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Work Suspension

6 replies [Last post]
Mon, 2010-04-19 14:13
Mohammed Owais
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My Company’s role in one project is MEP Subcontractor. GC (General Contractor) suspend all the works in the project due to his disputes with the owner regarding delay penalty which the owner decided to apply to GC and deduct its full amount from the GC next running bill. The suspension period now is exceeding more than 100 days and we don’t have any idea when the GC will resume the work in the project.
If Our Contract is not under FIDIC contract and there is no suspension provision in the contract agreement, is there any chance for us as a subcontractor to terminate our contract with GC after this long suspension period then claim him with all related damages?
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Replies

Mon, 2010-04-26 09:44
#1
Sajid Balma
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Joined: 8 Jun 2007
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"he, refuses to grant us an authorization to claim directly the owner to pay us our due invoice deducting from his dues with the owner"
With reference to your above note, I don’t think the GC has any right to garnt "authorization" for your running invoices.

What he might meant that you can not raise invoices directly to the Employer. But, he cannot deny your right to raise invoices to him. So, you should keep on raising invoices as per your payment cycles. This will be suplemntary evidence that may proved quite substantial when you go to ADR or DAB.

Check if you have any clause that give you entitlement to terminate the contract on non-payment.

Best of luck.
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Sat, 2010-04-24 11:01
#2
Geoffrey Boulton
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Hi Mohammed.

Follow Mike’s advice it is logical and sound

1). Check your contract conditions as regards to “suspension of work”. I am not altogether sure but if your Contract does not have a clause for suspension you will continue until such time as works are resumed.
Legal advice must be sought before you cease work though. Depending on which country this may in itself be illegal.

2) Keep records of all the dates of the delay and report these each week and month report.

3). Give formal notice of the delays every week month with cumulative running total i.e. written letters.

4). Along with the notice provide statement of cumulative costs – relating to the delay only.

If you have already made attempts to resolve the issue with your client and have not achieved anything satisfactory it would be time to take legal advice on your options going forward. You have a duty of care and control for your portion of the work until you have completed and you do not want this responsibility if you are not getting paid.

Geoff
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Thu, 2010-04-22 02:33
#3
Samer Zawaydeh
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Joined: 3 Aug 2008
Posts: 1664
Groups: Civil Engineering, Regional Representatives
Dear Mohammed,

If you are working under FIDIC, it has a clear clause called "Evidence of Payment". That means that the GC must show evidence that they paid all his committments reported and invoiced in the previous bill before the new bill is approved for payment.

You can ask the Owner for a meeting officially, and explain to them your situation. During that meeting, you can ask the Owner about this particular clause, and inform them that you want to submit a letter with the project financial cash flow.

You will need to get some good legal advice as well. I would suggest that you check for experts in this matter. You can use the DAB under FIDIC, then you can get a resolution within a year. This you can take to court, if the problem persists. Your management needs to decide if the disputed amount is worth the help of other professionals outside your organization. Once the Technical and Construction parts are over, it is now finance, management and legal.

With kind regards,

Samer
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Wed, 2010-04-21 16:03
#4
Mohammed Owais
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Joined: 11 Mar 2005
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Thank you all for your advices

Samer: we tried to settle the dispute amicably but unfortunately we failed.

GC refuses to pay us the due running bill (because our payments term is back to back) and with same time he, refuses to grant us an authorization to claim directly the owner to pay us our due invoice deducting from his dues with the owner
So how long we should to wait the GC to solve his problem with the owner and get be paid his due invoice then pay us and resume the work? And what is the action we should to take after all this long suspension?
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Mon, 2010-04-19 15:57
#5
Samer Zawaydeh
User offline. Last seen 5 years 7 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 3 Aug 2008
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Groups: Civil Engineering, Regional Representatives
Dear Mohammad,

Follow Mike’s advice.

You need to know exactly what are the COC that you signed. When the dust settles down, the only thing that will work is documentation.

So make sure that you are following your COC. And start reading the UAE CIVIL LAW, just in case you need it. You also have the DAB in UAE, so give them a call and check what they can offer.

The size of the problem depends on the size of the project, and the balance sheet. So the decision to pursue the dispute resolution methods depends on how much money you are expecting to get back from the contract.

Make sure that you have legal coverage as well. If the case goes to courts (by the request of any party), you are a part of it.

With kind regards,

Samer
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Mon, 2010-04-19 15:29
#6
Mike Testro
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Hi Mohammed.

Check your contract conditions as to suspension of work.

Do not suspend work until you have been given expert legal advice as to the potential consequences.

As far as your programme is concerned put all the stoppage days on a calendar - as non work days - and give notice of delay every reporting period.

Keep a record of all your costs regarding loss and expence and report it every week.

Make sure your delay notices are in place.

Good luck

Mike Testro
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