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. (Read more..)

by Alan Millin

It’s not so long ago that buyers clamoured for properties in certain locations. Rumours abound of heated exchanges in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi as buyers tried to book properties off-plan.Times have changed though. Buyers are looking more at what they are going to get for their money, and rightly so. (Read more..)

By Michael Strogoff, AIA

Effective negotiating requires that parties understand each other’s goals, aspirations and underlying concerns. Some of these can be ascertained indirectly: clients can gain a preliminary understanding of what’s important to design professionals through reading their statements of qualifications and other marketing collateral; design professionals can gain insight into a client’s perspective through reading their request for qualifications, talking to design professionals that previously worked with the client, or through third parties that know the client. No matter how much prior research is done, however, it is only when parties meet in person to negotiate that they can fully understand what drives each other. To design professionals, this means negotiating with a client’s key decision-maker. (Read more..)

One may curse, whine, pray or plead but there still seems to be no escape from the after effects of the financial downturn. But before this recession monster starts gulping down our hard-earned savings, let’s attack it using some time-tested strategies and tools. The following habits combined with your indomitable spirit will ensure that you are left with plenty of cash to meet your needs and more: (Read more..)

by Conrad Egbert

Last week, following extensive chats with developers, contractors and suppliers, it was clear that most of the industry is renegotiating contracts to better suit the current market conditions. Now, even though this may seem like the best option (and it probably is) to kick-start the construction industry, a couple of things that Besix’s Philippe Dessoy and Arabtec’s Tom Barry pointed out, painted a different picture. (Read more..)

by James Bremen

The use of joint ventures or consortiums are attractive because they allow contractors, consultants and financiers to team up and offer owners a single interface for all needs of a project.

Owners are increasingly requiring that consortiums be formed to provide a single point responsibility and to ensure bidders have the ability to perform the scope of work.

In light of this development, this article seeks to highlight some of the key legal and practical issues, which should be considered when entering into a joint venture or consortium agreement. The term “consortium” is used throughout the article to refer to both “consortium” and “joint venture.” (Read more..)

Total Quality Management is a management approach that originated in the 1950’s and has steadily become more popular since the early 1980’s. Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company’s operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations. (Read more..)

Have you ever been on a project that missed all of its commitments for cost, schedule, and quality? Although it may seem counterintuitive, there are a number of projects that have major problems, even some that are cancelled, on which the team members all receive great reviews and the project manager is promoted. (Read more..)

In organizations where poor performers are (involuntarily) allowed to thrive, the levels of productivity and morale take deep plunges, and turnover increases. When organizations impose no checks on performance, top performers leave because they want to avoid associating with a management that tolerates mediocrity. With only mediocre employees staying on, the work culture evolves to accommodate mediocrity. This has a damaging, long-term effect on productivity and, even worse, the organization’s reputation. (Read more..)