This paper is the winner of the Society of Construction Law Hong Kong essay prize in 2009. A presentation based on the paper was given to members of The Society of Construction Law Hong Kong in Hong Kong on 21st June 2010
Traditionally, the engineer “wore many hats” in connection with a construction project - as promoter, designer, project manager, contract administrator, certifier, adjudicator and sometimes even arbitrator. A number of those functions were fulfilled as "the Engineer" under a construction contract, in which the engineer, although engaged by the Employer, was expected to act independently of both contract parties in his/her administration of the contract. It is apparent that that role is largely defunct under many modern construction contracts (e.g. ICE, FIDIC, NEC), as it is perceived (at least to the authors of many standard form construction contracts) that it is no longer possible for one individual/entity to satisfactorily discharge the manifold responsibilities implicit in the traditional independent Engineer (or Architect) role.
The paper uses several case studies to illustrate major problems which have arisen from an inappropriate role for the Engineer resulting from inadequate definition, execution and coordination of the various engineering functions. It is suggested that definition and proper execution of these functions are as important to the successful outcome of projects as ever. Splitting the roles between different people is not necessarily an improvement because of the higher cost and increased time to resolve issues.