Whenever Contract refers to words and expressions which start with a capital letter, they have the same meaning as stated in FIDIC Sub-Clause 1.1 Definitions. Those meanings are usually significantly different from the original meaning of the words in English language. For easier understanding, here are some examples.
Example 1: Contract definitions
This is one of the definitions of contract from Collins Dictionary:
“A contract is a legal agreement, usually between two companies or between an employer and employee, which involves doing work for a stated sum of money”.
However, if it is written with capital “C”, “Contract” has the meaning as defined in FIDIC Sub-Clause 1.1 Definitions:
“Contract” means the Contract Agreement, the Letter of Acceptance, the Letter of Tender, these Conditions, the Specification, the Drawings, the Schedules, and the further documents (if any) which are listed in the Contract Agreement or in the Letter of Acceptance.
Therefore, Contact has a wider and more specific meaning than the word contract.
Example 2: Cost definitions
On the other hand, this is one of the cost definitions from Collins Dictionary:
“The cost of something is the amount of money that is needed in order to buy, do, or make it.”
However, if it is written with capital “C”, “Cost” has the following meaning defined in FIDIC Sub-Clause 1.1 Definitions:
“Cost” means all expenditure reasonably incurred (or to be incurred) by the Contactor, whether on or off the Site, including overhead and similar charges, but does not include profit.
Therefore, the word Cost has a more narrow and specific meaning than the word cost i.e. it does not include profit.
To highlight, the above-mentioned definitions are from FIDIC 1999 Rainbow Suite Contracts. In practice, it is confirmed that the use of definitions from the Contract is beneficial to a better understanding between the Parties. Therefore, in FIDIC 2017 Rainbow Suite Contracts even more definitions are added.