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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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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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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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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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. [Read more...]

The tender process will be dictated by the choice of the procurement route. This will include short listing contractors including compliance with the European Union directives, issuing tender documentation, receiving tenders, tender interviews and selection. As an alternative to this competitive tendering process, tenders may be negotiated where this proves to be a better option for obtaining value for money. [Read more...]

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. [Read more...]

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. [Read more...]

by Sachin Kerur

With global business headlines currently dominated by debt restructuring issues facing Dubai World, the Gulf region is again subject to the negative gaze of the West. Despite this, the UAE and the broader Gulf region is likely to be a fertile region for major international contractors over the coming years.
Imminent infrastructure projects in the Gulf, as well as the current one, will provide major contractors with opportunities when global pickings are slim. However, contractors are already facing, and will continue to face, an increased transfer of risk combined with compressed margins in respect of new infrastructure projects and EPC contracts. [Read more...]