A certificate issued under most of the FIDIC contracts by the engineer/employer confirming that the contractor has completed performance of its obligations under the contract (including all testing and correction of defects). This certificate is deemed to constitute acceptance of the works by the employer.

An unconditional bond obliging the surety to pay the beneficiary a specified sum on demand, usually issued by a bank. Unlike a conditional bond, there is no need for the beneficiary to prove breach of contract or resulting damage in order to be entitled to call on the bond.

The offering of a patented product is an infringement act.

Whole agreement clauses are usually part of the boilerplate terms in an agreement. Their aim is to prevent the parties from making claims against the other party for representations (and misrepresentations) made before a contract is executed. They can act as an exclusion clause and are more commonly known as entire agreement clauses.

The process by which, at the end of the contract period, the assets which make up the project transfer to the public sector party. At the point of handback the assets will be required to meet certain standards and have a certain 'lifecycle' left in them.

The term used to describe the range of funds offered by a unit-linked contract when there exists a very wide range of funds managed by an array of external fund managers as well as the in-house funds of the life company.

Some standard form contracts contain provisions which entitle the contractor to an addition to the contract sum to take into account of differences in the cost of labour and material between the tender date and the time when the work is actually done. These provisions must be excluded if the employer and contractor wish to agree a fixed price.

Rights for a third party, most commonly a funder, to step in to a contract and take over a development in order to complete it if the employer becomes insolvent or is otherwise in default. Usually contained in a collateral warranty.

A bond procured by a contractor (or sub-contractor, as the case may be) from a surety in favour of an employer in return for which the employer agrees to make all payments to the contractor, as they fall due under the building contract, without retention.

SCCO Guide defines this as costs payable by a client to a solicitor under the terms of a contract made between them. The expression is used in order to distinguish these costs from “costs between the parties” and ‘legal aid only costs’ (costs payable by the Legal Aid Agency to a solicitor or barrister).

The International Federation of Consulting Engineers

A principle used in major construction projects by which the parties subscribe to the principle of working together as if partners.