Contract Administration

Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration

The risks of adopting informal contracts

By STUART JORDAN

What proportion of construction projects in the Middle East are carried out under informal contracts, which would include verbal and partially written contracts, preliminary statements such as a memorandum of understanding (MoU), heads of terms (HoT) or some sort of letter of award (LoA)?
While I don’t have figures for this but from my experience it is a lot – maybe half. More worrying, my main experience of this comes from dealing with disputes. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Project Management

Terminating Construction Contracts For Convenience In The UAE

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By Faisal Attia and Zane Anani

Under the UAE Civil Code there are three ways to terminate a contract: by consent, by operation of law and by court order (Article 267). Articles 892 to 896 of the UAE Civil Code also deal with the issue of termination of muqawala contracts, which are contracts for works (i.e. construction contracts). …

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Civil Engineering, Construction Industry, Construction Law, Construction Technology, Contract Administration, General Management, PMP Hints, Procurement Management, Project Management

FIDIC’s biggest Contract Users’ event is just two weeks away

You can benefit from the FIDIC Contracts Committee’s direct guidance by attending this year’s official FIDIC International Contract Users event. They’ll be joined by world-class lawyers, top engineers and contract users from a range of leading companies to make sure that delegates go away with a comprehensive and balanced understanding of the latest contract developments. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Project Management, Statutory Adjudication

A PROPOSED ROADMAP TO OPTIMISE THE ADJUDICATION OF COMPLEX PAYMENT DISPUTES IN AUSTRALIA

By Samer Skaik, Jeremy Coggins and Anthony Mills

In Australia, statutory construction adjudication has recently received a lot of criticism due to the increasing amount of determinations that have been quashed upon judicial review, and anecdotal evidence from some quarters showing dissatisfaction with the quality of adjudication decisions. Such criticism is particularly aimed at adjudications of large and technically and legally complex payment disputes, where adjudicators are under pressure to consider substantial volumes of submissions in very tight timeframes.

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Project Management, Statutory Adjudication

INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY OF ADJUDICATION OF COMPLEX PAYMENT DISPUTES IN AUSTRALIA

By Samer Skaik, Jeremy Coggins and Anthony Mills

Statutory adjudication has been enacted throughout Australia on a state-by-state basis. The original enacting legislation may be broadly divided into two models which have become known as the East Coast and West Coast models. The East Coast model adjudication scheme – which is operational in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, ACT and South Australia – has in recent times come under much criticism for failing to facilitate determinations of sufficient quality with respect to large and/or complex payment claims. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration

Liquidated Damages – The Bigger Picture

By Faisal Attia

Liquidated damages clauses (or penalties clauses) are widely used in construction contracts worldwide. The employer is entitled to deduct a specified and pre-agreed amount of money from the contractor by way of compensation for failure to progress the works to meet set milestones or the date for completion of the works. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Project Management

Expect The Unexpected

By Pamela Mcdonald

All contractors, whether in Qatar or elsewhere, want certainty as to their contractual obligations. Contractors want to know well in advance what their potential exposure is if those obligations are breached.

What are they liable for if they are late in completing the works? How secure are the damages for late completion that are specified in advance in the contract?

Liquidated damages (LD) provisions in construction contracts fix a sum that is payable by the contractor in the event that it is late in completing works. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Statutory Adjudication

How should adjudicators deal with expert reports in Australia?

By Samer Skaik, Jeremy Coggins, Anthony Mills

Since its introduction in to Australia fifteen years ago, statutory adjudication has become increasingly used by parties seeking to recover payment claims which are large in amount and technically and legally complex in nature. This has inevitably led to the formalisation of the adjudication process with parties often submitting, amongst other documents, expert witness reports to support their arguments. The increase in documentation that an adjudicator must consider poses a threat to the integrity of the adjudicator’s determination. …

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Civil Engineering, Construction Industry, Construction Law, Construction Technology, Contract Administration, General Management, PMP Hints, Procurement Management, Project Management

Beware fast tracking complex high rise buildings

By Samer Skaik

In complex high rise projects, employers tend to fast track works where construction can begin while design is still incomplete following three main phases of procurement. Shoring system and piling are firstly procured and awarded to an enabling contractor. Upon completion of enabling works, main design and traditional tendering of the second phase can be concluded in order for main construction works to commence on site. While main work is progressing, design of specialist packages will be completed and nominated subcontractors are appointed in a timely manner shaping the third phase of procurement. Such common phased construction usually results in substantial time saving in project life cycle. However, many fast track projects suffer time and cost overruns due to inherent risks of fast tracking such as design deficiencies and ambiguities in risk allocation between involved parties. This paper aims to investigate pros and cons of fast track procurement approach for complex high rise projects and examine how relevant risks are allocated among enabling contractors, main contractors, nominated subcontractors and project consultants in theory and practice. …

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Construction Law, Contract Administration

Jump ahead of your competition: International Construction Law…

Interested in gaining new skills and in-depth knowledge that will help you in your everyday work, will give you the edge on your competitors and open up new career opportunities?

Take a look at UWE Bristol’s Postgraduate Diploma in International Construction Law – the distance learning course that’s been designed for professionals based in any country and in a wide range of job roles and industry sectors: …

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