Curtin University

Department of Civil Engineering 11891

1) An EOI is part of the tender process where parties can express their interest on the project. The EOI consists of a prescriptive list of requirements needed by the client to undertake the project. After assessing the submitted EOIs the client can assess the contractor’s ability to perform the contract and generate a shortlist of three contractors for a more specific and formal tender process. In doing this, the other parties who are not selected will save time, cost and effort as they would not have to create a tender document. This will also benefit the client as he has few tenders to review and few Request for Proposals to draft. This will also decrease the risk of disputes between the client and the interested parties as rejecting tenders may create conflict between the client and the contractor. 2) ‘Fitness for purpose’ can be expressly agreed or implied in construction contracts to ensure that whatever being designed will meet the client’s demand. In practice, the client’s idea for ‘fitness for purpose’ may differ from the contractor’s, especially when the client’s purpose is not clearly defined in the contract documents. This may lead to disputes between the client and contractor. If the client feels that the product is inadequate, it will be very difficult to demonstrate that the works are not fit for its intended purpose as requirements are not clearly defined. In contrast to ‘fitness for purpose’, performance-based specifications will specify operational requirements, safety requirements, design loadings, etc. For example, the document may state the capacity of passengers needed for one rail car and the speed at which the rail car should reach. Risk of disputes will be reduced as the client will have a clear idea of the product desired by the contractor. It also won’t hinder innovation and flexibility in the construction approach and selection of materials as the contractor is not instructed on how to achieve the requirements stated.