Construction Special conditions

If the general conditions could apply to any project of the type being designed and built, there will surely be some special circumstances associated with the non-technical aspects of this particular project. The special conditions, variously known as special provisions, supplementary general conditions or particular conditions, cover these project-specific matters. These sections may either add to or amend provisions in the general conditions. Examples of additions to the general conditions might include requirements for completion date, owner-provided materials and the name and address of the design professional. If the special conditions modify a section of the general conditions, the wording might be subparagraph X.XX of general conditions shall be modified as follows:, with a requirement that insurance coverages are different from those in the general conditions, that cleanup requirements are different, that the owner will furnish a different number of contract documents to the contractor or that the owner, rather than the contractor, will procure certain permits and consents. The New Zealand Conditions of Contract for Building and Civil Engineering Construction manual (Standards New Zealand Paerewa Aotearoa, 1998) provide, as its first schedule, Special Conditions of Contract, with each section numbered to coincide with the relevant general conditions. Among the special conditions are the following:

 name and address of principal;
 type of contract;
 whether or not this is a roading contract;
 number of sets of contract documents supplied free of charge to the contractor;
 contractors bond requirements;
 principals bond requirements;
 date when contractor can access the site;
 name and qualification of the engineer;
 insurance requirements;
 completion date information, include allowances for inclement weather;
 producer statement requirements;

 liquidated damages amount;
 bonus payment information;
 defects liability period;
 required guarantees;
 advance payment allowances for materials, plant and temporary works not yet on site;
 progress payment retainages;
 cost fluctuation adjustments.
This schedule acts as a convenient checklist for the design professional to be certain that all such provisions are covered; in actual use, the document can simply be photocopied and marked upon, as there are many instructions to delete provisions which do not apply throughout.