
neutral jurisdiction is chosen sometimes for reasons of impartiality and certainty. In any event, before
choosing the law of a given country, users should check if the provisions of this model agreement
conform with such law and if the chosen law has mandatory legal or tax effects which prevail over the
parties’ agreement(s). While this model agreement is intended to cover all issues that are likely to
arise in a clear and succinct fashion to minimize resort to national laws, the parties should be aware
that many national laws provide default rules which may, in some cases, supersede the contractual
arrangements of the parties. For instance, the choice to have an administrative seat of the consortium
and the country where the parties elect to place it can have the effect of making a national law
applicable.2
2 Germany, Russia, Belgium and Italy, for example, have specific rules governing consortia.
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BETWEEN:3
WHEREAS:
(a) the Employer has invited interested companies to submit offers for the Project;
(b) the Consortium Members wish to submit a joint Offer for the Project, and, if the Offer is
successful, to jointly implement the Project;
(c) the Consortium Members anticipate that submission by them of individual offers would not lead
to any of them being the successful bidder;
(d) the Consortium wishes to be selected and appointed by the Employer to execute and carry out
the Work under the terms of the Contract, including any addition or variation thereto, which may
be ordered by the Employer under the Contract. To enable the proper performance of the Work
to be so carried out the Consortium Members have agreed to enter into this Consortium
Agreement on terms and conditions set forth herein
IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
1. In this Main Agreement Form, all capitalised words and expressions shall have the same
meanings as are assigned to them in this Main Agreement Form or the General Conditions.
2. The Consortium Members agree to co-operate based on the terms and subject to the conditions
of this Agreement, as more particularly described in Section II Special Conditions, General
Conditions and Annexures as attached hereto.
3. The following Sections shall be read as one document and form the Agreement and, in the
event of ambiguity or contradiction between the Sections, the ambiguity or contradiction shall be
resolved by giving precedence to the Sections in the order listed as follows:
- Main Agreement Form
- Section I – Special Conditions
- Section II – General Conditions
- Annex 1 – Scope of Work
- Annex 2 – Time Schedule
3 While the number of members is in theory not restricted, the user should be aware that the higher the number is, the
more complicated the implementation of the project will be - in particular due to the principle of unanimity.
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- […]4
Whereas the Consortium Members have executed this Agreement by duly authorized representatives
on the day and year first above written. 5
4 Further Annexes might be used, e.g. to cover HSE, Project procedures, prices, etc.
5 It would normally be a good idea to have a witness from all Consortium Members witness all signatures, and examine
the business cards or powers of attorney of those signing as duly authorised representatives. If appropriate, a chop or
seal should be attached from the Consortium Members.
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(i) .................
(ii) .................
(iii) .................
Article 2.2 (optional) The administrative office of the Consortium shall be at [...]. 6
Article 4.4.5 The Consortium Leader’s Fee shall be […] percent, and the payment
terms of the fee shall be as follows […].
Article 9.2.1 (c) Minimum Comprehensive third-party liability Insurance coverage shall
be […] per occurrence and […] in the aggregate.
Article 12.4 The period of confidentiality shall be […] years from the termination of
the Consortium.
Article 13.3.5 The liability of each Consortium Member shall per event be limited to
[…] percent of the value of the Scope of Work of the liable Consortium
Member.
Article 13.3.6 The delayed payment compensation shall be […] percent per annum.
Article 15.1 This Agreement shall become effective on […] regardless of the date
of signature of the Consortium Members.
6 As said in the Introduction, a number of jurisdictions have specific regulation about consortia in this context, the choice
of administrative office may have legal consequences that the users need to investigate in advance.
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Article 17 The substantive law applicable to the Agreement shall be the law of
[…].
(i) ...............................................................................
(ii) ...............................................................................
(iii) ...............................................................................
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SECTION II - GENERAL CONDITIONS
"Agreement" means this Consortium Agreement consisting of the Main Agreement Form,
Section I Special Conditions, Section II General Conditions of Contract and the Annexes
listed in the contents section.
"Contract" means the contract for the Project to be entered into by the Employer and all
Consortium Members or awarded by the Employer to all Consortium Members as the case
may be.
“Day”, “Days” or “Date/s” mean, unless otherwise agreed, references to a 24-hour calendar
day in the Gregorian calendar with "year" meaning 365 days under that calendar, unless it is
a 366-day leap year. Periods of time are calculated from the day after receipt of the relevant
instruction or other action requiring an activity to commence.7
“DB Rules” mean the ICC Dispute Board Rules in force at the time of signing the
Agreement.
"Design Freeze Date" means the date set forth in the Time Schedule prior to which a
Consortium Member may change the design within or related to its Scope of Work without
becoming liable hereunder due to the change.
"Disagreement" means any difference between the Consortium Members arising out of or
in connection with the Agreement that has not yet become a Dispute.
"Dispute" means any Disagreement that is formally referred to a Dispute Board, another
form of alternative dispute resolution if specified in Section I Special Conditions or to
arbitration in accordance with Article 16.4, as applicable.
"Good Practice" means the exercise of that degree of skill, diligence, prudence, foresight
and that engineering and construction practice which would reasonably and ordinarily be
expected from a skilled contractor under circumstances the same as or similar to the Project.
“Gross Negligence” shall mean the conscious and reckless disregard for the need for and
the use of Good Practice.
7 Each Consortium Member shall have due regard and respect for religious practices, days of rest and other recognized
customs of the relevant country.
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"Negligence" means any act or omission which is not in line with Good Practice.
"Offer" means the offer to be submitted by the Consortium Members to the Employer for the
Project pursuant to Article 6.1.
"Proportionate Value" is the percentage ratio of the value of the Scope of Work of a
Consortium Member in proportion to the Total Value of the Work as specified in the
Agreement.
"Scope of Work" is the part of the Work a Consortium Member has to perform pursuant to
Annex 1 – Scope of Work.
"Site" is the piece of land where Work supplied under the Contract is to be erected and
commissioned.
"Time Schedule" is the time schedule attached as Annex 2 – Time Schedule and referred to
in Article 7.4.
"Total Value of the Work" is the Contract price as amended during the implementation of
the Project.
"Work" means the supplies and services to be provided by the Consortium Members to the
Employer pursuant to the Contract.
2.1 Objectives
The Consortium Members hereby agree to form a Consortium having the following
objectives:
(i) to prepare and submit the Offer,
(ii) to conduct any necessary negotiations with the aim to agree on the Contract, and
(iii) to execute and perform the Contract.
-------------------------
Optional8
8 If the option is not specified in Section I Special Conditions then this shall mean that the option clause is not
selected and therefore not part of the Agreement.
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2.2 Administrative Office
The Work shall be allocated among the Consortium Members according to Annex 1 – Scope
of Work, as amended, as the case may, according to Article 7.3.
To the extent not otherwise provided herein and particularly Article 13 each Consortium
Member shall, inter partes, bear the technical, economic, quantity and time related, financial
and other risks connected with or affecting that members Scope of Work.10
The Consortium Members do not intend to share the profits or losses of their joint
performance of the Contract.
