Contract or Co-operation? Insights from the Middle East

October 2003

A paper given to a conference organised by the Centre of Construction
Law at King's College London and held in London on 11th September 2003.

From his vast experience of working in the Middle East, the author considers
the evolution of construction contract arrangements in that part of the
world, through use of (amended) FIDIC contracts, to the use of design
and build, partnering and joint ventures. He looks at the particular influences
of Islamic law and the continuing search for contractual arrangements
that will best deal with conflict management and disputology in the construction
industry.

Background - Construction in the Middle east - The failure of collaboration
in design/build contracts - Partnering - The tension between formal adherence
to contractual provisions and collaborative styles - Joint venture - How
long and how far - to how less confrontation and more collaboration.

The author: Nael G Bunni BSc, MSc, PhD, CEng, FICE, FIEI, FIStructE,
FCIArb, FIAE, MConsEI is a chartered engineer, mediator and registered
chartered arbitrator and has a distinguished career as a practitioner,
writer and academic (now Visiting Professor at Trinity College Dublin),
with a special interest in international and construction dispute resolution
and in Middle Eastern and Islamic countries.

Text and appendices: 14 pages.

PDF file size: 75k