ADBP present Dredging Contract Dispute Avoidance Paper at CEDA Dredging Days 2015
Two members of Anthony D Bates Partnership
(ADBP), Colm Sheehan and Martin Maloney, recently drafted a paper pertaining to
the field of dispute avoidance in dredging projects. The paper was based on the
decades of experience garnered by the ADBP dredging consultancy in over 400
projects. This paper was accepted and was recently presented to the delegates
at CEDA Dredging Days in Rotterdam.
Dredging is a unique and niche
industry of civil engineering and therefore has distinctive associated issues. The
meticulous drafting of a dredging contract document is crucial in ensuring that
the works are completed as required by the client but also that all parties are
aware of the conditions under which the works are tendered and must be
undertaken. While general conditions of contract are sufficient to provide the
basis of a contract, detailed and experienced dredging knowledge is required to
ensure the specification of the works is adequate to allow contractors to develop
appropriate work method statements for the specific site and tender on a fully
informed basis. Every endeavour must be made to remove contractual ambiguity. The
comprehensive paper assesses the specification for each of the key topics that
can result in disputes or claims. These include:
·
Dredged material specification;
·
Measurement specification;
·
Tolerance and slope specification;
·
Overflow and sedimentation specification;
·
Levelling specification;
·
Data provision specification;
·
Demurrage specification;
·
Volume variation specification.
Whilst a majority of disputes are
due to geotechnical discrepancies all of the above topics are also potential
causes of grievances. By ensuring that each of the above topics is adequately
defined in the contract the majority of disputes can be eliminated or at least minimised.
Also, timely awareness of these issues are fundamental to the drafting of the
dredging contract as they may influence baseline activities required to be
undertaken well in advance of the publication of any contract. Furthermore, an adequately
specified dredging contract will remove ambiguity, allowing more balanced and competitive
tendering. In conjunction with succinctly highlighting the specific issues in
each of the topics above, their potential impacts were also discussed.
For further information please
contact [email protected]
Example, Unforeseen boulder clay can severely hinder a
project
Example of cutter head debris; also may result in
increased clay clogging