Construction Industry

Construction Industry, Contract Administration, Procurement Management, Project Management

Mastering Subcontract Nomination in Construction: Key Strategies for Success

By Dr Samer Skaik

Subcontract nomination is a pivotal practice in the construction industry, offering significant advantages in project management. It allows the Employer to maintain control over cost, quality, and time while ensuring the involvement of specialized subcontractors. Despite the challenges and complexities associated with this approach, subcontract nomination remains a valuable tool for optimizing project outcomes. This blog delves into the essentials of subcontract nomination, exploring its benefits, strategic applications, and the types of subcontracting arrangements that can enhance project efficiency. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Procurement Management

How to Deal with Provisional Sums Under FIDIC 1999

By Dr Samer Skaik

In construction contracts governed by FIDIC 1999, provisional sums are often included to account for certain parts of the work that are not defined in detail at the time of contract signing. These sums provide flexibility to accommodate future decisions by the Employer or Engineer regarding specific work items or materials. Proper management of provisional sums is crucial to ensure that the contract remains fair and that all parties understand their obligations and entitlements. …

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Construction Industry, Contract Administration, Project Management

Navigating Latent Conditions in Construction Contracts: A Practical Guide for Contractors

Construction projects are often complex endeavors with various stakeholders, timelines, and unforeseen challenges. One such challenge that contractors frequently encounter is latent conditions. These hidden or unexpected conditions can significantly impact project timelines, budgets, and overall success if not properly addressed. In this guide, we will delve into what latent conditions are, how they can affect construction projects, and strategies for contractors to effectively manage them during project execution.

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Security of Payment, Statutory Adjudication

How to use the Security of Payment Legislation to recover or reject progress claims

By Dr Samer Skaik

The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment legislation (SoPA) is a vital legal framework for contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry, particularly for the recovery of progress payments. Understanding and effectively utilizing this legislation can safeguard the financial health of businesses and ensure the smooth progression of construction projects. The purpose of this post is to offer a brief guide on navigating the Security of Payment legislation, highlighting its importance and providing practical steps for contractors and subcontractors to effectively manage and recover progress payments.

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Construction Industry, Construction Technology, General Management, PMP Hints, Project Management

COVID-19: How to make the transformation into online operations more effective?

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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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Security of Payment, Statutory Adjudication

Turnbull Government is considering the findings of my PhD

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: …

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Civil Engineering, Construction Industry, Construction Law, Construction Technology, Contract Administration, General Management, PMP Hints, Procurement Management, Project Management, Statutory Adjudication

Launching My Channel on YouTube

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. …

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Launching CMGuide Inaugural Mentoring Programme

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. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration

The tip of the iceberg: Jurisdiction of statutory adjudicators

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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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration

Does Statutory Adjudication fall short in dealing with complex claims in Australia?

1 Comment

By Samer Skaik

Statutory adjudication has been enacted progressively throughout Australia on a state-by-state basis over a period of 10 years starting in 1999. The first Australian jurisdiction to introduce statutory adjudication was New South Wales (NSW) by virtue of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999. Despite the many differences between all of the Acts in Australia, they can be broadly grouped on the basis of similarity into the East Coast model Acts (including New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory)[1] and the West Coast model Acts (including Northern Territory and Western Australia).[2] The East Coast model Acts were modelled after the original NSW Act and provide, in addition to an adjudication scheme, for a highly regulatory statutory payment scheme which runs alongside the contractual payment scheme. The West Coast model Acts are more akin to the UK Act, affording primacy to the contractual payment scheme. The common objective of all the legislation is to facilitate timely cash flow within the construction contractual chains. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Statutory Adjudication

The impact of flawed appointment on the quality of adjudication outcome

By Samer Skaik

Quality of adjudication decisions under the Security of Payment legislation may mean different things to different people. The ultimate yardstick by which adjudication quality can be measured is to be found in the legal accuracy – both in terms of procedural and substantive fairness – of adjudication decisions whether such decisions involve a determination on the merits or dismissal for want of jurisdiction. However, recognising that there is a trade-off between fairness and efficiency in dispute resolution,[1] this criterion needs to be calibrated in the light of the legislative objective, being to provide a rapid dispute resolution procedure in order to expedite cash flow on construction contracts. Thus, it would clearly be absurd to hold adjudication decisions up to as higher level of scrutiny as in arbitration or litigation. …

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Construction Industry, Construction Law, Contract Administration, Project Management, Statutory Adjudication

The Mechanism of the Australian Statutory Adjudication in a Nutshell

By Samer Skaik

Many construction practitioners in Australia face difficulties in understanding the mechanism of the Statutory Adjudication and how it differs from a State to another. While it is important to point out that the Australian Acts are different, there are a number of common mechanisms. Typically, a person entitled to a progress payment for carrying out construction work (or supplying related goods and services) had to seek recovery of any unpaid amounts via lengthy legal proceedings in arbitration or court. As such, parliament enacted the Security of Payment (SoP) legislation to protect the rights of such persons and facilitate rapid recovery of due payment. The SoP legislation provides statutory rights enabling quick and inexpensive recovery of progress payment for any subcontractor or supplier performing construction works or supplying related goods and services. To facilitate these rights, the SoP introduced a rapid adjudication process to resolve payments disputes. …

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