4.1.1 Each Consortium Member shall perform and be responsible for carrying out its Scope of
Work in accordance with the Contract and this Agreement.
4.1.2 The Consortium Members shall constitute a steering committee (‘Steering Committee’) who
shall be in charge of the overall management of the Consortium, in particular in respect of
the monitoring of progress in line with the requirements of the Contract, of decision making
in the event of changes to the Contract or termination thereof and, in addition to all specific
matters which are reserved for its decisions under this Agreement, generally to carry out,
with the assistance of the Project Committee as the case may be, the joint supervision,
coordination and management of the Works. If the size and situs of the Works justify, the
Consortium Members may also constitute an additional and ancillary project committee
(“Project Committee”) who shall be in charge of the day-to-day management of the Works.11
9 Please be aware of the local codes and regulations such as HSE and tax regulations, which do not only mandatorily
apply to the Project (e.g. regarding a necessary building and operation permit) and the respective construction,
manufacturing, erection activities and all other activities necessary to fulfil the Contract, but which might have a
considerable impact on the Consortium respectively the Consortium Members and its/ their activities regardless or even
depending on where the Consortium members’ seat or the Consortium’ s seat / administrative office is. The users of this
model contract must analyse these impacts and take the applicable local laws and jurisdiction into account before
concluding this Agreement and before opting for a specific contractual setup, e.g. by choosing the Consortium’s seat/
administrative office.
10 This model agreement does not provide standard language for the allocation of potential interface risk which is
inherent to projects with multiple contractors interacting for the execution of work whether simultaneously or in necessary
sequence, or again whether on the same worksite or shared facility or infrastructure. Because it is project specific,
interface risk and its allocation must be part of the negotiation of the parties and needs to be evaluated. Because
interface risk is largely unpredictable, the solution of this model agreement is that interface risk will be managed by the
Steering Committee and, as the case may, Project Committee, as part of the overall management of the Consortium.
11
If the size of the project allows, it is advisable to appoint two (or more) levels of Authorised Representatives (Steering
and Project), in order to allow the possibility of escalating disagreements and conflicts internally with a view to preventing
disputes.
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4.2.1 Constitution of the Steering Committee
4.2.1.1 The Steering Committee shall be comprised of a minimum of one authorised representative
of each Consortium Members (“Authorized Representatives”).
4.2.1.2 Each Consortium Member shall, no later than 15 Days following the award of the Contract to
the Consortium, appoint its Authorized Representative(s) by filling out the respective
information in Section I Special Conditions, and shall give notice to the other Consortium
Members of the particulars of its Authorized Representative(s). Section I Special Conditions
allows for the appointment of alternates, in order to avoid that the holding of meetings of the
Steering Committee should be prevented by the unavailability of an Authorized
Representative.
4.2.1.3 In the interest of optimal knowledge management and coordination, the Consortium
Members shall use all reasonable efforts to avoid any change of their Authorized
Representatives during the performance of the Contract. If a change has to take place, the
Consortium Member changing one or the other of its Authorised Representatives shall give
to the other Consortium Members the earliest advance notice reasonably feasible.
4.2.1.4 The Authorised Representative of the Consortium Leader shall act as chairman of the
Steering Committee.
4.2.1.5 Subject to the provisions of the Agreement to the contrary, each of the Consortium Members
shall have one vote at the meetings of the Steering Committee, irrespective of the number of
its representatives present.
4.2.1.6 The individual costs and expenses of attendance of Authorized Representatives, and other
Consortium Member representatives on Consortium business shall be borne by each
relevant Consortium Member individually. Unless otherwise agreed, no representative of any
Consortium Member representatives shall not receive any remuneration from the
Consortium for Consortium business.
4.2.1.7 A first meeting of the Steering Committee shall take place no later than 15 Days from the
date of the award of the Contract. At that first meeting at the latest, the Consortium Members
shall finalize the overall project organization,12 which shall be submitted to the approval of
the Steering Committee and shall be used throughout the execution of the Works as
provided in article 4.5. below.
Decisions will be made by the Steering Committee and decision making shall require the
unanimous consent of the Authorized Representatives, if not otherwise explicitly provided
herein. Authorized Representatives shall not unreasonably withhold their consent.
By way of exception to the above general principle, it is agreed that matters which do not
affect all Consortium Members can be decided by and shall require the approval of only the
Consortium Member(s) affected.
If a decision is taken by less than the entirety of the Consortium Members pursuant to the
foregoing paragraph and a Consortium Member who has not taken part in the decision
claims that it is affected by it, such Consortium Member will notify its claim no later than 15
Days after it has received notification of the decision to which it objects. In that case, the
12 To the effect of maximising coordinated progress and knowledge management during the execution of the Works, it is
part of Good Practice to define an overall project organisation which shall ensure that each Consortium Member shall
keep the other informed of their respective progress and particularly in relation to interfaces and interactions of their
respective Scopes of Work. The overall project organisation also addresses the required notifications of any potential
difficulties met by any Consortium Member in regard to the on-time and quality fulfilment of its respective Scope of Work
as well as any changes and/or variations it considers necessary for the proper fulfilment of its obligations as set out in the
Contract.
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Consortium Leader shall convene a Steering Committee meeting for the examination of the
consequences of the decision on the objecting Consortium Member.
In the event of a deadlock at a Committee meeting, the meeting shall be adjourned and shall
reconvene not more than 3 Days later. In the event of a continued deadlock, the matter shall
forthwith be referred, in writing, by the Chairman of the Steering Committee to the chief
executive officers of each of the Consortium Members or to another person of suitable
standing and authority chosen by the respective Consortium Members who shall meet within
21 Days of the matter being referred to them. They shall work together in order to reach a
unanimous decision which shall be binding on all Consortium Members, failing which the
disagreement shall be referred to the agreed dispute resolution process.
However, in the event of a deadlock with the potential to severely delay or harm the Project,
the Consortium Leader is empowered to make unilateral decisions binding on the other(s)
provided that the impact and consequences of such unilateral decisions will be jointly
examined by the collegial bodies in due course, and will necessarily be subjected to the
agreed dispute resolution process as per Article 16.
4.2.2.4 Form
The Steering Committee shall meet according to need and at least every month unless a
different minimum periodicity had been agreed in writing. Meetings shall be convened by the
Consortium Leader at the agreed intervals or upon written request of an Authorized
Representative of another Consortium Member. Such request shall be notified to the
Consortium Leader with a copy to all other Consortium Members. If reasonably possible, the
Consortium Leader shall give the Authorized Representatives of the other Consortium
Members 7 Days’ prior written notice of meetings and provide a written agenda. Additions or
corrections to such written agenda by other Consortium Members shall be taken into account
if they are submitted by the Consortium Member to the Consortium Leader with copy to the
other Consortium Members, at least 4 Days prior to the scheduled Consortium meeting. If
agreed by the Authorized Representatives, the Committee meetings may be held by
telephone or video conference.
