Construction Management Guide

By Dr Samer Skaik

With the unprecedented outbreak of the coronavirus across the globe, many universities and schools have been initiating projects to transform their operations from ‘face to face’ to virtual environments aided by various technologies. This call seems to be inevitable since the outbreak will continue to evolve for at least another six months. In this context, three demanding questions come into play:

By Dr Samer Skaik

A few days ago, the Turnbull Government released the final report of the Review of Security of Payment Laws, undertaken by Mr John Murray. Murray’s report made 86 recommendations to improve consistency in the security of payment legislation. In the relevant Media Release, the Minister stated that:

the Government will consult with industry to consider the report’s recommendations and explore ways to improve the protections for individuals and businesses involved in subcontracting in the construction industry.

The report provided eight recommendations (43-50) pertaining the introduction of review mechanism in statutory adjudication based on my written submission in this regard. The written submission was merely a presentation of the findings of my PhD entitled “Introducing review mechanism into statutory construction adjudication.” I cite the relevant paragraph from the final report which cites my rationale of introducing this concept: (Read more..)

By Dr Samer Skaik

Very recently, I have launched a channel on Youtube. This channel aims to provide integrated, handy and focused

educational materials for those interested in developing their competencies in construction project management, professional practice and leadership. My aim is to help raise the bar by providing sound, solid and up-to-date knowledge for students, graduates and professionals in the construction sector. The channel, in addition to the videos, includes other interesting educational playlists. You can display the playlists chronologically if you are keen to develop a robust understanding in the field and advance progressively towards mastering the subject. The playlists include:

1. My Videos (short lectures)
2. Managing projects
3. Doing Research
4. Construction Management
5. Professional Development

You are kindly invited to visit the channel, subscribe, share and provide feedback and ideas for improvement.

Samples of uploaded videos:

(Read more..)

The FIDIC Middle East Contract Users’ Conference in Dubai is your opportunity to gain exclusive analysis and best practice guidance on the three new FIDIC contracts.

In order to provide accurate and balanced information, the FIDIC Contracts Committee will be joined by distinguished professionals and contract users from across the region and will also be delivering insights on successfully using the full FIDIC Suite, managing major projects, mitigating risks and resolving disputes in the Middle East. (Read more..)

We are very delighted to launch the Inaugural Mentoring Programme targeting graduates and early-career professionals in the construction industry.

This is a free service initiated and operated by CMGuide and led by CMGuide Founder (Dr Samer Skaik). The mentoring programme is targeting ambitious graduates and early-career professionals in the construction industry. The programme is only available in Australia. We encourage prospective and interested mentors in Australia who have the experience in any of the mentoring areas to join our ‘Mentors Panel’ ASAP so we can serve and enrol more mentees in the programme. Interested mentors should mention the mentoring area and availability arrangement so we can properly match mentees (protégé) with appropriate mentors. It is completely up to the mentors and mentees once to discuss and agree the mentoring arrangement during the mentoring year such as mentoring duration (not less than 6 months), communication method, frequency of meetings, level of support, etc.  (Read more..)

By Samer Skaik

Many construction practitioners in Australia face difficulties in understanding the mechanism of the Statutory Adjudication and how it differs from a State to another. While it is important to point out that the Australian Acts are different, there are a number of common mechanisms. Typically, a person entitled to a progress payment for carrying out construction work (or supplying related goods and services) had to seek recovery of any unpaid amounts via lengthy legal proceedings in arbitration or court. As such, parliament enacted the Security of Payment (SoP) legislation to protect the rights of such persons and facilitate rapid recovery of due payment. The SoP legislation provides statutory rights enabling quick and inexpensive recovery of progress payment for any subcontractor or supplier performing construction works or supplying related goods and services. To facilitate these rights, the SoP introduced a rapid adjudication process to resolve payments disputes. (Read more..)

By MATTHEW SHOWLER and PARNIKA CHATURVEDI

The UAE is one of the fastest-growing economies, where the construction industry is the third-largest sector after oil and trade. More than 6,000 construction companies operate in the country, with most construction activities taking place in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The emergence of the industry in the UAE dates back to the 1950s in Dubai when Sheikh Saaed bin Maktoum, together with his son Rashid, decided to transform the emirate into a ‘permanent haven for coastal shipping’ and launched the Dubai Creek improvement project. The construction industry’s growth rate is expected to remain positive, as a result of increased government expenditure on developing infrastructure and industrial construction in the country. (Read more..)

If your team would benefit from detailed and intensive guidance on all the key aspects of international construction and engineering law then you might want to take a look at the annual Construction Law Summer School.

2016 sessions include:

FIDIC; NEC3; termination & insolvency; time & delay; global claims & disputes; dispute boards; international arbitration; EU procurement regime; tendering liabilities; civil code; ADR. See more topics on the agenda.

(Read more..)

The Founder and Director of Construction Management Guide, Samer Skaik, was highly commended for his submission ‘Taking Statutory Adjudication to the Next Level: Legislative Review Mechanisms of Erroneous Determinations’  in the 2016 Australian Society of Construction Law Brooking Prize. The paper effectively summarizes the core merits of his PhD research in that area.

The criteria used for awarding commendations include originality of thoughts and contribution to the construction law or its application in the industry as well as the quality of analysis, the freshness of ideas and the value of the work.

A more detailed version of that paper will also appear in the upcoming edition of International Construction Law Review Journal. (Read more..)

By STUART JORDAN

In the eyes of many people in our industry, the Middle East construction industry is old fashioned and not very open to new ideas. This view implies that new ideas are good ideas – which isn’t always the case.
Certainly, in the case of construction procurement models, the Gulf remains quite attached to single-stage competitive lowest price tender selection. Everyone knows where they stand and, as between employers and contractors, they stand quite far apart from each other! Relationships tend to be arm’s-length and driven by the formalities of the tender process. And the terms of the contracts formed in this way tend also to be tougher on contractors than we see in other parts of the world. (Read more..)