Buried away in the 100-plus pages of the new FIDIC forms published on 5 December 2017, in clause 17(4) of each of the Red, Yellow and Silver Books is wording that requires thought.

In the form in which it appears in the Yellow Book it provides that: “The contractor shall also indemnify and hold harmless the employer against all acts, errors and omissions by the contractor in carrying out the contractor’s design obligations that result in the works […]when completed, not being fit for the purpose for which they are intended under sub-clause 4.1”. 

This is not particularly well drafted since the employer is presumably to be held harmless against the results of the errors not the errors themselves. On a casual glance the clause seems to say nothing new. It appears to say that the contractor must perform the contract work to the contract standard and bear the consequences of not doing so. 

So, what are indemnity clauses for? What might they add?

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