An important aspect of the law that is usually overlooked in UAE design liability contracts is the ten-year liability, which is examined in detail and the risks, liabilities and remedies available under the provisions of the law are discussed. This dissertation concludes with a summary of the important factors related to planning liability in the UAE that construction contract parties should consider and more. In a construction contract, where the client assumes project responsibility, he assumes legal responsibility for that part of the plan.
In each case, the designer's obligation is to achieve the standard of design defined in the contract or by the laws of the UAE. Any designer must identify their contractual design liability described in the contract and understand the design liabilities provided under the laws of the UAE. This may be a consideration when understanding the parties' responsibilities regarding the design of the construction project.
In the construction industry in the UAE, the factors that determine design liability are the contract documents that describe the parties' duties and responsibilities for the design and the laws in the UAE that affect the design liability of the parties. This chapter will introduce design responsibility in the UAE construction industry, an overview of the background and the overview of the research.
The UAE construction industry and legal system
In the UAE, a large percentage of construction professionals are expatriates and from various parts of the world such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, India, the Philippines and many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. With limited knowledge of UAE law, construction professionals may assume that parties are free to agree to any term and condition of the contract and exclude some. As a construction professional myself in the Middle East since 2013, I have observed construction professionals who have been working in the UAE for more than two decades stating that a ten-year liability can be excluded from tendering.
In addition to legal professionals working in the construction industry, I have observed that there is a clear lack of knowledge about design liability in the industry and that there is a paucity of design liability literature in the UAE construction industry, which can lead to construction professionals making incorrect assumptions regarding liability for design and law. This dissertation will explain design liability in a simple way so that the designer, employer and contractor understand their rights, obligations and responsibilities under UAE law. The literature review will include an examination of books, journals and literature related to construction law to explain design liability in relation to contract law, liability in tort and.
It will also be supported with cases that have occurred in the UAE, as well as possible (or probable) circumstances.
Design liability under contract law
Design liability for delict
Decennial liability
FIDIC governance
Conclusions
In the case of the design for the project, the contract will be fulfilled once the project is completed and free of any design defects. Article 383 of the Civil Code is the basis for claims relating to professional negligence in the UAE. The design liability can also relate to the actions of both the contractor and the actions of a third party who is not named in the contract, but is nevertheless involved in the design of the construction works and is therefore also responsible for the design failure.
Can the employer claim the full value of the construction contract from the contractor even if the damage caused to the project is only partial. Parties to a contract in the UAE are also free to base the terms and conditions of the contract on foreign laws. According to Article 880, the ten-year liability is a mandatory and strict liability imposed on the contractor and designer of the works.
This extends to defects caused as a result of defects in the condition of the soil itself. What would happen if the partial or total collapse of the building was due to a flaw in the design. This on the basis that the third party had a significant interest, whether personal or substantial, in the successful completion of the building work.
PI insurance covers the insured for negligent conduct or omission in the execution of a construction project. There would be little appetite on the part of the employer to pay such premiums, given that the policy is intended to cover contractor and designer risks. The employer or the owner of the building is not obliged to prove that the contractor or designer is to blame for the collapse.
In the UAE, construction contracts between the employer and the contractor are generally governed by one of the model contracts provided by FIDIC, and this is usually amended to be consistent with the employer's requirements and UAE law.76. According to the FIDIC Red Book, the contractor carries out the construction works to comply with the client's design, however there may be parts of the construction works where. It is uncommon for the contractor to assume the risk of the accuracy of the employer's requirements.
According to sub-clause 5.1, there are certain elements of the employer's requirements for which the contractor may not be responsible. This may be due to a design liability of the contractor and the employer is entitled to a reduction in the contract price, which is equal to the reduced value of the completed structure. The laws of the UAE allow the parties to agree on the division of risk related to design liability.
Where a proposed contract document states that the design of the construction works must be 'fit for purpose', the contractor should always push hard to include a definition in the contract conditions.
