It is “stood on its head” in that the printed Guide has been designed for use by reading each page from “bottom” to “top” instead of from “left” to “right”: the printing of the text at 90 degrees from the usual print layout has made it possible to have side-by-side columnar comparison of clauses from each of the three major 1999 First Edition sets of Conditions—“CONS” (Conditions of Contract for Construction), “P&DB” (Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build), and “EPCT” (Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects). As the three sets of Conditions have uniform clause numbering, this “side-by-side” layout design enables ready comparisons of the three wordings of the same clause in each of the three sets of Conditions.

In addition to this striking difference in page layout, the Guide differs from the previous FIDIC Guides in that it contains much more detailed guidance to the understanding of the clauses and their application in practice. While individual users may have some reservations regarding some of the suggestions contained in the guidance, the commentary is of indubitable value to understanding of the clauses, especially as many of the clauses are importantly different from previous FIDIC Conditions dealing with the same (or similar) topics.

It opens with a Foreword and Abbreviations which includes a key to the abbreviations used in the principal text, and a comparison of the main features of each of the three sets of Conditions, followed by a four-page Introduction to the use of the Conditions which recapitulates FIDIC suggestions on the types of contract for which each of the three sets of Conditions is appropriate. There follows a helpful four pages of guidance on Project Procurement, supplemented by three pages of “flow chart” diagrams illustrating FIDIC’s recommended procurement procedures. Next is a four-page discussion of Procurement Documentation, supplemented by Example Forms for the Letter of Invitation and Instructions to Tenderers, the latter comprising 17 pages, laid out in the “90-degree rotation” format, so that the reader can see, side-by-side, FIDIC’s suggestions for each of the three types of Contract— CONS, P&DB, EPCT.

In the Conditions themselves, the guidance notes include a charting of 66 principal words/expressions used in the three sets of Conditions, giving sub-clause numbers for each. This is a helpful feature, supplementing the eight-page Glossary of

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