SYNOPSIS

Disputes between contractor and the client are all too common in construction contracts. To certain extent, it is said that disputes are inevitable in construction projects which predominantly arise from the complexity and magnitude of the works involved, multiple contracting parties, poorly prepared and executed contract documents, financial issues and communication problems. Any one of these factors could lead to time overrun, increased costs, and a breakdown in the parties’ common objective to complete the project.

Problems arising from construction contracts could be attributable to multiple parties involved in the construction works for example the Contractor, Employer, Consultant, Architect, Nominated Sub-contractor, third party contractor etc. The common problems that the Employers and Contractors encounter in the course of their work are numerous, such as:

• What are the common breaches of Employers and Contractors?
• Does letter of intent bind the parties, and if so, under what conditions?
• What are the liabilities of an Engineer or Architect as far as design is concerned under a
   conventional contract and a Design and Build contract?
• Is Employer bound by the information and data provided in tender document?
• What does it mean by progressing the work regularly and diligently?
• Is the extension of time clause for the benefit of the Employer or Contractor?
• Does the Employer need to prove his actual loss in order to impose liquidated damages?
• Can the calling of an on-demand performance bond be stopped by the Contractor?
• What are the issues need to be taken note of in an adjudication proceeding?

This course will provide a detailed analysis to the above problems and their related issues.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. Lai Sze Ching graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Malaya. He also holds LL.B degree from the University of London and LL.M from the University of Malaya, majoring in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration Law, Remedy and Construction Law. In addition, he also holds a Certificate of Legal Practice from the Qualifying Board of Malaysia.
Ir. Lai has more than 30 years working experience in the field of construction and property development. He is currently the Managing Director of a consulting firm involved in Project and Contract Management and Contractual Claims. Ir. Lai had been invited to deliver papers on construction, water supply and sewage treatment in various international seminars and conferences. He had also written various articles on ADR, Arbitration and Construction disputes and had conducted talks on Law for Engineers and on Construction Law to local companies and Universities.

Being an accreditator of Engineering Accreditation Council Malaysia, he is also actively involved in the accreditation of local engineering programmes.He is currently a member of the Industry Advisory Panel for Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and Multimedia University. Ir. Lai is also appointed as the Student Ambassador for the External Law Programme of University of London. He is empaneled in the panel of Asia International Arbitration Centre (Arbitrator, Adjudicator & Mediator), Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (Arbitrator & Mediator), Borneo International Centre of Arbitration and Mediation (Arbitrator & Mediator), The Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators (Arbitrator) and IEM (Arbitrator).