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FIDIC and EPC contract negotiation, claims management, and multi-billion-dollar dispute resolution across GCC public procurement law, French Dommages-Ouvrage, UAE decennial liability, and Saudi SCCA arbitration — operating upstream to prevent claims and downstream to win them.
The gap between what the contract says and what the parties thought it said costs more than any other single factor in construction — and by the time the gap is discovered, the project is already in dispute.
A contractor can have an airtight entitlement — supported by contemporaneous records, expert delay analysis, and perfectly quantified costs — and lose it entirely because the notice was sent three days late under FIDIC Sub-Clause 20.2. The leverage was lost before the dispute crystallised.
Large-scale construction is one of the few industries where a single documentation gap — a missing notice, an ambiguous variation clause, an untested force majeure provision — can convert a profitable project into a multi-year arbitration. For developers, the risk is paying for work that was never instructed. For contractors, the risk is performing work they can never recover. Both outcomes are determined by the contract, and in both cases the critical decisions were made at drafting, not at dispute.
FIDIC Sub-Clause 20.2 (2017 edition) imposes a 28-day notice deadline from the date the contractor becomes aware of an event giving rise to a claim — and 'substantially complying' with the notice form is not the same as complying with it; most DIAC and ICC tribunals apply the time bar strictly, extinguishing entitlements worth months of prolongation costs regardless of underlying merit
UAE Civil Code Article 880 imposes decennial liability for structural defects — 10 years of exposure after handover that persists regardless of the defects liability period in the contract; the specific question of whether a design-and-build contractor's liability is joint or several with the designer remains contested in UAE courts
Saudi SCCA 2023 Rules introduced expedited procedures for disputes under SAR 5 million — subcontractor claims that fall just above this threshold are forced into the standard track, adding 12–18 months to resolution timelines, while claims just below it are resolved in as little as 6 months
Concurrent delay analysis produces inconsistent results depending on the methodology applied — the SCL Protocol's dominant cause approach, the English 'but-for' test, and the approaches adopted by DIAC tribunals and Saudi arbitral panels each reach different conclusions on apportionment, meaning the choice of delay methodology can reverse the outcome of a claim
French Dommages-Ouvrage insurance is mandatory for all construction works in France under Article L242-1 of the Insurance Code — a developer who fails to obtain it before commencement loses access to the rapid indemnification mechanism and must prove contractor fault through ordinary litigation, a process that takes 3–5 years instead of 60 days
Saudi Government Tenders and Procurement Law (GTPL) Royal Decree No. M/128 caps delay penalties at 10% of contract value and contains specific provisions on price adjustment — but certain claims under the GTPL cannot be waived contractually, a point many international contractors miss when negotiating particular conditions
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The challenges you face
Every day we hear these concerns from CEOs, CFOs and general counsel across the GCC and Europe. If any of these sound familiar, you're not alone — and we can help.
Under FIDIC 2017 Sub-Clause 20.2, a contractor must give notice within 28 days of becoming aware of an event giving rise to a claim. The notice was sent on day 31, addressed to the project manager instead of the Engineer, and referenced 'general delay' without identifying the specific contract clause or the event's impact on the critical path. Under the strict reading adopted by most DIAC and ICC tribunals, a late or defective notice extinguishes the entitlement — regardless of how well-founded the underlying claim is.
The contractor loses extension of time claims worth months of prolongation costs — AED 3–8 million per month on major projects — because the notice was sent to the wrong named individual or referenced the wrong contract clause. The entitlement existed; the procedural right to claim it did not.
Sixty variations have been instructed verbally on site, implemented by the contractor in good faith, and are now being disputed by the employer at final account stage. Under FIDIC Clause 13, all variations must be instructed by the Engineer in writing. Verbal instructions — no matter how clear, no matter how many witnesses — do not constitute valid variation orders. The contractor who proceeded on the basis of relationship trust now faces a disputed final account with no documentary evidence that the work was instructed.
The contractor carries months of additional work at risk. The employer disputes the entitlement entirely. The final account negotiation becomes a multi-year arbitration where the legal costs approach the value of the disputed variations themselves.
The ICC award was rendered with a DIFC seat and is enforceable through DIFC courts. But the counterparty's assets are in mainland UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Enforcing the award requires separate enforcement proceedings in each jurisdiction under local procedural rules. The New York Convention provides the framework, but the local courts provide the bottleneck — and in Saudi Arabia, the 'public policy' ground for refusing recognition has been used more broadly than most award creditors expect.
