Middle East Construction Seminar

26 September 2018

26th September 2018

Three leading silks from Keating Chambers are delighted to be speaking at Hogan Lovells’ Middle East Construction Seminar in Dubai on 26 September 2018.

Richard Harding QC, David Thomas QC and Jane Lemon QC join speakers from Hogan Lovells, the Registrar of the DIFC Courts and other external speakers to provide insights on a range of topical issues, including Procurement, Contracts, Good Faith, Defects, Delay, Variations, Payment, Termination and Dispute Resolution.

Topics

In addition to the Keating topics listed below, Richard Harding QC joins a panel of silks (chaired by Roberta Downey) for a Q&A to answer pre-submitted audience questions.

Richard Harding QC: Termination: “I don’t know how much longer I can hold this” (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

Contractor: The works are nearly complete but payment has been outstanding for many months and many applications for payment have been under-certified. Employer: The works are nearly complete and despite having been paid what it is owed, the contractor is frustratingly inching its way towards completion despite the project already being late for many months. To what extent is termination a nuclear weapon and do you press the button?

David Thomas QC: Variations: “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change” (Charles Darwin)

What “extra” work can be instructed and when can a contractor refuse an instruction? When, how and by whom will variations be valued? Can the contract administrator take into account the client’s interests or must (s)he act independently? What if acceleration is instructed but there is no improvement in the schedule because subsequent changes and instructions intervene?

Jane Lemon QC: Gambling with Time: “Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity” (Jean de La Bruyère) Part 1 – Concurrent Delay

Inevitably, something will not go to plan so there is always a risk the schedule will slip and the project will be subject to competing causes of delay. What do you do when it is clear that, at the current rate of progress, the project will be late – especially when faced with potentially concurrent delays?

A full agenda for the event can be viewed here.