Determination
A decision by the engineer or contract administrator on a claim or a valuation, made under the contract after consulting the parties. It binds unless and until it is challenged through the contract ’s dispute procedure.
A determination is not a negotiation and it is not an opinion. Under FIDIC the engineer must first try to reach agreement, and only then determine — and the determination stands as the contractual position until somebody formally disputes it.
Which puts a clock on the other party. A determination that is not challenged within the contract’s window becomes final and binding, and a contractor that treats an unfavourable determination as an opening position in a negotiation, rather than as a decision with a deadline attached, can lose the right to argue about it at all.
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