International Construction Law Review
QUEENSLAND’s ECI CONTRACT
R QUICK
Solicitor, Gadens Lawyers, Brisbane
1. INTRODUCTION1
This article describes the UK procurement model known as Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) and its development, modification and application by the Queensland Department of Main Roads (DMR) in response to a market in high value contracts in which buyers of construction engineering services outnumber sellers.
Five things were important in this development of ECI:
- Creating a flexible procurement model sensitive to market conditions where a variety of pricing mechanisms might all need to be considered.
- Integrating partnering within the framework of the contract without the “shared risks” philosophy of Project Alliancing.
- The applicability of the model to a program of projects as well as projects.
- Paying critical attention to UK developments in ECI and acclimatising the concept to Australian needs.
- Solving what may be called the value for money puzzle.
2. WHY INTRODUCE ECI?
An unprecedented surge in the Australian engineering construction market has created a market in Australia in high value contracts, that is, contracts or projects with a value of more than $20m. The market is one in which there are few sellers and many buyers and demand is fast outstripping supply. Engineering construction on the Eastern Seaboard of Australia is
1 This article is a mosaic of borrowings. Particular acknowledgment needs to be made to the officers of the Department of Main Roads who worked with the author and his colleagues, Neil Hampton and Jodi Palmer, in creating DMR’s ECI contract. Figure 3, The Essential Provisions of ECI, derives from one of these officers, David Kelly. Figure 1, Comparing the Choices, and Figure 4, The Pressures on the RAP, derive ultimately from another, Mike Swainston. At the time of writing the concept of ECI has now been trialled in three projects, two of them by Reg Conroy, Director of Major Projects in Townsville, North Queensland. A second particular acknowledgment needs to be made to Forbes Johnston of Mott Connell for his work in explaining UK developments. Figure 2, Outline of the ECI Process, has been adopted from his work. A third acknowledgment needs to be made to Bob Giles of the Queensland Department of Public Works for material and comments on the MCC. A fourth acknowledgment needs to be made to the two part article by Arthur McInnis, “The New Engineering Contract: Relational Contracting, Good Faith and Co-operation—Part 1” [2003] ICLR 128 and “Part 2” [2003] ICLR 289 which re-echoes through Part 4 of this article.
Pt 1]
Queensland’s ECI Contract
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