Consortium Members shall procure that their respective Authorized Representative(s) shall
attend the properly convened meetings of the Steering (and as the case may be the Project)
Committee. If an Authorized Representative fails to attend a Steering (and as the case may
be the Project) Committee meeting without justification despite a correct and timely
invitation, the Consortium Leader shall immediately reconvene such a meeting pursuant to
Article 4.2.3. If the Authorized Representative that did not attend the first meeting fails to
attend the reconvened meeting without justification, resolutions which have a direct impact
on the continuation of the Work may be passed by the attending Authorized Representatives
alone even if the non-attending Consortium Member is affected by such resolutions.
The Consortium Leader shall keep minutes of the Steering (and as the case may be the
Project) Committee meetings and shall record decisions passed by such Committee(s), and
shall circulate such minutes and records to the other Consortium Members without delay, but
in no event later than 10 Days after the meeting was held and the decision(s) taken. Unless
the Consortium Leader receives a written objection to any such minute or record within 10
Days from the date of receipt by the other Consortium Members, such record shall be
deemed to be correct and complete.
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The provisions in Article 4.2 with respect to the Steering Committee shall apply mutatis
mutandis to the Project Committee, if any.
4.4.1 Leader
The Consortium Leader shall be the Consortium Member designated for that mission in the
Section I Special Conditions.
4.4.2 Authority
The Consortium Leader shall be authorized to undertake those actions and activities as set
out in this Agreement or in subsequent decisions of the Steering (and/or Project) Committee
but shall, otherwise in no case be authorised to make commitments for or legally bind the
Consortium or any Consortium Member.
4.4.3 Duties
The duties of the Consortium Leader shall solely be of an administrative and coordinative
character, including:
The Consortium Leader shall advise the other Consortium Members without delay of all
matters, of which it becomes aware in its function as Consortium Leader and which may
materially affect the preparation of the Offer, the performance of the Contract or any other
Consortium Member’s Scope of Work and provide the other Consortium Members with
copies of all important correspondence in its possession relating to the Project, particularly
those relating to each Consortium Member's Scope of Work.
The Consortium Members other than the Consortium Leader agree to cooperate with the
Consortium Leader fully and in good faith, with a view to allowing the Consortium Leader to
13
In the increasingly digital environment of the construction industry, the Consortium Members may well be under the
obligation under the Contract to use a Building Information Modelling platform or system and they will be well advised to
consider using one even in the absence of such obligation. Building Information Modeling is an electronic collaborative
tool which is used in public procurement in Europe, see e.g. EU Directive 2014/24, and other various regions.
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discharge its duties in a time and cost effective manner. In particular, the duties of the other
Consortium Members shall be:
The Consortium Leader shall not be entitled to a fee in consideration for his duties until the
Contract is awarded to the Consortium. Thereafter, the Consortium Leader shall be entitled
to charge the other Consortium Members a fee which is a percentage as defined in Section I
Special Conditions of each Consortium Member’s part of the Total Value of the Work and
increased by any applicable value-added tax. The agreed lump sum fee shall be included in
the estimate of the contract price towards the Employer in the Contract. The terms of
payment of the Consortium Leader’s fee shall be specified in Section I Special Conditions.
Each Consortium Member shall cooperate to the joint performance of the Contract in
accordance with the Time Schedule of the Contract and, to that effect, promptly provide to
the others all reasonable information and data in connection with its Scope of Work which
will reasonably be required or necessary for the other Consortium Members to execute their
respective Scope of Work.
Each Consortium Member may take part in meetings with the Employer or third parties in
relation to the Project provided that the subject of such meetings affects the interests of all or
the respective Consortium Member(s) und further provided that the Employer or the third
party does not object to such participation; upon request of the Consortium Leader each of
the other Consortium Members shall attend. The Consortium Leader shall use reasonable
efforts to ensure that a Consortium Member may attend such meeting whose subject is such
Consortium Member’s Scope of Work. If, despite such reasonable efforts, the affected
Consortium Member does not attend such meeting without good reason, it will be liable for
any and all costs and expenses incurred by the other Consortium Member(s) due to its non-
attendance.
All correspondence of the Consortium Members with the Employer shall be sent via the
Consortium Leader. In matters affecting only one Consortium Member the affected
Consortium Member shall prepare drafts of the correspondence to be sent to the Employer.
In matters affecting more than one but not all of the Consortium Members one of the
Consortium Members affected shall prepare drafts of the correspondence to be sent to the
Employer. In matters affecting the whole of the Consortium the Consortium Leader shall
prepare drafts of the correspondence to be sent to the Employer.
No correspondence to the Employer shall be sent by the Consortium Leader before it has
received the approval of all the Consortium Members affected. In case the Consortium
Leader does not receive another Consortium Member’s approval or disapproval latest within
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three (3) Days after submission of a respective notification of the requirement of its approval,
the Consortium Leader shall be entitled to send such correspondence without approval and
no Consortium Member can be held liable for any information contained therein.
In carrying out their obligations under this Agreement the Consortium Members will act in
accordance with the principles of good faith and fair dealing. The provisions of the Contract,
as well as any statements made by the Consortium Members in connection with it, shall be
interpreted in accordance with the principles of good faith and fair dealing.
Each Consortium Member shall inform the other Consortium Members without undue delay
of any matters of which it becomes aware and which may materially affect the preparation of
the Offer, the performance of the Contract or any other Consortium Member's Scope of
Work.
Each Consortium Member shall provide the Consortium Leader with such technical data and
drawings and other information to the extent necessary and appropriate for the preparation
and submission of the Offer and performance of the Contract so that they can be forwarded
to the Employer in a timely and complete manner and in the required form and language.
Each Consortium Member shall in a timely manner provide the other Consortium Members
with accurate and - to the extent possible - complete technical data and drawings, which are
related to its Scope of Work and which the other Consortium Members require for
engineering and performing their own Scope of Work.
Each Consortium Member shall be responsible for checking the technical data and drawings
received from the Employer or other Consortium Members, insofar as they affect its Scope of
Work. The Consortium Leader shall not bear any responsibility in this respect.
5.3 Exclusivity
The Consortium Members shall cooperate on an exclusive basis to achieve the objectives
set forth in Article 2.1 hereof. In particular, no Consortium Member shall by itself or with third
parties, either make offers or enter into agreements concerning the Project or any part
thereof.
The foregoing exclusivity obligation only applies to products and services which belong to
the Scope of Work of the respective Consortium Member. This exclusivity obligation shall
apply until the Consortium is wound up pursuant to Article 15.2 hereof. If a Consortium
Member voluntarily leaves or is expelled from the Consortium for any reason for which it is
responsible this obligation shall bind it until the Consortium is wound up pursuant to Article
15.2 hereof.
Unless otherwise explicitly set out in this Agreement, the Consortium Members shall not
establish joint assets when pursuing the objectives of this Agreement. If it is not possible to
avoid undivided joint ownership of any rights and/or assets, such undivided joint ownership
shall only refer to each respective right and/or asset separately and not to the aggregate of
the rights and/or assets.
