A jurisprudential perspective on the nature of the EPC contract, in the light of Fidic and Iranian law

Contracting is one of the contracts that today has taken on a different legal nature due to changes in various sectors. In this matter, some of these contracts are in such a way that they are out of the category of renting to individuals and take on a special nature. The International Federation of Consulting Engineers, known as FIDIC, published a model contract called the EPC contract for infrastructure and construction industry in 1999 in an international uniform document called the Silver Book. Unlike traditional contracting, full engineering and design obligations are placed on the contractor to provide equipment and materials for work and construction, which entails a full responsibility for him. This contract, which is characterized by a fixed time and price, puts all the risks on the contractor, and to get rid of it, the employer undertakes to pay the contract price based on the agreement of the parties. In this way, there are contracts in the Iranian and international legal system that, due to their similarity, the need to analyze and compare them with the EPC contract is felt. This article, which is written with a library and analytical method, seeks a comparative study and finally comes to the conclusion that the EPC contract has differences with contracts such as BOT, Contract of Reward, design-Build, etc., and they are different from each other in legal nature.