Construction Law, Contract Administration

How subcontractors can get paid

One of the critical but not “headline making” aspects of the downturn in the construction industry is that many subcontractors are having difficulty getting paid on projects and meeting their own debts as they fall due.

The subcontractor is usually dependent on the contractor being paid under the main contract. One often sees a “pay when paid” clause in subcontract which essentially means that the subcontractor will not be paid by the contractor until the contractor has been paid for the subcontractor’s work by the employer. This necessarily involves even in the best case scenario a longer credit period to the contractor than the contractor in turn gives to the employer. The subcontractor generally has little input in to the certification process by the employer’s advisor prior to him or her approving an invoice in favour of the contractor. …

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Construction Law, Contract Administration

FIDIC’S FOUR NEW STANDARD FORMS OF CONTRACT: Risks, Force Majeure and Termination

 By Christopher R. Seppala

I propose briefly to discuss five topics in the three new Books for major works (the new Construction Contract, the Plant Contract and the EPC Contract), as follows:

 (1) Contractor’s risk and “Employer’s Risks”,

(2) Indemnities,

(3) Limitation of Liability,

(4) The New Force Majeure Clause, and

(5) Grounds and Procedure for Termination of the Contract by the Employer and the Contractor. …

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Construction Law, Contract Administration

Making Demands on Advance Payment Guarantees and Performance Bonds: The Test to Secure Summary Judgment on a Claim before the English Court

by Karen Gough

We are in the midst of a world-wide recession. So, in times when contractors’ liquidity and therefore their very survival is more at risk than usual, and employers are more than usually jittery about the ability of contractors to complete works, a recent decision on a claim to enforce an advance payment guarantee and a performance bonds is of particular interest to construction law practitioners. …

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Construction Law, Contract Administration

Are lawyers ready to leave their comfort zones to set the world’s infrastructure projects on the right track?

by Martin Harman

I have just returned from a family holiday in India, our first visit together although I am a frequent business traveller there. Apart from the beauty and vibrancy of the country and its people, what struck me most was that when travelling on business one is so very removed from the real life of the people of the country. I spend a large part of my time working as an international legal counsel to Indian law firms and Indian corporates who are at the forefront of the delivery of India’s infrastructure vision, a vision that requires, as just one example, the delivery of 20 kilometres of road every day over the next few years. For the business traveller, whose main transport experience is a journey from hotel to office, the scale of the infrastructure deficit begins to come into focus but as a tourist traveller, it looms extremely large. …

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Contract Administration, General Management, Project Management

We do not negotiate! Or do we?

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by Conrad Egbert
With the market having fallen 40% until now, many clients, contractors and suppliers across the region have begun to renegotiate contracts. CW talks to some of the top experts in the industry to find out what they think about the trend. Last week, CW discovered that City of Arabia – the Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari owned US $3 billion development – is currently renegotiating certain contracts. …

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Project Management

Manage Change

Manage Change

It is said that the only constant in the world is change. You can make perfect plans, but they cannot account for every potential change that may occur. The longer your project, the more likely you will be dealing with changes. This is one reason why the TenStep process understands that the initial definition and planning processes do not have to be perfect. You and your team need to do the best job you can given what you know at the time. That is good enough. After that you need to manage the changes. …

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