Award creditors wait 18–36 months for enforcement in a jurisdiction where the counterparty's legal team has filed every available procedural challenge. By the time enforcement is granted, the assets that were the target have been transferred, encumbered, or dissipated through corporate restructuring.
Construction consortia are typically jointly and severally liable to the employer for all obligations under the main contract. The JV agreement contains indemnification provisions and a 30/70 scope split. But when the majority partner defaults — entering judicial composition under UAE Decree-Law No. 9 of 2016 — the employer does not pursue the defaulting partner. The employer pursues you, the solvent partner, for the entire contract value. The indemnity claim against the defaulting partner is worthless because the partner is insolvent.
A developer who entered a 30% JV share finds itself liable for 100% of a SAR 800 million contract. The JV indemnity is an unsecured claim in the defaulting partner's composition proceedings, ranking behind secured creditors, employees, and government claims. Recovery is negligible.
The defects liability period expired 18 months after practical completion, and the final certificate was issued. The contractor and employer both believed the matter was concluded. But UAE Civil Code Article 880 imposes decennial liability for structural defects — 10 years from handover — regardless of the contractual defects liability period. When a structural defect manifests in year 8, the contractor discovers that the final certificate did not discharge this statutory obligation.
A contractor who received a final certificate and dissolved its project SPV is served with a decennial liability claim worth tens of millions of dirhams. The contractor's professional indemnity policy expired years ago, the project records are incomplete, and the claim is not contractually time-barred because Article 880 operates as a matter of statute, not contract.
Many GCC public sector construction contracts — particularly in Saudi Arabia under the GTPL framework — prohibit the contractor from suspending works for non-payment. The contractor must continue performing while pursuing its payment claim through an administrative complaints mechanism that operates on government timelines, not commercial ones. The GTPL process can take 12–24 months to produce a result, during which the contractor funds the work from its own balance sheet.
Contractors fund months of work with their own working capital. By the time payment is ordered, the contractor's subcontractors have abandoned site for non-payment, the performance bond has been called by the frustrated employer, and the working capital facility with the bank has been exhausted. The contractor's financial position has deteriorated more than the project itself.
Don't let these problems compound.
Let's solve them together.
FIDIC Red, Yellow, Silver and Gold Books (1999 and 2017 suites), NEC4, French CCAG-Travaux, JCT, and government-drafted forms. We draft and negotiate particular conditions that protect the client's commercial position — analysing risk allocation against market standards and identifying the specific clauses where standard forms expose employers or contractors to disproportionate liability.
Delay, disruption, acceleration, variation, loss and expense claims — prepared and defended using forensic methodologies recognised by international tribunals. We work with quantum experts on time impact analysis, windows analysis, as-planned vs as-built, and the Emden/Hudson formulae for head office overhead recovery. Our claims team operates on both the contractor and employer side.
DIAC, ICC, SCCA, LCIA, and CRCICA arbitration — from seat strategy and tribunal constitution through to emergency arbitrator applications, interim measures, and multi-party joinder. We handle DAB/DAAB referrals, consolidated proceedings in multi-contract disputes, and the specific procedural questions that arise when related claims across a single project are governed by different arbitration clauses.
Lead partner liability allocation, scope and cost split mechanisms, cash call procedures, deadlock resolution, parent company guarantees, and exit provisions for international construction joint ventures and consortia. We structure JV agreements that address the specific risk of partner insolvency during the project — because joint and several liability to the employer means one partner's default becomes every partner's problem.
UAE Civil Code Article 880 decennial liability, French Dommages-Ouvrage insurance obligations, Saudi regulatory defect regimes, and RERA escrow and retention requirements. We advise contractors, developers, and consultants on the interplay between contractual defects liability periods and statutory long-tail exposure — and on the insurance arrangements that must be in place before handover, not after a defect manifests.
Saudi GTPL compliance, Saudi Board of Grievances jurisdiction, UAE Federal Arbitration Law provisions for government contracts, and the specific procedural requirements for disputes with sovereign and quasi-sovereign employers. We advise international contractors on the regulatory framework that applies when the counterparty is a government entity — including the restrictions on suspension, the administrative payment mechanisms, and the limitations on enforcing arbitral awards against sovereign assets.