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Unless otherwise agreed in writing for a specific case, no Consortium Member is authorized
to or shall enter into commitments on behalf or in the name of the Consortium or the
Consortium Members and no Consortium Member or any of its respective agents,
employees, contractors, or representatives shall:
5.7.1 Each Consortium Member hereby undertakes that, at the date of the entering into force of
the Agreement, itself, its directors, officers or employees have not offered, promised, given,
authorized, solicited or accepted any undue pecuniary or other advantage of any kind (or
implied that they will or might do any such thing at any time in the future) in any way
connected with the Agreement and that it has taken reasonable measures to prevent
subcontractors, agents or any other third parties, subject to its control or determining
influence, from doing so.
5.7.2 The Consortium Members agree that, at all times in connection with and throughout the
course of the Agreement and thereafter, they will comply with and that they will take
reasonable measures to ensure that their subcontractors, agents or other third parties,
subject to their control or determining influence, will comply with Part I of the ICC Rules on
Combating Corruption 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the Agreement,
as if written out in the Agreement in full.
5.7.4 Any entity, whether an arbitral tribunal or other dispute resolution body, rendering a decision
in accordance with the dispute resolution provisions of the Agreement, shall have the
authority to determine the contractual consequences of any alleged non-compliance with this
ICC Anti-corruption Article.
The Consortium Leader shall establish the format of the Offer having due regard to the
requirements established by the Employer. Each Consortium Member shall timely prepare
the technical part of the Offer related to its Scope of Work. The Consortium Leader shall
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draw up a list of comments on the commercial conditions of the Employer’s bidding
documents or a proposal for the commercial conditions of the Offer as the case may be. The
final list of comments on the commercial conditions and/or the commercial and technical
conditions of the Offer shall require a unanimous resolution by all the Consortium Members.
The Offer shall be compiled by the Consortium Leader and submitted to the Employer after
being approved by all Consortium Members by the due date for the bid.
6.2 Costs
Each Consortium Member shall bear the costs incurred by it in the preparation and
submission of the Offer for its Scope of Work (including the costs for obtaining documents
and for technical data and drawings to be provided to another Consortium Member).
No Consortium Member shall be responsible to the other Consortium Members where the
Contract is not awarded, except in case of Gross Negligence and wilful misconduct.
7.1 Completeness
Each Consortium Member shall provide its respective Scope of Work as if it had entered into
a separate contract with the Employer covering the Scope of Work of the Consortium
Member. Each Consortium Member shall provide all supplies and services required for the
proper fulfilment of its Scope of Work, irrespective of whether or not such supplies and
services are completely specified in Annex 1 – Scope of Work, and even if the
incompleteness is attributable to insufficient information received from another Consortium
Member.
Any supplies and/or services which are not allocated to any Consortium Member’s Scope of
Work in Annex 1 – Scope of Work, but which are required for the performance of the
Contract, shall be performed by the Consortium Member whose Scope of Work is primarily
affected thereby or has the closest relationship thereto, irrespective of whether such supplies
and/or services give an entitlement to an adjustment of the Contract price.
Changes with respect to the Work that are required by the Employer in accordance with the
Contract shall be performed by the Consortium Member(s) whose Scope(s) of Work is/are
affected by such changes. If more than one Consortium Member is affected by such
changes required by the Employer the changes in the Scope of Work of the respective
Consortium Members shall be carried out pursuant to Article 7.3 hereof.
Any changes in the allocation of the Work and any resulting consequences (for example
relating to the Proportionate Values) shall be agreed upon by the Steering Committee. Such
agreement shall take the form of an amendment to Annex 1 – Scope of Work to this
Agreement and shall be signed by the Consortium Members.
The Work shall be carried out in accordance with the Time Schedule attached as Annex 2 –
Time Schedule hereto. The Consortium Members shall regularly update this Time Schedule,
as necessary.
7.5 Subcontracting
Each Consortium Member may subcontract in its own name and on its own behalf part - but
not the whole - of its Scope of Work unless the Contract provides otherwise. A Consortium
Member subcontracting part of its Scope of Work shall remain fully liable for the performance
of its Scope of Work and for all the acts and omissions of any subcontractor or sub-supplier.
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Each Consortium Member shall be fully liable for the performance of any part of its share of
the Project, or other Contract obligation, in respect of which it enters into any contract with a
third party/parties (e.g. a subcontractor) and shall ensure that the all obligations due to, and
enforceable by, all other Consortium Members shall include:
a) the requirement that such contracts enable fulfilment of the Contract, and;
b) that the other Consortium Member’s rights are the same as would have been the
case had the contracting Consortium Member performed its share of the Project
and/or those obligations itself.
Each Consortium Member shall be responsible for observing the laws applicable to it and/or
its Scope of Work. Each Consortium Member shall be responsible for obtaining and
maintaining all administrative permits, licences and other authorisations required for the
performance of its Scope of Work, except those which are to be obtained by another
Consortium Member pursuant to an explicit provision of this Agreement or by the Employer
pursuant to the Contract. The Consortium Members which are not responsible for obtaining
the respective authorizations shall reasonably assist the responsible Consortium Member in
the process of obtaining such authorization.
Each Consortium Member shall observe the HSE requirements established by the Contract,
the applicable laws and Good Practice. The Consortium Leader shall draw up a draft for a
project specific HSE plan which shall be observed by all Consortium Members after being
approved by them. Each Consortium Member shall nominate a HSE representative who
shall be the direct contact for the general HSE representative appointed by the Consortium
Leader.
To the extent permitted by the Contract each Consortium Member is entitled to pursue
claims relating exclusively to the Scope of Work of such Consortium Member against the
Employer after written notification to the other Consortium Members. If according to the
Contract claims can only be asserted by the Consortium Leader or by all Consortium
Members jointly the Consortium Leader or the non-claiming Consortium Members
respectively shall reasonably cooperate with the claiming Consortium Member(s). The
claiming Consortium Member(s) shall reimburse the Consortium Leader or the non-claiming
Consortium Members for the expenditure incurred by them in connection with the pursuit of
the claim.
Article 8 Securities
8.1 Where the Consortium Members are required to provide security (e.g. bid bonds, advance
payment bonds, performance bonds, warranty bonds) in connection with the Offer or the
performance of their obligations under the Contract, each Consortium Member shall provide
such security separately corresponding to its Proportionate Value.
8.2 If the Employer does not accept such an arrangement, the Consortium Leader shall procure
the issue of such security on behalf of all Consortium Members. Each Consortium Member
shall commit itself towards the issuer of such security to indemnify him according to its
Proportionate Value in the event the security is drawn upon by the Employer. To the extent
required by the issuer each Consortium Member shall provide an additional security,
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including in the form of a counter-guarantee, acceptable to the issuer securing the
indemnification obligation of the Consortium Member to the issuer.
8.3 If the issuer of the security requires an indemnity obligation from the Consortium Leader for
the full amount of the security, the other Consortium Members shall promptly provide the
Consortium Leader with counter guarantees equivalent to their Proportionate Values payable
on demand issued by an institution and on terms acceptable to the Consortium Leader. In all
cases of joint security pursuant to this Article, the Consortium Members shall bear the costs
of it according to the Proportionate Values.
8.4 In the event the Employer avails himself of any security, the Consortium Members shall
internally be liable as provided in Articles 13 hereof.
