Construction Management Guide

Construction Lifecycle Risk Management Conference

Date: 17^th & 18^th April 2011

Venue: Sheraton Abu Dhabi Hotel & Resort, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Welcome and Opening Remarks by the Chairperson, Samer H Skaik

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

I am delighted to join our speakers in welcoming you all and open this Conference on “Construction lifecycle Risk Management” in Abu Dhabi.

It gives me great pleasure and honor to chair this conference. I am so happy that we have in this hall, dedicated individuals from different backgrounds and expertise, from various industries across the GCC region. Those delegates who travelled for miles remind us how important this conference is. Thank you all for coming.

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Inherent risks are those that exist based on the general characteristics of the project. These are risks that can appear regardless of the specific nature of the project.

None of the inherent risks mean that the project is in trouble. Many of these risk factors will be rated as low or medium-level risks. Even if you identify an inherent risk as high, other project factors will come into play as well. For instance, the checklist below states that a large project is inherently more risky that a smaller project. This is generally true. However, an experienced project manager can mitigate many risks associated with large project size. Also remember, if your project falls into a high-risk category, it does not mean you will not be successful. It only means that you should put plans into place to manage the risks. [Read more...]

Contract Requirement

Max Abrahamson in his book Engineering Law and The ICE Contract wrote

” A party to a dispute, particularly if there is an arbitration will learn three lessons (often too late) the importance of records, the importance of records and the importance of records”. This quotation came to mind recently when I read the judgement in the case of Attorney General for the Falkland islands v Gordon Forbes construction (Falklands) Limited. A contract was let for the construction of the infrastructure of the East Stanley Housing Development in the Falkland Islands using the FIDIC 4th Editions conditions.

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By Samer H Skaik

Abstract

Subcontracting is a very common aspect of the procurement strategy in construction. The practice of subcontract nomination has produced many problems to the constructionindustry in the UAE. Examining the nature of associated challenges and investigating newapproaches to improve the nomination practice become more critical and demanding. [Read more...]

If you are a contractor and having a delayed project (presumably not solely caused by you!), Head Office Overheads Contributions may be in your list for Loss and Expense claims. It is common for contractor to adopt the simplest and so called ‘accepted’ method of calculating such expenses hoping the other side will accept it too. [Read more...]

Variations Clause
Most standard forms of contract include a clause under which the employer or his representative is able to issue an instruction to the contractor to vary the works which are described in the contract. A change in shape of the scheme, the introduction of different materials, revised timing and sequence are all usually provided for by the variations clause. It will also usually include a mechanism for evaluating the financial effect of the variation and there is normally provision for adjusting the completion date. In the absence of such a clause the employer could be in a difficulty should a variation to the works be required. The contractor could either refuse to carry out the work or undertake the work and insist upon payment on a quantum meruit or fair valuation basis. Calculation of the price for the extra work applying this method could involve payment well in excess of the contract rates. [Read more...]

Estimate in Phases

One of the most difficult aspects of estimating projects is that you do not know exactly what work will be needed in the distant future. It can be difficult to define and estimate work that will be done three months from now. It’s harder to estimate six months in the future. Nine months is even harder. The reason is that decisions made and deliverables produced earlier in the project have an impact on what the work looks like further along. Therefore, there is more and more estimating uncertainty associated with work that is farther and farther out in the future. [Read more...]