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EXPERT VOICE
ALEC
When will the industry get back to basics? UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Barry Lewis, ALEC’s managing director, asks when the construction industry will change its ways July 2019 | MEConstructionNews.com
T
he current trading environment is not sustainable for any of the stakeholders, and the developers are struggling to fund and deliver quality on time and move product. Designers are unable to deliver a complete and fully coordinated design, or be compensated for continual change and revalidation of their design. Main contractors are being procured on the basis that they are given complete and coordinated designs, but with contracts and specifications
that conflict with that premise, and are used to dump the omissions and shortfalls on main contractors and the supply chain. The joint procurement strategies allow client procurement teams to appoint subcontractors and suppliers who are not necessarily aligned contractually or commercially, or financially capable of delivering the scope they are being appointed for, let alone carry the financial burden of variations and time extensions to contracts that are not administered in a timely manner.