Article 9 Insurance
The Consortium Members recognize and accept the need for insurance cover for all of the
Work as specified in Article 9.1. The insurance cover shall be on terms and conditions as are
reasonably available in the insurance market and that are customarily purchased by
contractors on similar projects with regard to size, technology and location. Any insurance
proceeds under the Work Insurance under Article 9.1 shall be paid from the insurers to the
joint account created for the Consortium and shall be applied for the repair or rectification of
any damage that has occurred. Deductibles, if any, shall be borne by the Consortium
Member responsible for the damage.
Marine Cargo/ Transportation Insurance, where applicable, shall be maintained for not less
than 110 % of the Incoterms® (latest edition) CIF value to cover loss or damage to the Work
during transportation with conveyances of whatsoever kind from any warehouse worldwide
until and including unloading at the Site. This cover shall not be less than the internationally
known Institute Cargo Clauses (A) of the Institute of London Underwriters, provided war risks
are available at base rate and the deductible shall not be higher than the amount per
occurrence specified (if any) in Section I Special Conditions.
Construction/Erection All Risk Insurance shall cover loss or damage to the Work on all risks
basis for not less than the full reinstatement cost, subject to sub-limits as are reasonably
commercially available and with exclusions customarily required by the insurance market,
such as the exclusion of the terrorism risk. This insurance shall cover any Site activity after
unloading of the Work at the Site, including storage on or near the Site, construction,
erection, assembly, cold and hot commissioning and testing until the Works are accepted or
deemed to be accepted under the Contract.
9.1.4 If not taken out by the Employer, then unless otherwise agreed, the Consortium Leader shall
effect and maintain the insurance cover as set out in Articles 9.1 in the joint names of the
Consortium Members and shall provide for a waiver of recourse from the insurers against all
insured parties, in which case the cost of the cover shall be treated as common cost to be
shared by the Consortium Members according to their Proportionate Value.
9.2.1 Each Consortium Member shall effect and maintain at its own expense, or shall cause its
Sub-contractors to effect and maintain at their own expense, the following insurance cover
with reputable insurance carriers authorised to do business in the country of the Site:
(a) Employer’s liability and workman’s compensation insurance in accordance with any
applicable law(s). If the law does not provide for any obligations in this respect or
requires only some minimum limits, then the Consortium Member shall arrange this
insurance in a manner and with limits as a prudent and reasonable contractor in
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the same circumstances and environment would so do. This insurance shall be
maintained in full force and effect during the whole time that Consortium Member’s
Personnel are assisting in the execution of the Work on Site.
(b) Automobile liability insurance in the country of the Site in accordance with any
applicable law(s). If the law does not provide for any obligations in this respect or
requires only some minimum limits, then the Consortium Member shall arrange this
insurance in a manner and with limits as a prudent and reasonable contractor in
the same circumstances and environment would so do.
(c) Comprehensive third-party liability insurance to cover the Consortium Member’s
legal liability with a limit, unless otherwise agreed, of indemnity of not less than
specified in Section I Special Conditions.
(d) Consortium Member’s equipment insurance to cover loss or damage to Consortium
Member’s equipment on an all risks basis for not less than the full replacement
value, during any activity on the Site and including delivery to Site.
9.2.2 On request of another Consortium Member, a Consortium Member shall provide evidence to
the other Consortium Members that the Consortium Member’s Other Insurance is in place at
the latest within 30 Days after such request.
Article 10 Financials
Each Consortium Member shall bear the bank charges for handling the payments for its
Scope of Work.
10.3 Invoicing
Each Consortium Member shall invoice the Employer directly to the extent permitted by the
Contract and by applicable tax regulations and shall send copies of the invoices to the
Consortium Leader. To the extent it is not permitted to send invoices directly to the
Employer, each Consortium Member shall send invoices concerning its Scope of Work to the
Consortium Leader, who shall invoice the Employer in accordance with the Contract.
Payments received on the joint account and the Consortium Leader shall promptly forward
them to the Consortium Members in proportion to the Work invoiced and performed. A claim
against the Consortium Leader for payment may only be made after the Consortium Leader
has received the relevant payment from the Employer. Withholding of payment, non-
payment or partial non-payment by the Employer attributable to a Consortium Member shall
be taken into account with respect to the payment claim by the respective Consortium
Member.
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The failure of the Employer to effect payments does not entitle any Consortium Member to
suspend or reduce the performance of its Scope of Work unless such suspension or
reduction is justified under the Contract or accepted by the Steering Committee.
10.7 Financing
Each Consortium Member shall be responsible for any financing arrangements required for
its Scope of Work and shall bear all costs connected therewith.
Article 11 Taxes
Each Consortium Member shall comply with all tax regulations concerning its Scope of Work
at its own risk and expense and for its own account. In particular, each Consortium Member
shall be responsible for preparing and submitting all necessary tax returns and tax
payments, as legally required.
If the Consortium is subject to sales or value-added tax, the relevant tax obligations shall be
satisfied by the Consortium Leader on behalf of the Consortium.
It is the Consortium Members’ common understanding that the implementation of the Project
based on the principles of cooperation in this Agreement will not cause the Consortium to
register for corporate income tax purposes, whether as taxable entity or in another form. No
Consortium Member shall take any action that may contradict such common understanding
of the Consortium Members.
If the tax authorities nevertheless should tax the Consortium on the basis of income from the
entire Contract, the Consortium Members shall closely cooperate and agree on a joint
approach in responding to the tax authorities’ position. If the Consortium should be taxable,
the Consortium Leader will coordinate the tax filling and tax payment process. Details will be
agreed upon separately.
In principle, each Consortium Member shall bear the corporate income tax to the extent it
relates to its Scope of Work. The calculation of each Consortium Member's proportional
amount of tax will be subject to the local tax law, each Consortium Member's pro-rata share
of the taxable income and the relevant tax rate.
If such calculation is not possible, the Consortium Members shall agree on another way of
allocation of the respective tax.
Taxes other than corporate income tax assessed on the Consortium shall be borne by the
Consortium Members pursuant to their Proportionate Values.
Article 12 Confidentiality
12.1 Each Consortium Member shall use all business and technical information received from the
other Consortium Member in connection with this Agreement, and which the disclosing
Consortium Member expressly states to be confidential or the confidential nature of which
can be assumed on the basis of the circumstances of its disclosure or its contents, solely for
the purposes for which it was provided; and shall treat it in the same way as its own business
secrets; and not make it available to third parties, unless the business or technical
information in question:
(a) is generally available from public sources or in the public domain;
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(b) is received at any time from any third party without a nondisclosure obligation to
the disclosing Consortium Member;
(c) is shown either to have been developed independently by the receiving Consortium
Member without reliance on the disclosing Consortium Member’s confidential
information or to have been known to the receiving Consortium Member prior to its
disclosure by the disclosing Consortium Member; or
(d) must be disclosed to third parties for the purpose of performing this Contract,
provided such third parties are or become subject to an equivalent confidentiality
obligation.
