Construction Management Guide

By Dr Samer Skaik

Recently, the WA Parliament finally enacted new security of payment laws adopting many recommendations of Murray and Fiocco reports. The new WA Act introduced, among other things, the adjudication review mechanism which I have been advocating for in my research for years. I am extremely delighted that my research has finally achieved such a significant impact whereas WA became the first Australian jurisdiction to make such a brave move.https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=8263858878640518625

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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:

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An interactive oral presentation by Dr Samer Skaik at the 2018 National Conference of Society of Construction Law Australia in Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. The presentation will make it simple for you to fully understand the concept of project management and how to apply a simple methodology to manage projects in any discpline not only law firms.

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:

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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…]

By Samer Skaik

The intent of the Security of Payment (SOP) legislation in many jurisdictions[1] was set out to help vulnerable class of subcontractors get paid in a timely manner. As such, rapid statutory adjudication was introduced within the legislation whereas adjudication decisions are binding and interim pending any subsequent final resolution of the dispute by arbitration or litigation. However, adjudication decisions can mainly be set aside[2] by way of judicial review on grounds of jurisdictional errors which invalidate adjudication process. Adjudicators are always susceptible to errors when deciding upon jurisdictional issues due to many factors including the complex drafting of the SOP legislation, tight timeframes, complexity of raised arguments, a failure by disputants to raise jurisdictional issues not apparent on the submissions as well as the inappropriate selection of adjudicators where the referred matter requires a particular expertise. [Read more…]

May 2017

Arbitration is something that the construction industry in the Gulf region relies on a great deal. It is not just an afterthought for dealing with disputes.

Right at the start, when the participants are deciding on their investments and the risks they are prepared to hold, access to high quality disputes resolution is an essential part of that thinking. There is no point in contracting parties weighing up these decisions and negotiating contracts carefully if they do not have confidence in the process by which their rights and obligations may eventually be decided. [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

I am delighted to see my article entitled “The tip of the iceberg: Jurisdiction of statutory adjudicators” published this month in Construction Law Journal under Construction Act Review Section. This is the second time I got an article published in this section. A third article is also in the pipeline for the next edition.

This is the brief as quoted from the Editorial introduction:

Samer Skaik discusses the jurisdictional limits of statutory adjudicators in both the UK and New South Wales adjudication models, focusing on challenges relating to the validity of the adjudicator’s appointment. The author identifies the trend of the Australian courts in particular to allow adjudicators to provisionally determine their own jurisdiction rather than encouraging pre-emptive applications by the parties. He considers this approach problematic, in part because adjudicators may not be legally trained, but also as giving rise to other difficulties and inconsistencies that in his view undermine the intention of the legislation. The author concludes by proposing a “roadmap” to regulate adjudicators’ jurisdiction, to assist with navigating around the difficulties and deficiencies that he identifies.

To read the full article, please click here

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