IMCA has published the industry’s first standard contract for transport and installation (T&I) works in offshore wind projects.
The contract has been written to ensure a fairer allocation of risk. Building on the release of our Contracting Principles in January 2023, its publication comes on the heels of an IMCA-led campaign for an industry-wide discussion on sustainable contracting in offshore wind.
IMCA’s standard T&I contract follows the ‘FAIR’ contracting principles, developed by IMCA’s Legal, Contracts, Insurance & Compliance (LCIC) Committee, which encourage an equitable allocation of risk. These propose that contracts should be:
- Fair – with a realistic allocation of risk in proportion to relative rewards.
- Appropriate – with a distribution of risk to the best placed party.
- Insured – have sufficient scope of cover.
- Reasonable – avoid duplicate risk assumptions and minimise the potential for disputes.
Commenting on the contract’s release, Iain Grainger, IMCA CEO said that while they won’t have all the solutions for a complex and challenging marketplace, their new standardised T&I contract – written following extensive industry engagement – is a positive step in the right direction. With widespread adoption it can become the foundation for a fairer and more sustainable approach in offshore wind.
This first contract with a limited scope recognises the current reality of offshore wind construction including the development of increasingly complex project solutions.
… added Nathalie Louys, Chair of IMCA’s Legal, Contracts, Insurance and Compliance (LCIC) Committee, and General Counsel at Subsea7