12.2 Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 12.1, any Consortium Member may disclose any
confidential information if, and to the extent that, it is required to do so by the disclosure
requirements of any law, rule, or regulation or any order, decree, subpoena, or ruling or other
similar process of any court, tribunal, arbitral tribunal or governmental instrumentality or of
any regulatory body having jurisdiction. Prior to making or permitting any Consortium
Member to make such disclosure the disclosing Consortium Member shall – to the extent
possible – provide the Consortium Member that initially provided such information with
written notice of any such requirement so that that Consortium Member may seek a
protective order or other appropriate remedy. The Consortium Member required to make
such disclosure shall co-operate with the Consortium Member that initially provided the
information, in order to minimize and protect against the disclosure of the confidential
information and with any efforts by the Consortium Member seeking to protect the
information from disclosure to obtain proprietary or confidential treatment for such
confidential information by the third party to whom the confidential information is disclosed or
to seek protective orders limiting the dissemination and use of the confidential information.
Nothing herein shall prevent any Consortium Member from objecting to the rule, regulation,
or order requiring the disclosure.
12.3 The foregoing confidentiality obligation shall also apply to the contents of this Contract.
12.4 The confidentiality obligation created by this Article 12 shall continue for a period as
described in Section I Special Conditions after termination of the Consortium.
12.5 Publications of any kind on or in any media (including electronic media) by a Consortium
Member or initiated by a Consortium Member referring to the Works shall require the prior
written approval of the other Consortium Member, which approval shall not unreasonably be
withheld.
Article 13 Liability
To the extent provided for in the Contract or in the law governing the Contract the
Consortium Members shall be jointly and severally liable to the Employer for performance of
the Contract. As among themselves, each Consortium Member shall be liable for its Scope
of Work.
If the Employer claims penalty or damages (including liquidated damages) for delay, the
Consortium Member(s)14 responsible for the delay shall be solely liable up to the amount that
is equal to the respective limitation for liability in the Contract expressed in percent applied to
the Consortium Member(s)’s Proportionate Value, unless it is specified differently in Section I
Special Conditions. The excess liability (if any) shall be borne by all Consortium Members
pursuant to their respective Proportionate Value, unless the delay has been caused by
14 It may be that a Consortium Member’s delay allows the delay of another Consortium Member (e.g. later in the Time
Schedule) to avoid sanction. As this Model Agreement is drafted, in case of concurrent delays by more than one
Consortium Member causing a delay claim by the Employer, it has not been defined, for the sake of brevity, how the
liability for the delay will be apportioned amongst the Consortium Members who have concurrently caused the delay,
according e.g. to predominance or other criteria, which highly depends on the specifics of the Project and the delay. The
issue should however be kept in mind, if the specifics of the project and its critical path warrant it, and dealt with, as the
case may be, in Section I Special Conditions.
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Gross Negligence of the responsible Consortium Member(s), in which case it (they) shall be
solely liable.
The Consortium Member(s) having caused a defect will be liable for this defect and any
resulting claims of the Employer. However any remedial work shall be executed subject to
the terms of the Contract and subject to Article 13.3.1, by the Consortium Member in whose
Scope of Work it is located or occurs.
If technical guarantees specified in the Contract are not met, liability shall rest solely with the
Consortium Member who has contributed to the technical guarantees not being met.
If the Employer has or can reasonably be expected to become entitled to a claim for non-
compliance with the Contract and the Consortium Member(s) responsible for this claim
("Responsible Consortium Member(s)") is/are unable or unwilling to avoid, mitigate or
resolve it and if the claim can be avoided, mitigated or resolved by measures initiated by any
of the other Consortium Members not responsible for the claim ("Non-Responsible
Consortium Members"), the Non-Responsible Consortium Members may make every
reasonable effort to avoid, mitigate or resolve the claim, to the extent that the claim is likely
to adversely and materially affect the Consortium or Non-Responsible Consortium Members.
If the measures consist of carrying out works on the Responsible Consortium Member(s)’
Scope of Work on behalf of the Responsible Consortium Member(s) a decision of all
Consortium Members, the Responsible Consortium Member(s) not being allowed to vote, is
required. If the Responsible Consortium Member(s) without justification do not attend the
Steering Committee meeting where the decision on such action is to be taken, the other
Consortium Member’s representatives can make a decision without need for reconvening the
meeting pursuant to Article 4.2.2.6. Such decision shall become final if the Responsible
Consortium Member(s) has not, within 30 Days of receipt of notice of the decision, initiated
DB proceedings in accordance with Article 16.3 or arbitration proceedings if the application
of the DB has not been agreed upon. If the Non-Responsible Consortium Members have to
carry out works on the Responsible Consortium Member(s)’ Scope of Work the Responsible
Consortium Member remains liable for defects and deficiencies in its Scope of Work
(including the work carried out by the Non-Responsible Consortium Members, except in case
of their Gross Negligence or wilful misconduct).
The Non-Responsible Consortium Members may exercise the right to avoid, mitigate or
resolve the claim only after appropriately notifying the Responsible Consortium Member(s),
where reasonably possible.
Any other claims of the Employer shall be borne by the Consortium Member(s) responsible
for the event giving rise to the claim.
In the case of third-party claims, the Consortium Member(s) responsible for the event
causing the claim shall be solely liable.
If a Consortium Member must execute remedial work pursuant to Article 13.1.2 without being
liable for the respective defect, the Consortium Member who caused the defect shall
advance or, in any event, indemnify the Consortium Member who must execute the remedial
work, for the direct costs, regardless of any right to seek reimbursement under any insurance
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policy. The direct costs shall include overheads, expenses for establishing the cause of and
the responsibility for the defect, for additional measures necessitated as a result of the
defect, for changes in the Scope of Work of another Consortium Member necessitated by
correction of such defect, and for repeat inspections or acceptance or other tests.
A Consortium Member may change the design within or related to its Scope of Work at any
time provided such design change does not violate the Contract and this Agreement. If such
design change occurs prior to or on the Design Freeze Date, if any, as determined by the
Steering Committee the Consortium Member effecting it shall not be liable to the other
Consortium Members for any impacts. If such design change occurs after the respective
Design Freeze Date the Consortium Member making such change shall be liable to the other
Consortium Members affected by such change for the reasonable additional direct cost plus
overheads, and the that Consortium Member’s profit margin if described in Section I Special
Conditions, resulting therefrom unless the design change was necessitated by another
Consortium Member or the Employer or could not have been avoided by the responsible
Consortium Member by applying Good Practice.
The same shall apply if a Consortium Member executes remedial work for a defect caused
by another Consortium Member pursuant to Article 13.1.2, in which case the direct costs
shall additionally include expenses for establishing the cause of and the responsibility for the
defect for additional measures necessitated as a result of the defect, for changes in the
Scope of Work of another Consortium Member necessitated by correction of such defect,
and for repeat inspections or acceptance or other tests.
If not otherwise provided herein each Consortium Member shall be liable to and indemnify
the other Consortium Members for the damage(s) which it causes by Negligence in its (their)
activities to the other Consortium Members such as damage to the site equipment or
materials of the other Consortium Members.