Under FIDIC 2017 Sub-Clause 20.2, a contractor who fails to give notice within 28 days of becoming aware of an event giving rise to a claim loses entitlement to the extent the failure prejudices the employer or the Engineer. Under FIDIC 1999 Sub-Clause 20.1, the consequence was more absolute — the contractor forfeited the entitlement entirely. Most DIAC and ICC tribunals applying the 1999 form have enforced the time bar strictly, meaning contractors lose multi-million dirham prolongation claims for procedural failures. The notice must identify the specific contract clause, the event, and the impact — vague notifications that reference 'general delay' are routinely rejected as non-compliant.
If the employer's own actions contributed to the delay — design changes, late access, failure to provide permits — the contractor has a defence to liquidated damages for the period attributable to the employer's conduct. The analysis depends on whether the delay events were concurrent and on the apportionment methodology applied. Under UAE law, the doctrine of contributory fault under Civil Code Article 290 may reduce LD liability proportionally. However, the contractor must have preserved its entitlement by issuing timely claim notices for each employer-caused delay event. Without contemporaneous notices, the contractor's defence is significantly weakened even if the employer's contribution to delay is factually clear.
Decennial liability under UAE Civil Code Article 880 imposes joint and several liability on contractors and architects/engineers for the collapse or discovery of structural defects in buildings for a period of 10 years from handover. It applies to all construction works in the UAE regardless of the contractual defects liability period — meaning a 12-month DLP does not extinguish the 10-year statutory obligation. The scope of 'structural defect' is contested: UAE courts have generally included foundation failures, load-bearing structural deficiencies, and stability defects, but the classification of waterproofing failures, facade defects, and MEP systems as 'structural' varies by court.
If the JV is structured as a joint and several consortium — which is the standard arrangement for GCC construction projects — the employer can pursue any consortium member for 100% of the contract obligations, regardless of the internal scope split between JV partners. The JV agreement's indemnification provisions give you a claim against the defaulting partner, but that claim is only as valuable as the defaulting partner's balance sheet. If the partner is insolvent or in judicial composition, the indemnity ranks as an unsecured claim. You should assess whether the JV agreement requires parent company guarantees and whether those guarantees extend to the specific default scenario.
Most Saudi government contracts under the GTPL framework prohibit the contractor from suspending works for non-payment. The contractor must continue performing while pursuing payment through the administrative claims mechanism, which can take 12–24 months. The GTPL does provide for compensation in the form of delay costs caused by the government's late payment, but exercising a self-help remedy — suspending or slowing works — without contractual authorisation risks termination for default and performance bond forfeiture. For private sector contracts, FIDIC Sub-Clause 16.1 permits suspension after 42 days of non-payment (2017 edition), but this right must be exercised precisely to avoid being treated as a wrongful suspension.
A standard DIAC construction arbitration — from filing the request to issuance of the final award — typically takes 18–24 months, though complex multi-party disputes with extensive document disclosure and technical expert evidence can extend to 36 months or longer. Costs include DIAC administrative fees (calculated as a percentage of the amount in dispute), tribunal fees (which for a three-member panel on a USD 50 million claim can reach USD 300,000–500,000), legal fees for counsel, and expert costs for delay analysis and quantum. The total cost for a mid-sized construction arbitration — claim value between AED 50–200 million — typically ranges from AED 3–8 million per party, depending on complexity and duration.
The counterparty filed a AED 180 million delay claim supported by three expert reports and eighteen months of correspondence. GSDA identified a notice defect under FIDIC Sub-Clause 20.2 — the notice had been addressed to our project manager instead of the Engineer — and the tribunal struck the entire claim on procedural grounds before we reached the merits. That one defect saved us the full value of the claim plus two years of arbitration costs.
Head of Legal — International EPC Contractor, Middle East
Insights
The GSDA advantage
We operate on both sides of construction disputes — advising employers and contractors — which means we know how the other side builds its case before it files. That knowledge shapes every contract we draft and every claim we prepare.
Our construction consultants understand programme logic, earned value analysis, critical path methodology, and forensic delay techniques — because construction disputes are won on facts, not just law, and the facts live in the programme, not in the pleadings.
Genuine multi-jurisdictional execution across Paris, Dubai, Riyadh, and Doha — the same team that drafts the FIDIC particular conditions handles the DIAC arbitration when the contract fails, providing continuity that referral networks cannot match.
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Five offices across the Kingdom — Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Makkah & Madinah — serving Vision 2030 giga-projects, MISA-licensed foreign investors, and international contractors.
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