Peter Marsh is a retired solicitor. He began his commercial career with the National Coal Board where he became its Chief Contracts Officer. He later held senior posts with AEI Limited and Standard Telephones and Cables Limited where, for four years, he was Project Manager for its Submarine Telephone Cable Division. He then joined George Wimpey Ltd and became a director of Wimpey Major Projects Ltd. His last post before retiring was as Contracts Manager for the Transportation Systems Division of Transmanche Link. Since retiring in 1990 he has run his own consultancy practice.

• Contents: Contract Planning: Planning process; The contract plan; Legal issues arising from the contract plan. Tendering and Placing the Contract: Competitive tendering; Single tender negotiation; Planning the tender; Joint ventures and consortia; Tender preparation; Tender appraisal; Placing the contract. Terms and Conditions of Contract: Standard terms of contract - I; Standard terms of contract - II; Contract price; Terms of payment; Time for completion; Sub-contracting; Delivery; Defects - guarantees and remedies; Insurance and indemnity; Functions of architect/engineer/project manager and the purchaser; Variations in price and time; Claims and their negotiation; Dispute resolution; Particular forms of contract. Appendices: Draft instructions to tenderers for a plant contract; Bid desirability questionnaire; Questionnaire for site visits; Index.

’The first two parts deal with procurement issues, tendering and placing the contract. The former concentrates on current trends and provides a good overview of this area. The latter aspects are very thoroughly covered. There is an apparent engineering bias with an element of emphasis on joint venture procurement, as such, could be recommended as further reading for final year undergraduate and post-graduate students and practitioners.’ Building Engineer