FIDIC / Legal Reference: FIDIC Red Book Clause 20.1
A contractual deadline that, if missed, permanently extinguishes a party’s right to pursue a claim regardless of its underlying merit. Under FIDIC Clause 20.1, the contractor’s failure to give notice within 28 days of becoming aware of a claim event operates as a time bar — a condition precedent to all entitlements.
What it means in practice
The time-bar mechanism in FIDIC is deliberately strict. The rationale is to allow the Engineer to investigate claim events while they are fresh, preserve evidence, and facilitate real-time project management rather than retrospective claim preparation.
Whether the 28-day FIDIC notice requirement operates as a strict condition precedent or merely a procedural step has been debated in multiple jurisdictions. UAE-seated arbitrations have predominantly applied the strict condition precedent approach — miss the deadline, lose the claim.
Where disputes arise
The time-bar is the most common defence deployed by UAE employers against contractor claims. It is particularly effective against global claims and retrospective delay analyses assembled at the end of a project without contemporaneous notice records.
UAE Context
DIAC and ICC tribunals seated in the UAE have consistently upheld the FIDIC time-bar as a condition precedent. UAE courts applying UAE law have occasionally taken a different approach where the notice requirement operates in an excessively penal way — but this cannot be relied upon as a safety net.
Related terms
Time-bar challenges can be fatal to otherwise strong construction claims. e-Basel reviews notice compliance and advises on options available where time-bar defences have been raised.
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