Construction Management Guide

By KATIE LISZKA and NAZLI OKUSLUK

ABU DHABI Law No 6 of 2008 (procurement law), which governs the procurement of materials, service contracts and works contracts in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, aims to decentralise, modernise, simplify and facilitate procurement by government departments. It grants the Department of Finance the authority to issue a manual to execute the provisions of the law, pursuant to which the department issued the Purchases, Tenders and Bids Manual in 2008 (manual). This manual sets out provisions, policies and procedures in respect of tenders for purchasing materials, services contracts and executing works and bids, in addition to the terms and policies related to electronic tenders and purchases.ScopeWithout prejudice to the provisions of Law No 21 of 2006 regarding construction contracts and agreements in the field of civil works, the procurement law and the manual are in principle applicable to all government departments and agencies funded under the general budget of Abu Dhabi and apply to all contracts, except for the following:

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There is concern from many project managers that they are expected to present a detailed estimate of the project work when the charter and schedule are created. However, the detailed requirements have not been gathered yet. So how are you supposed to estimate the work without having captured the detailed requirements? It seems like a valid question. Yet, when you talk about gathering detailed requirements, you are usually talking about the Analysts Phase of a project lifecycle, not the up-front project management work of defining and planning the project.  [Read more…]

The Process

The Certification process in the construction industry has been in place for many a long year and is an integral part of both building and civil engineering. It involves client, consultant, main contractor and subcontractor alike. The very existence of large numbers of companies who make their living in the construction industry depend upon the certification process. On many standard forms of main contract the contractor is entitled to be paid the sum which is certified by the Architect, Engineer or Contract Administrator. Main contractors in an effort to ensure that they do not finish up paying out more than they receive link the payment under the subcontract to the amount certified under the main contract. [Read more…]

Concurrent delays
By Jad Chouman
When delays occur on a construction project, it is not uncommon for each party to attempt to use concurrent delays in defense against the opposing party’s delay damages: Employers often cite concurrent delays by the contractor as a reason for awarding an extension of time without compensation, whereas contractor’s claims usually ignore the concurrent delay from the claimed delays in order to claim full prolongation costs stemming from the employer delays and to prevent exposure to liquidated damages. [Read more…]

By Philip Adams
In a previous article I referred to the term ‘coordination’ and given recent experiences, I thought it would be useful to expand on the subject a bit more. I have come to the conclusion that this word is considered by some to be an ancient mystical symbol infused with magical qualities. When faced with problems on site one only has to utter this word and ‘poof’ they miraculously disappear! [Read more…]

By KATIE LISZKA
IN Gulf Construction’s June 2011 issue, I looked at two cases where the courts (one in Dubai and the other in England) had prevented calls on what on their face appeared to be “on-demand” bonds, on the basis of the provisions in the underlying construction and engineering contracts. [Read more…]

By Nick Kramer
Red Book
For all its innovation and spectacular achievements, the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates has been slow to move on from its close relationship with the International Federation of Consulting Engineers Red Book (fourth edition). The Red Book was superseded years ago, and it is little used outside the Gulf region any more. [Read more…]

It is not often that I will get the opportunity to report a case from the Falkland Islands Supreme Court, but the case of Attorney General for the Falkland Islands -v- Gordon Forbes Construction deals with a point of general interest in the management of claims.

Forbes had entered into a contract with the Falkland Islands government for the construction of the infrastructure of the East Stanley Housing Development in the Falkland Islands. The contract was based upon the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Works of Civil Engineering Construction, 4th Edition.

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The definition of goals, strategies and objectives can be difficult to define. However, through practice and the use of some common definitions, you can start to identify and tell the difference.  [Read more…]

FIDIC’s 3^rd annual Middle Eastern Contract Users’ conference is next month – you still have time to attend but you’ll need to be quick!

CMGuide readers can get a 10% discount by quoting VIP code: FKW82257CMGP2 [Read more…]