Duty of Loyalty of Head Engineer

[stomresearch]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew what the industry norms are regarding head Engineers on large construction / B.O.T. projects:

I was recently hired to join the Contractor for a major project, where the Govt. is the Client. The concession contract has provisions for the role of "Engineer" who by all accounts is supposed to be impartial and make decisions (which are binding) in accordance with the technical documents of the Project, or if unspecified, in accordance with "the accepted professional principles and standards in the field of engineering."

Probelm is, the Engineer on the project views himself as the employee of the Govt. and always hands down binding decisions that are in the Govt.'s favor. Rather than tell my superiors right off the bat to go to arbitration, I was hoping somebody might know what the general standard is in these kinds of cases. Is the the lead Engineer generally impartial with a primary duty to the project, or does it vary by the project and the particular contract?

Appreciate you reading this and thanks very much to anybody who could enlighten me on the matter...

-Stom