Each Consortium Member’s liability pursuant to this Article 13.3 shall be limited to a
percentage of the value of the Scope of Work of the liable Consortium Member as specified
in Section I Special Conditions per event and (ii) to the value of the Scope of Work of the
liable Consortium Member in the aggregate. In the event of a liability pursuant to Articles
13.3.3 (first paragraph) or Article 14.6 or Article 14.7 hereof or in the case of responsibility for
termination by the Employer for cause, only the latter limitation shall apply.
The foregoing limitations and exclusions of liability shall apply to the extent consistent with
mandatory law and regardless of the basis of the liability is contractual or non-contractual, or
is based on breach of contract, breach of warranty, negligence, strict liability, tort or any
other legal theory and shall also apply for the benefit of employees, agents, subcontractors
and sub-suppliers of the responsible Consortium Member.
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If the Employer's payments to the Consortium Leader or any Consortium Member, as the
case may be, are delayed, the Consortium Member responsible for causing, if any, the
Employer's delayed payment shall compensate the Consortium Member affected by the
delay in payment at a rate per annum as specified in Section I Special Conditions with
respect to the amount of each Consortium Member’s delayed payment and for the duration
of the delay. The Consortium Leader shall be liable for loss of interest in the same way if it
does not promptly pass on payments to the other Consortium Member(s) pursuant to Article
10.4.
Claims against any other Consortium Member pursuant to this Article 13.3 which have arisen
prior to provisional acceptance of the last unit of the Project are excluded after expiry of six
months thereafter except for claims for which dispute settlement procedures have been
commenced pursuant to Article 16 within the time period mentioned before.
13.4.1 General
If more than one Consortium Member is responsible for an event which gives rise to a claim,
each responsible Consortium Member shall be liable to the extent of its contribution to the
event that gives rise to the claim.
If the Employer or third parties make a claim against a Consortium Member who is not
responsible, such Consortium Member shall without undue delay inform the responsible
Consortium Member, who shall indemnify the Consortium Member against whom the claim
was made.
If the Employer or third parties threaten with a claim and/or submit a claim against the
Consortium the Steering Committee shall convene as soon as practicable and decide the
immediate steps to be taken in order to avoid negative impacts on the progress of the
Project such as not limited to the financial needs of the Project; and such other necessary
measures.
Thereafter the Steering Committee shall endeavour to establish the responsibility and the
liability with regard to the event leading to the Employer’s or third party claim in accordance
with this Agreement.
If the Consortium Members are unable to reach agreement with respect to responsibility for
all or any proportion of an Employer’s or third party claim in sufficient time to avoid negative
impact on the Project, all Consortium Members shall provisionally assume responsibility for
the claim according to their respective Proportionate Values. If an agreement is reached as
to which Consortium Member(s) is/are liable and at what amount, or if the matter has been
decided by arbitration, the Consortium Members shall reimburse each other accordingly.
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13.4.5 Liability in case of Insolvency of the responsible Consortium Member
If a Consortium Member is held liable by the Employer or a third party due to the joint and
several liability of the Consortium Members and such Consortium Member is internally not or
not fully liable but is not indemnified by the internally liable Consortium Member due to the
insolvency of the latter Consortium Member or by insurance, the liability share of the
insolvent Consortium Member or remainder thereof shall be borne by the other Consortium
Members pursuant to their Proportionate Values and they shall indemnify the Consortium
Member held liable by the Employer or the third party accordingly.
The Consortium Leader shall be liable for damage caused to the other Consortium Members
through Negligence with respect to the performance of its duties as described in Article
4.4.3. Such liability shall in aggregate be limited to the amount of the Consortium Leader's
fee. In no event shall the Consortium Leader be liable for loss of profit, loss of use, loss of
data or information, loss of contracts or business opportunities or any punitive damages.
This limitation and exclusion of liability shall apply to the extent consistent with mandatory
law and regardless of whether the liability claim is based on breach of contract, breach of
warranty, negligence, strict liability, tort or any other legal theory and shall also apply for the
benefit of the employees of the Consortium Leader.
If compensation under Article 13.4.5.1 hereof is not sufficient to cover the amount of
damages caused to more than one Consortium Member, the compensation shall be divided
among the affected Consortium Members in proportion to the damage suffered by each.
Among each other, the Consortium Members shall have no claims for damages and cost
reimbursement other than those set forth in this Agreement to the extent consistent with
mandatory law.
Unless prohibited under the Contract, a Consortium Member may be expelled from the
Consortium if the other Consortium Member cannot reasonably be expected to continue the
Consortium with such a Consortium Member (“Expulsion”). Relevant circumstances giving
rise to such Expulsion include, but are not limited to:
a) prior to the award of the Contract, a Consortium Member being acquired by or merged
with an entity having a conflict of interest with the pursuit of the Project;
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e) a Consortium Member ceases to hold any qualification, certification or registration
required for the performance of its duties as a Consortium Member, or becomes unfit to
carry on his duties and obligations as a Consortium Member; or
If a Consortium Member is expelled from the Consortium, then the Consortium shall continue
with the remaining Consortium Members. Upon a Consortium Member's exercise of its right
under mandatory law to terminate the Consortium, it shall leave the Consortium, and the
remaining Consortium Members shall continue the Consortium.
The Consortium Members remaining in the Consortium may use the expelled Consortium
Member's physical property (such as equipment, materials, system components) and
intellectual property (such as drawings and know-how), for which no substitute can be
obtained at a reasonable cost and in due time. The departing Consortium Member shall
make every effort to facilitate such utilization. The expelled Consortium Member shall be
entitled to a reasonable compensation for such use by the other Consortium Members. The
compensation for such utilization shall only become payable once all accounts have been
settled between the remaining Consortium Members and the Employer.
The departing Consortium Member shall have the duty to without undue delay:
- make a full disclosure all information relevant for the continuation of the Project,
including disclosure of information regarding sub-contractor(s) and sub-contract(s)
relevant to that Consortium Member’s Scope of Work.
- sign and execute all documents and perform all acts that the Consortium requires for
the purpose of enabling the Consortium to recover any outstanding interest or right,
or the property of or in connection with the Consortium or the remaining Consortium
Members; and
- return to the Consortium or Consortium Members all documents, records, papers, or
other property (in whatever form held) which are not owned by itself but may be in its
possession or under its control, which relate in any way to the Scope of Work or the
Consortium’s business affairs, and it shall not retain any copies thereof.
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14.5 Liability for Work Provided
The expelled Consortium Member(s) shall not be relieved from any of its liability for or in
connection with its performance of its Scope of Work up to the date of Expulsion, subject to
the limitations and/or exclusions of liability under the Agreement and/or the Contract. The
remuneration of the departing Consortium Member for such supplies and services shall be
paid in accordance with Article 10. The other Consortium Members shall be entitled to
condition such payments to the departing Consortium Member on its provision of securities
covering possible claims in accordance with this Agreement.
To the extent the expulsion is due to causes within the control of the expelled Consortium
Member it shall be liable to the other Consortium Members for damages (for example for the
increase in cost to finalize the Project and for compensation payable to the Employer for
delay to the extent they result from the expulsion).
