by Joanne Clarke

Delays are of course a common problem in construction projects. French law (like English law) allows for a pre-estimation of damages for delay. However, the common law and the civil law approaches to such pre-estimation appear to differ, as pan-European construction professionals may have encountered.

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by Hew Kian Heong

On 26 December 2009, the PRC Tort Liability Law (the “Tort Law”) was promulgated following a seven-year period of discussions and debate. The law will enter into effect on 1 July 2010.

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by Joel Heard

*Guest Post by Michael E. Mitchell, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

The tendering and procurement process in Canada has traditionally been treated by the courts as a special area of contract law in which fairness and protecting the integrity of the tender process have been guiding principles.  Courts have implied terms into contract “A” bid contracts that have obliged owners to act fairly, and wide discretionary clauses have been interpreted narrowly to ensure the integrity of the tendering process.

Owners looking to maximize their control over the selection of contractors have continued to fine-tune instructions to bidders and attempt to limit their own liability.  How far will the courts go to intervene in these commercial contracts because of the special status historically bestowed on the tendering process?  In a 5 – 4 split decision, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has delivered its views in the case of Tercon Contractors Ltd. v. British Columbia (Ministry of Transportation and Highways), 2010 SCC 4.  [Read more...]

by Vincent Connor

Opening the mailbox at my Hong Kong apartment block brings the usual array of bills, more bills, flyers and…what appear to be ‘notices’ (usually from my landlord): but as we know from the world of construction law, often it is argued that what is intended to be a ‘notice’ fails to meet up to the strict requirements of the contract.

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Obviously your project is in trouble if you are missing deadlines and consistently exceeding the estimated effort and cost to get work done. However, you may have a project that actually appears to be on schedule, yet you are concerned about potential problems down the road.

There are things that you can look for that will give some sense as to whether there are potential problems lurking. At this point you cant really call them issues or problems, but they can be identified as risks that have the potential to throw your project off in the future. [Read more...]

The change from pre-construction to the construction stage reflects all the preparation required to define your project that allows the construction work to start on site. [Read more...]

by Sarah Thomas

I thought that I would hail in the new year with an update on some interesting construction developments. Put it down to a period of reflection over the Christmas break! As I want to cover a number of areas, I have split this update into 2 postings.

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by Melanie Grimmitt

Mediation has become established in the West as a useful alternative to more confrontational and adversarial forms of dispute resolution. Here in Dubai it is uncommon, but in our experience the number of disputes is on the increase, so could it, or should it, have a role to play?

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by Sachin Kerur

We are all still feeling the impact the global downturn is having on the construction sector in the UAE. Not only is it a challenge to find work in this market, increasing numbers of contractors and consultants are finding it difficult to recover payment for work they have already undertaken.

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