Comparison between the use of FIDIC contract internationally and in Sweden

Abstract

The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is a client organisation assigned by the Swedish government to execute the task of developing the transport system for all traffic in Sweden. As the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is establishing new mega projects under the framework of infrastructure development in Sweden, such as the country's largest road and railway construction projects, like Gothenburg's "västlänken." As a result, many international contractors are attracted to engage in these projects in order to earn a profit. Standard agreements, which implement the AB04 and ABT06 principles in Sweden, regulate and set up the contracting process. The conventional way of working in the Swedish transport administration creates barriers for international contractors to enter the Swedish market. The increasing interest in the Swedish market and specifically Trafikverket to work with international contractors in infrastructure and construction projects, and the lack of experience in contracting international contractors the following research questions is developed: RQ1: What are the potential results that can be achieved from the comparison between standard agreements and collaborative contracts in the perspective of FIDIC and AB and ABT?, RQ2: How does FIDIC contracts govern sustainability, quality and productivity and are there any similarities or differences with the existing Swedish contract forms AB04 and ABT06?, RQ3: What are potential improvements/changes in AB and ABT to match international context like FIDIC and the challenges for implementing this change in Sweden?, RQ4: What are the challenges in implementing FIDIC contracts by the client organisations in the Swedish market, specifically Trafikverket?. The aim of this study is to propose a solution for the Swedish transport administration to make improvements to the use of current versions of AB and ABT by identifying pitfalls in AB and ABT using the FIDIC contract as a model, then adding the new appendix created by comparing the different contract forms to the contract documents to build basis for contracting international contractors.