The need for FIDIC to produce a subcontract for the FIDIC Construction Contract, 1st Edition 1999 (the "1999 Red Book") was occasioned for a number of reasons. Important amongst these reasons was the insistence of Multilateral Development Banks, when providing financing for EPC contracts, that the subcontracts issued under those forms be an internationally recognised form of subcontract. Until now standard subcontract conditions designed to be used with the 1st Editions 1999 FIDIC suite of conditions of main contracts did not exist. The first standard condition of subcontract for use with the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer, 4th Edition 1992 (the 1987 Red Book") was published in 1994. The new subcontract, called the FIDIC Conditions of Subcontract for Construction and available as a Test Edition, has been written on the same basis as the 1994 FIDIC form: (i) the Subcontractor assumes the duties and obligations of the Contractor under the Main Contractor for the Subcontract Works, and (ii) paid-when-paid conditions have been maintained. The drafting task group of the FIDIC Contracts Committee, mindful that paid-when-paid conditions are not enforceable under certain jurisdictions, have included guidance notes and sample Particular Conditions for adapting the General Conditions of Subcontract to comply with the substantive law.

Considerable attention has also been given to the dispute resolution provisions of the subcontract. Clause 20 included in the General Conditions includes for an ad-hoc Subcontract DAB for the resolution of subcontract claims ("Unrelated Claims"). In particular the drafters have introduced the concept of a suspension period within which the Contractor must pursue claims made by the Subcontractor that arise out of the Main Contract ("Related Claims"). The suspension period "quantifies" the simple "best endeavours" obligation that is included in most other standard forms that the Contractor is to pursue subcontractor entitlements under the Main Contract. Additional effort has been made to provide alternatives for Clause 20 for subcontracts where (i) the Parties prefer a simpler dispute resolution process, or (ii) it can be anticipated that complex subcontractor claims are likely to arise that will be "related" to Contractor's entitlements under the Main Contract. For further details of the dispute resolution clauses, see a recent presentation at the FIDIC-ICC Conference PDF. The new subcontract is supplied by the FIDIC Bookshop in the usual FIDIC formats. There is a printed reference version that contains in a single volume the General Conditions, Guidance for Particular Conditions with Annexes and Letter of Subcontractor's Offer, Appendix to the Subcontractor's Offer, Contractor's Letter of Acceptance, and Subcontract Agreement. The standard electronic version has the General Conditions supplied as an access-protected encrypted PDF (Portable Document File) file with the remainder of the document as an unprotected PDF file and the forms repeated in word-processing formats for completion by users. Users wishing to have unrestricted access to the General Conditions can purchase a Special Edition of the FIDIC Contracts and Agreements Collection that has every page of the collection's 40 documents watermarked with their organisation's name for use under licence for one year.