Archive for the ‘Press’ Category

Dispute Boards MENA held its second seminar in Dubai on 13th April. The focus of this seminar was to illustrate how a Dispute Adjudication Hearing works. We created a case study which provided the basis for the claim and asked our listed practitioners and industry peers to take on the roles of the Contractor, the Engineer and the Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB). Both the Contractor and the Engineer presented their cases to the DAB and upon reviewing the case, the DAB gave his decision. So here’s what happened…

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The following guest blog was written by Suzanne Hunter, Membership Relations Manager and organizer of CPD events at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

We were pleased to have Andy Hewitt present a talk on dispute boards to members of the RICS at our latest CPD evening, held in Abu Dhabi on 27^th April 2015.

Andy’s talk focused on the added value that dispute boards can bring to construction projects in the UAE and focused on areas such as:

• What a dispute board is
• How dispute boards are convened
• The responsibilities of an effective dispute board
• The key elements of an effective dispute board
• Cost of dispute boards
• The perceived barriers to dispute boards and explanations on why, in reality, such barriers do not exist
• How dispute boards prevent disputes

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Dispute Boards MENA held its first seminar on 2 March and, between a presentation and a panel discussion, discussed the added value that Dispute Boards could bring to construction projects across the MENA region.

John Wright and Andy Hewitt gave a talk which explained the purpose of dispute boards, how they are constituted and how they help to avoid disputes as well as settle them in a timely manner. Common misconceptions such as cost, enforceability and impartiality of boards were also discussed.

John Wright, Partner at Goodman Derrick LLP, delivering part of the presentation.

Andy Hewitt, Principal at Hewitt Construction Consultancy, delivering his section of the presentation.

The panel was comprised of Sam Barakat (Director, Rider Levett Bucknall), Malcolm Kelly (Consulting Engineer and DB Practitioner), Richard Chamberlain (Director, Turner & Townsend) and Colin Pickering* (Managing Director, Murray & Roberts Middle East) and they  discussed such topics as why DBs are seldom used in the MENA region, the practical advantages of standing boards over ad-hoc boards, how DAB’s can help and encourage engineers to deal with matters in a timely manner and enforceability of DAB decisions in the UAE.

*Colin Pickering had an emergency client meeting and had to bow out of the seminar at the last minute. This was a shame but our presenter, John Wright, kindly offered to step in for him. 

Panelists poised and ready to share their views.

Whilst the turn out could have been stronger, I think it was certainly a case of quality over quantity and we had some senior representatives from some of the larger UAE companies too which was encouraging. We hope that as DB MENA becomes more well known, the interest in and attendance at our activities will naturally increase.

As for future seminars, we already have an idea for the next one, which will probably be a mock DAB session. Whilst we don’t have details of when this will be yet, please do let us know if you would be interested in attending this session.

In its efforts to educate the MENA region on the benefits of appointing dispute boards on construction projects, Dispute Boards MENA will deliver its first seminar in the UAE in March 2015.

The seminar, Dispute Boards and their Added Value to Construction Projects, will look at what dispute boards are, how they are convened, what responsibilities they have, how dispute boards are effective, costs of employing a dispute board, the perceived barriers to dispute boards and finally, how dispute boards actually prevent disputes.

Industry heavyweights will then conduct a panel session where key themes will be discussed and general discussion / Q&A will be facilitated from the audience.

Whilst final details will be confirmed nearer the time, tentative plans are as follows:

Date: 10 March 2015 (confirmed)

Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Venue: Dubai, somewhere close to the Dubai Marina end of town to accommodate those travelling from Abu Dhabi.

Entry Fees: This is a non-profit seminar. Attendees will be charged a small entry fee to cover the hotel costs.

Interested in attending? Let us know.