About CIC Scope of Service and CIC Consultants' Contract

The CIC Consultants' Contract comprises the CIC Conditions and the CIC Scope of Services: the two can be used together, or the CIC Services can be used with other conditions or forms of appointment.

The CIC Scope of Services comprises lists of tasks which are to be undertaken by all members of the project team. From these lists, parties can draw up schedules of services for the appointment of consultants, specialists and contractors by allocating the tasks to whoever is to undertake them. All participants therefore know what they are to do, and what others are to do as well. Responsibilities are transparent, and the inter-dependence of the various roles is clearly demonstrated. The result is a set of services that are fully integrated across all disciplines and roles.

The CIC Services are for use on major building projects and can be used with the CIC Conditions, or with other forms of contract, and with whatever procurement route is chosen. The client can be a developer or end-user client, or a design and build contractor. The services may be undertaken by:

1. consultants (on the CIC Conditions section of the CIC Consultants' Contract);
2. specialists contributing to design; or
3. contractors (whether the procurement route is traditional or design and build).

The CIC Conditions are for use by experienced clients (employers or design and build contractors) appointing mulit-disciplinary teams of consultants for major building projects. All consultants - architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, project managers, CDM co-ordinators and others - can be engaged on the same terms.

The CIC Services

The Services compromise fourteen Tables and the Specific Scope Schedule, together the Definitions.

The Tables set out the services (tasks) to be undertaken by all those undertaking the 'definition process'. The term ‘definition’ is used rather than 'design' because far more than design is involved and not all of those participating in the process undertake design. The process includes the activities of non-designers, such as Project Lead, Cost Consultancy, and Health and Safety Consultancy.

The Specific Scope Schedule provides a further level of detail, allowing the parties to allocate the primary responsibility for the definition of components. So the potential for confusion over responsibility for such things as specialist pre-cast concrete design, underground drainage, sprinkler systems or external works, should be a thing of the past as the elements and stages for which design services are required are defined.

The Definitions set out the defined terms and abbreviations used, together with the rules of interpretation.

The approach adopted is different and innovative. The parties can assemble schedules of services tailored to the needs of their particular project and the contractual relationships and responsibilities of the various participants. The result will integrated and transparent. The CIC Services are therefore the perfect tool for working in partnership.

DefinIT

The easiest and simplest way to prepare the schedule of services for a contract is to use the DefinIT allocation software package. Purchasers of a paper copy of the CIC Services are provided with a licence code which gives a credit for one licence payment, enabling them to use the software for any number of draft documents and print the services for one concluded contract (client and one participant) on a project. Licences for additional concluded contracts can then be purchased on-line, depending upon the number of participants on the project.

The cost of each additional concluded contract (client and one participant) is £50 plus VAT.

The CIC Conditions

The CIC Consultants' Contract Conditions are intended for experienced clients working with experienced consultants on major building projects, primarily in the UK. It can be used by either employers or design and build contractors, and any discipline of consultant.

In preparing the contract, the Construction Industry Council (CIC), has called on the expertise and experience of its constituent members – the many professional bodies, trade associations and research organisations in the industry – to provide a fair balance between the interests of clients and consultants. When used to replace bespoke contracts, the parties avoid beginning every new project with lengthy and costly negotiations, often involving lawyers.

It has been drafted with the aim of striking a fair balance between the interests of the client and the consultant. The objective is to make a contract which is acceptable in the institutional market, with which consultants and their insurers are comfortable.

The CIC Conditions comprises the Form of Agreement (Parts 1-6) and Guidance. The Services (Part 7) are bound separately.

Where the CIC Consultants’ Contract is used on a project, it should be used for the appointment of all the consultants. This will mean that all team members are subject to consistent terms, will owe the same duty of care and will be under similar obligations in respect of co-operation, sharing of information, co-ordination of design and the like. Vitally, the services they provide are fully integrated. When the Services (Part 7) have been assembled for the particular project, all the consultants will have details of the services to be performed by the other team members.

The contract is designed to be flexible enough to fit a range of construction procurement methods, including traditional, design and build, and construction management.