by Melanie Grimmitt
If you are a construction contractor accustomed to operating in common law jurisdictions where the doctrine of “freedom of contract” is generally upheld, you should be aware that the position under UAE law is different. We explore how it is different below …
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To What Extent Does Freedom of Contract Exist for You in the UAE?Read More »
by Andrew Ness
U.S. courts in recent years have imposed stricter obligations on individuals sitting as arbitrators to disclose to the parties fully any facts or circumstances that may give rise to doubts about their impartiality or independence. As a result, the arbitrators’ mantra has become “disclose, disclose, disclose.” Indeed, it has become fairly common in arbitrations under U.S. law to see arbitrators making continual disclosures throughout the arbitral process as to every minor event that could possibly be seen as questionable – such as receiving a phone call from an old college friend who happens to be a partner at the same large firm as is representing one of the parties, even though the old friend is in a different city and different practice area entirely, and has no connection whatever to the pending arbitration. Under a recent change in American Arbitration Association (AAA) Construction Industry Rules, the parties and their counsel now get to play the disclosure game as well.
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Arbitrator Disclosures – Now Everyone Gets to PlayRead More »
by Sarah Thomas
In the wake of the current downturn, employers will increasingly look for greater budget certainty under EPC or Turnkey contracts. This is where the contractor undertakes all tasks – design, construction, management etc – so that, upon completion, the employer merely needs to ‘turn the key’ and operation of the plant or building can begin immediately. The whole point is that the contractor assumes price risk in return for relative autonomy over how he delivers the project – provided of course he meets the employer’s output requirements. But often employers want not just price certainty but also to retain control over design approval and how the project is actually delivered. This can lead to claims of ‘design creep’ by the contractor when he perceives that the employer is trying to introduce design improvements under the guise of reviewing the contractor’s documents.
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You’re Creeping Me Out — Design Creep under the FIDIC Silver BookRead More »
by Andrew Ness
While arbitration is often touted as being a less expensive alternative to litigation, the initial cost of initiating arbitration has always been considerably more expensive than filing in court. Typical filing fee in a U.S. court is a few hundred dollars, while administering authorities typically have filing fees in the thousands of dollars. The American Arbitration Association (AAA), self-described as “world’s leading provider of conflict management and dispute resolution services,” is known for its high filing fees that get progressively greater as the amount in dispute rises. But the AAA will now be providing claimants some relief on that front.
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Flexible Arbitration Filing Fees Introduced by AAARead More »
by Melanie Grimmitt
Recap
After a diversion a fortnight ago to address the newsworthy events in Dubai, normal service resumes with this blog. The previous two blogs in this series considered decennial liability and liability for harmful acts under UAE law.
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Tales Of The Unexpected: Where Liability Lurks Unseen #3Read More »
by Maxime Simonnet
Commentary on the decision rendered by the third civil chamber of the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) on September 9, 2009
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Private works contract and the owner’s legal guarantee obligationRead More »
by Sujjain Talwar
There is a lot of mystery regarding taxation of Construction activities in India. The mystery starts from the fact that a Construction contract involves both labour and material and hence, both Service tax and Value Added tax is levied on one transaction.
The process becomes more complex depending upon a number of factors such as the Scope of work, the nature of the contract, whether the contract includes any further sub-contracting, whether individual prices have been specified for each part of the scope of work and whether the contract involves off-shore and on-shore activities etc.
Let us first consider the Indirect taxes applicable on a Construction contract. As already stated above, a Construction contract involves both labour and materials. Hence, a Construction contract is liable to both Service tax and Value Added tax.
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Issues involved in Taxation of Construction contractsRead More »
By James Williams
In terms of the large-scale construction projects familiar to Dubai, the building contract has received more attention than any other agreements, which include development agreements and deals to lease, the contractor’s security package, warranty documents and documents relating to the provision of finance. …
Projects don’t always go through an organized sequence of planning, approval and execution. Sometimes a project is in various stages at once. Before you know it, you can be executing the project and find that team members and stakeholders have varying levels of understanding about the purpose and status of the project. Just as a project should have a formal end-of-project meeting to signify that it is complete, it also makes sense to hold a formal kickoff meeting to start a project. …
This new event follows the success of the International Contract Users’ conference in London and was created in response to the numerous requests for a regional event.
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The Fidic form of contracts has been in the Middle East since the 1970s, yet it is far from popular. Adam Webster looks at legal issues that should be borne in mind when negotiating Fidic-based contracts.
THE legal systems of the Middle East are founded upon civil law principles (most heavily influenced by Egyptian law, which is itself based on the Napoleonic Code) and Islamic Shariah law – the latter constituting the guiding principle and source of law. …
