Disputes Settlement of Ruler’s Court: 5-point contract guideline

The Disputes Settlement Department of the Court of His Highness the Ruler of Dubai has shared eight tips to be adopted by contracting and real estate companies when signing any contracts to avoid legal disputes.
 
Hashim Salem Al Qiwani, director of the department, stated that this comes after the department successfully settled a dispute between two leading real estate and contracting companies in the UAE.
 
He said the capital of the two companies is estimated in the billions of dirhams and that the dispute continued for four years before being referred to the department.
 
According to Al Qiwani, the two companies agreed to carry out road works and infrastructure, and to build complex residential units for multiple projects in Dubai.
 
He added but the two companies then wrangled on the change in the value of materials because of the extension of time for completion of the project.
 
“The department asked the parties of the dispute to provide classification of claims and value of each claim with supporting documents from either the owner or consultant,” said Al Qiwani.
 
“The department also requested the claims for the value of the change in unit prices and additional work as well as business volumes and claimed differences,” he pointed out.
 
The department also stressed that such claims should be attached with the original contracts, all correspondence and direct and indirect instructions.  
Also, the schedule of the implementation programme adopted by the consultant and owner and the changes and the approvals of such changes had to be submitted.
Al Qiwani explained that the department succeeded in settling the dispute in three months after forming a committee of experts.
He added that the disputed parties agreed to the committee's decision.
The department noticed in most of the cases referred to it recently, there is a lack of a clear timetable for the implementation of projects. Also, documents and correspondence during the implementation period are not retained.
 
5 tips to adopted by construction companies when signing any contracts to avoid legal disputes.
 
1) Adhere to the implementation of the provisions of the contract.
 
2) Public and private institutions and companies should  adopt the policy of project management as a way to ensure their rights in the event of any dispute.
 
3) Adhere to the legal and technical instructions of the consultant engineer; avoid verbal instructions and abide by written ones.
 
4) Estimate the financial cost of the project properly. Adhere to the planned implementation of the project. This must be set keeping in mind event variables.
 
5) Keep documents related to the project with the need for oversight as regards implementation. These should include market fluctuations during the implementation period.