Construction businesses live and die on records. The contracts are long, the notice requirements are strict, and entitlement that is not documented at the time is generally entitlement that cannot be recovered later.
Dubai Legal Expert advises contractors, subcontractors, consultants and developers across the UAE on contracts, claims, defects and the regulatory obligations that attach to construction activity.
Most significant UAE projects run on FIDIC based or bespoke forms with detailed notice, certification and determination mechanics. Those mechanics decide entitlement as much as the underlying facts do.
Alongside contract, UAE law imposes decennial liability on contractors and supervising engineers for structural defects for a ten year period from handover, which is a statutory exposure that cannot be contracted away.
Main contracts, subcontracts and consultancy agreements reviewed before signature, focused on risk allocation.
Extension of time, prolongation and variation claims prepared with programme and quantum evidence.
Defect claims and defence, including structural defect exposure within the statutory period.
Disputes over certified sums, withheld payment, retention release and final account.
Licensing and classification, site safety obligations and workforce documentation.
Notice and condition precedent requirements mapped so entitlement is preserved as work proceeds.
Advice on the records to keep contemporaneously, since delay claims are won on programme evidence.
Structural defect liability managed through documentation, insurance and subcontract back to back terms.
Certified sums, retention and final account balances pursued through the correct contractual route.
Subcontracts aligned with the main contract so risk does not stop at the wrong point in the chain.
Whether the claim proceeds through determination, arbitration or the courts identified early.
A contractor who kept daily records, issued notices on time and maintained an updated programme is in a fundamentally different position from one with the same facts and no documentation. The second contractor usually loses.
We work with construction clients on the record keeping regime as much as on the disputes, because the cheapest claim is the one that is fully documented before anyone realises there will be a claim.
A structured route from review through documentation to dispute support.
The contract, subcontracts and consultancy agreements are reviewed and the notice mechanics mapped.
We advise on the contemporaneous records required to support entitlement as the project proceeds.
Delay, variation and payment claims are prepared with programme and quantum evidence.
Claims are pursued through the contractual determination and negotiation stages first.
Where unresolved, arbitration or court proceedings are commenced with the evidence prepared.
Defect and decennial exposure is managed through the liability period with proper documentation.
UAE law imposes liability on contractors and supervising engineers for structural defects for ten years from handover, subject to the statutory conditions.
A contractual requirement to give notice within a set period as a precondition to entitlement, and missing it can defeat a valid claim.
Through programme analysis showing the effect of the delaying events on the critical path, supported by contemporaneous records.
Yes, subject to the contract release mechanism, and withheld retention is a common component of final account claims.
Many major UAE construction contracts provide for arbitration, often after an engineer determination or amicable settlement step.
Generally yes. Back to back alignment prevents the contractor carrying risk it has passed down in principle but not in drafting.
Bring us the contract and the notices and we will tell you what is realistically recoverable. The first consultation is free.
Dubai Legal Experts provides trusted legal advocacy across the UAE with experienced lawyers and clear legal guidance.
