SAPMT has reviewed the subject letter no. KPSS/SA/B/AKR/14/0667 dated June 21, 2014 and has rejected with the following comments:
1.	IC is urged to understand the nature of LSTK contracts where CONTRACTOR assumes all risks associated with the provision and fulfillment of its obligations under this Contract to the extent they require.
2.	IC is urged to study contract documents before sending any letters to SAPMT and making any claims. The following para 6.1 from SCH-A shall be self-explanatory; "CONTRACTOR acknowledges that it has thoroughly investigated, or has had the opportunity to do so, and satisfied itself as to all general and local conditions affecting the WORK, including, but not limited to: transportation and access to the WORK Site, including the availability and conditions of roads; topography and ground surface conditions at the WORK Site, including the nature and quantity of surface and subsurface conditions, materials or obstacles to be encountered to the extent such conditions are not latent or concealed; disposal, handling and storage of materials; availability and quality of labor, water and electric power, climatic conditions, tides and ground water; and equipment, machinery and materials required by CONTRACTOR prior to and during performance of the WORK. The failure of CONTRACTOR to acquaint itself with these conditions will not entitle CONTRACTOR to any additional compensation and will not relieve it from the responsibility for meeting the Scheduled Completion Date or the Critical Milestone Dates".
3.	The para 10 quoted by IC in its letter provides a way of administration of changes in general and not the technical requirements of the issue at hand.
4.	The specifications section 02110 requires that all unwanted materials shall be removed to a depth not less than 0.45m below the original surface level OR to the natural rock elevation.
5.	There is no reason to believe that the soil conditions require an improvement and thus the design provided by IC is not acceptable. Backfilling can be done with fill material in horizontal layers according to Saudi Aramco Standards and any other alternatives proposed by IC shall be considered voluntary and shall bear no extra costs to Saudi Aramco.
Should you have any questions, please contact Sohail Moughal, Project Engineer at Tel No. +966 2 422-4570.