If Expulsion is prohibited under the Contract, and the above mentioned procedure 14.2 to
14.6 is not possible, then the remaining Consortium Members may decide to reduce the
Scope of Work of the concerned Consortium Member(s) to 0 and withdraw its voting rights in
the Consortium. The consequences as per the Articles 14.2 to 14.6 shall apply mutatis
mutandis when this provision is applied.
The Consortium Leader may be dismissed from its tasks by resolution of the other
Consortium Members if circumstances arise in accordance with Article 14.1 which make it
unreasonable for the other Consortium Members to allow the Consortium Leader to maintain
its position as Consortium Leader. Article 14.2 shall apply to the dismissal of the Consortium
Leader from its tasks as far as appropriate.
This Agreement shall become effective on the date as specified in Section I Special
Conditions regardless of the date of signature of the Consortium Members and continue until
it is terminated.
a) withdrawal of the Bid by the Employer or announcement by the Employer that it will not
award the Contract to any of the bidding parties; provided, that if the Employer
announces within one hundred and eighty (180) Days of such withdrawal or
announcement of non-award that it will re-bid the Project, then this Agreement shall
remain in effect for the re-bid unless otherwise agreed by the Consortium Members; or
b) the expiry of the period of validity of the Bid unless the Consortium Members have
agreed in writing to prolong the validity of this Agreement beyond such period; or
c) if the final offer of the Consortium Members is not accepted and no further negotiations
are carried out by between the Employer and the Consortium; or
d) when the Consortium Members have unanimously so decided and recorded such
decision in writing; or
e) failure of the Consortium Members to agree on an offer after negotiating in good faith for
a reasonable time, provided that jointly two Consortium Members or the Consortium
Leader give the other Members 5 Days written notice of the intention to terminate the
Agreement; or
f) in the event that the Contract is awarded to the Consortium, once the Contract has been
performed or terminated and the Consortium Members have fulfilled all their obligations
and received their rights in accordance with the Contract and this Agreement.
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15.3 The termination of this Agreement shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Consortium
Members accrued up to the date of the event causing the termination of the Agreement.
16.1 All Disagreements and Disputes shall be resolved solely by the procedures set out in this
Agreement.
16.2 If a Disagreement arises out of in connection with this Agreement during the time period
described in Article 6, the respective Consortium Members shall attempt, in fair dealing and
good faith, to settle such dispute amicably. The Consortium Members shall be free to
organize the procedure of their settlement negotiations and to include senior management
representatives as the case may be. Any of the Consortium Members involved in the
negotiation process may terminate the settlement negotiations at all times by written
notification to the other Consortium Member(s).
16.3 In order to avoid and resolve Dispute(s) amongst the Consortium Members, which can
impede the continuation of the Works, the Consortium Members hereby agree, if selected in
Section I Special Conditions, to establish a Dispute Board as specified in Section I Special
Conditions, (“DB”) in accordance with the ICC Dispute Board Rules in force at the date of
signing this Agreement (the “Rules”), which are incorporated herein by reference. The
selected DB shall be established within 30 Days after commencement of the Project and
shall have 1 or 3 member(s) as specified in Section I Special Conditions. Where the
Consortium Members have not otherwise agreed, there shall be a Combined Dispute Board
of 3 members.
16.4 All Dispute(s) arising out of or in connection with the present Agreement which are not
resolved in accordance with the procedure as described in article 16.2 and/or 16.3 shall be
finally settled under the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce by 1
or more arbitrators as specified in Section I Special Conditions appointed in accordance with
the said Rules. The place of arbitration and the language of the arbitral proceedings shall be
specified in Section I Special Conditions.
17.1 This Agreement shall be governed by, and all disputes in connection with it shall be resolved
in accordance with the substantive law of the country as specified in Section I Special
Conditions without regard to this jurisdiction’s conflicts of law provisions.
Article 18 Miscellaneous
18.2 The Consortium Members acknowledge that in the event of damage, the Consortium
Members shall exert all reasonable efforts to mitigate the damage accruing from such event.
18.3 Assignment
No Consortium Member shall assign its rights under this Agreement to any third party,
without the prior written consent of all Consortium Members, and any attempted assignment
without this consent shall be void. Should the Contract additionally require Employer’s
authorization for such an assignment, the latter will only be effective upon prior approval of
all Consortium Members and Employer.
18.4 Amendments
No modification to this Agreement will be binding, unless made in writing by Authorized
Representatives of all Consortium Members. Any waiver of this requirement for the written
form shall likewise be issued in writing thereby.
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18.5 Communications in writing
All correspondence, notices and other communications to be given to any of the Consortium
Members pursuant to this Agreement in writing or written form, shall be sent, delivered or
transmitted by courier, in person (against receipt), or by facsimile or e-mail with confirmation
of receipt, at the respective addresses set forth below. However, if Consortium Members
designate other addresses by notice given in accordance herewith, all correspondence,
notices and other communications to be given to the respective Consortium Members shall
thereafter be delivered accordingly.
Any correspondence, notice or other communication served as provided in this section shall
be deemed to have been received:
a) in the case of delivery by hand or by courier, when delivered against an
acknowledgement of receipt; or
b) in the case of fax or e-mail (with confirmation of receipt requested) sent to the correct
delivery address, the next local business day in the Country of the intended recipient
(day on which banks are open for general business), following the day of successful
transmission.
Approvals, certificates, consents, decisions, requests, notices and/or notifications shall not
be unreasonably withheld or delayed by Consortium Members.
Written form or in writing shall mean that the respective notification, statement, agreement,
decision, resolution is signed by one or more representative(s) of the Consortium Member.
An e-mail message shall only be considered in writing if it results in a record with a
confirmation of receipt.
Any individual provision of this Agreement which is or becomes invalid, or any omission to
provide for any subject matter, shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this
Agreement. In such cases, the Consortium Members shall seek effective solutions as closely
as possible approximating (in economic effect) to the invalid provisions.
18.9 Waivers
Any waiver on the part of any Consortium Member of any right or interest shall be in writing
and shall not imply the waiver of any other right or interest or any subsequent waiver.
This Agreement is the Consortium Members’ entire agreement relating to the subject matter
hereof. It supersedes all prior or contemporaneous agreements, oral or written
communications, proposals, drafts and representations with respect to its subject matter.
Such prior or contemporaneous agreements, oral or written communications, proposals,
drafts and representations may however be used for the interpretation of the Agreement
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where the Agreement is unclear or ambiguous.
18.11 Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, all of which, taken together
shall constitute one and the same Agreement.
18.12 Announcements
Each Consortium Member warrants that, once this Agreement is executed, it will not allege
that the person or persons who signed the Agreement on behalf of that Consortium Member
lacked the capacity or authority to execute the Agreement, or that there was some other
formal invalidity or incapacity that affected the validity or enforceability of the Agreement
against that Consortium Member. In particular, actual or alleged lack of governmental or
managing board authorisations or permits shall not excuse non-performance or non-
observance of the Agreement by a Consortium Member.
The expiration or termination of this Agreement shall not affect such provisions of this
Agreement as expressly provide that they will operate after any such expiration or
termination, or which of necessity must continue to have effect after such expiration or
termination, notwithstanding that the clauses themselves do not expressly provide for this.
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