Construction Management Guide

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…]

Enrol on the International Construction Practice & Law Masters to increase your knowledge, everyday business skills and career opportunities.

The course is run by the University of Stuttgart, one of Europe’s most prominent science and engineering universities, and allows you the option of either completing the programme online or choosing to attend part-time lectures at the university. [Read more…]

By STUART JORDAN

The world of construction procurement keeps changing. This process is driven by many factors: sometimes it is technological advances or efforts within our industry to do things better; and sometimes it is driven by external factors such as the worldwide impact of project finance. [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. [Read more…]

In Australia, the courts have been inconsistent in their approaches to define jurisdictional facts upon which the jurisdiction of adjudicator can be determined. A very recent example is the case of Lewence Construction Pty Ltd v Southern Han Breakfast Point Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 288. [Read more…]

Apparently, the Appetite for further Reform of Security of Payment Laws in major Australian States is evolving. You might be interested to make submissions for the very recent discussion papers in the three States. The NSW and Qld papers have very interesting information on the operation of the SOP regime. Here is the detail:

[Read more…]

FIDIC’s official Contract Users’ Series travels the globe delivering best practice advice for selecting, using and managing the range of FIDIC contracts.

It’s the turn of the Middle East – the 7th FIDIC Middle East Contract Users’ Series will take place next month in Dubai.

As a reader of CMGuide you’re eligible for a 10% saving. [Read more…]

Looking to strengthen your construction law skills?

How about getting a postgraduate diploma from a UK university – while you remain in full-time employment, from the comfort of your own home and in just one year? [Read more…]

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. [Read more…]

By Jeremy Glover, Fenwick Elliott
The key features of sub-clause 20.1 of the FIDIC form are: [Read more…]