Domestic and Nominated Subcontractor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domestic and Nominated Subcontractor - Essay Example Domestic Subcontractor Domestic subcontractor is one whose selection and appointment is completely taken care by the main contractor. The employer plays no part in the selection or the appointment process except for giving consent to the selection and appointment if it is required under the contractual agreement between the employer and main contractor1. Roles and Responsibilities of Employer The roles and responsibilities of an employer with respect to a domestic subcontractor are very limited. The complete responsibility of a domestic subcontractor lies on the main contractor. The employer will play no role in the selection and appointment of a domestic subcontractor, until and unless it is required by the terms and conditions in the agreement. The employer shall be responsible for the subcontractor only if it is stated with a particular condition in the contract. Nominated Subcontractor As per the FIDIC 1999 red book, the definition of a nominated subcontractor is as follows: â₠¬Å"Nominated Subcontractor† means a subcontractor: a) Who is stated in the contract as being a nominated subcontractor, b) Whom the engineer, under the clause 13 [Variations and adjustments] instructs the contractor to employ as a subcontractor2. Nominated subcontractor is one where the employer approves, selects or nominates a contractor to carry out a specific task or a subcontract. In order to understand the roles and responsibilities of the employer with respect to a nominated subcontractor, it is first necessary to understand the reasons behind using such a system. There are numerous benefits associated with nominating a subcontractor for an employer. One of the main benefits is that the process of nominated subcontractor gives the employer certain control over the selection of suppliers or subcontractors. This control over the choice and the required performance from the subcontractor ensures certain level of quality for the employer. This privilege is without having to be directly involved with the subcontractor. The choice of subcontractor is entirely rested with the employer even though the main contractor needs to approve the subcontractor. Another benefit is that the employer need not get into any contractual agreement with the subcontractor. This is because the nominated subcontractor will enter into a contract with main contractor and not the employee directly. Hence, the employer will not have any contractual arrangements with the nominated subcontracts. Also there are other reasons that might be responsible for the nomination of a subcontractor such as the proven track record of nominated subcontractor, low pricing or high quality or even certain combination of the two, long term relationship between the employer and subcontractor, etc. The employer can also have a say in the terms and conditions of the subcontractor such as pricing and scope of work. One of the specific situations, where nominated subcontractors are used is when there is a need for a subcontractor to start working prior to the appointment of a main contractor. Such a situation would arise when a specialist task takes more time to complete than the actual construction programme. Hence, in such situations it becomes very beneficial to use a nominated subcontractor. Roles and Responsibilities of Employer Following are the roles and res