The five parts
| Part | What it governs |
|---|---|
| General contractual clauses | the relationship between the parties, in general |
| Particular contractual clauses | what is specific to this contract |
| General technical clauses | the rules of the trade, by discipline |
| Particular technical clauses | what is specific to this building |
| Schedule of quantities and prices | the quantities and their pricing |
This structure is stable, and it recurs in both public and private contracts, with different force, covered in the article on public and private contracts.
The first two rows concern law, the next two technique, the last quantities.
What each binds
Three useful distinctions.
Contractual clauses bind the relationship. Time for completion, payment, handover, warranties, liquidated damages. They do not describe the building.
Technical clauses bind execution. Materials, workmanship, tolerances, testing, conformity checks. They do not govern the relationship.
The schedule binds the price. It carries the items, units and quantities against which contractors price.
Confusing these registers is the commonest source of error, notably where a contractual requirement is slipped into a technical clause, where the contractor will not look for it.
The annexes
They are not secondary documents.
Generally annexed are the drawings, the programme, the health and safety plan, the ground investigation and any other document useful to describing the project.
A permit under the classified establishments regime may also be annexed, where the project is subject to it.
These annexes form part of the documents issued to contractors, and they bind on the same footing as the body of the specification.
A drawing contradicting a technical clause therefore creates a conflict that must be anticipated, covered in the article on general and particular.
Why this structure changes how you work
This is the theme of the guide.
The general contractual and technical clauses are the subject of standardised documents, produced by a sector body and officially published.
They are therefore not written, they are referred to and incorporated as applicable.
The drafting effort concentrates on the particular and on the schedule, the only parts genuinely specific to the project.
This division is developed in the article on why the base is standardised.
Who drafts what
A division worth knowing before assembling a package. It separates what is standardised from what remains to be drafted.
Each member of the design team prepares the documents for the works within their remit, with the corresponding detailed estimate and programme.
The architect settles the form of tender with the client, then coordinates the various packages to produce the specification for the project as a whole.
Each member then analyses the bids within their remit.
This division explains why a poorly coordinated package produces incomparable bids, each trade having been described on a different logic.
The articles in this branch
The article on why the base is standardised covers the theme. The Luxembourg framework is explained there.
The article on contractual and technical clauses covers the distinction between registers. Their boundary is set out there.
The article on general and particular covers the hierarchy of documents. How they fit together is explained there.
This article reflects professional practice at the date of checking and serves as orientation. It reproduces no content from normative documents and does not replace consulting them.