Finally, the Master Builder is here to save us.

This is a serious and meaningful thread. I have three questions related to the contractual issues.

(1) Say the Employer is pressuring the Main Contractor to start work. Is there a problem in the issue of a Letter of Intent?

(2) If a Letter of Intent is issued with a limit of RM1 million, is the employer obliged to pay a higher sum after allowing a contractor to exceed the limit?

(3) Can pre-contract minutes during the tender stage form a binding contract?

Are you a fresh Civil Engineer?

RC Wall is a short form of the phrase Reinforced Concrete Wall, a type of concrete shear wall in which reinforcement bars (a.k.a. rebars) have been incorporated into the concrete matrix to strengthen the tensile strength of the concrete wall that would otherwise be brittle.



Parapet wall is a low wall usually constructed along the edge of a roof, balcony, or walkway. Commonly used to protect people against accidental falls.



Retaining wall is a structural encasement constructed to hold back soil, water, or materials. Retaining walls are used to increase the amount of level usable building area, retaining soil at a higher level, and preventing it from encroaching into the building or another useable area.

Should be the other way around — CONTRACTOR.

The common excuse for the issue of the letter is that the employer cannot wait the additional few days necessary for the preparation and execution of a formal contract. When requesting for a simple letter of acceptance of the contractor’s tender rather than a letter of intent, we suspect there is something more substantial preventing the issue of an acceptance letter with a few words and sentences. We are unsure whether it may be a delay in obtaining funding for the whole project or perhaps contractor’s tender was “still relatively high” and reduction negotiations with the Employer's in-house contractors are in progress.

(1a) If the Employer cannot give site possession on the due date, can the matter be resolved by the Architect giving an instruction to postpone the Works as per the Contract?

(1b) If the Architect does not grant Time Extension, and the Contractor is required to perform accelerated Works to catch up with the project’s completion schedule, can the Contractor use the Employer’s delay in giving the site possession as a reason to justify a claim for VO?

I do appreciate iwubpreve's initiative to help young engineers, procurement officers, and project managers. This is a meaningful thread to invite seasoned people from different engineering disciplines or professional specializations on the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) industry, with emphasis on the free exchange of information, and opinions with respect, and providing a forum, open to all users, for the discussion of problems that may affect the industry.

It remains an indisputable fact that concrete has a high compressive strength and a very low tensile strength, thus, requiring the use of tensile reinforcing. Reinforced concrete is a structure that achieves excellent chemical adhesion between the steel and the concrete, wherein the steel bars provide the tensile strength lacking in the concrete. This beautiful engineering discovery allows both materials act together as a unit in resisting compressive and tensile stresses in modern buildings. In fact, steel reinforcing is also capable of resisting compression forces and sometimes is used in columns.



This post has been edited by Critical_Fallacy: Oct 18 2014, 04:24 AM

Eh? Isn't the dummy flagman cheaper?

Thanks for your explanations. Here are some issues related to general contractual matters:

(1) I'm sure you had heard cases where some construction materials were stolen. If the employer has paid for materials on site which are subsequently stolen, who is liable in most cases?

(2) Some contracts call for Contractors to carry out Architect’s instructions forthwith and many Architects think that the Contractor, on receipt of the instruction, must immediately carry it out. If a contractor must do something ‘forthwith’, how quickly should the contractor interpret that?

(3) There is a ‘higher’ clause in the contract saying that, “When the language of a contract does not expressly, or by necessary implication, fix any time for the performance of a contractual obligation, the law implies that it shall be performed in a reasonable time. The rule is of general application...” How ‘reasonable’ is a reasonable time?

Good reply and informative! The down-to-earth discussions in this thread make it a good candidacy for pinning. May suggest to the mods --> munkeyflo & dkk.

(1) Does the Contractor have a duty to draw attention to an error on the Architect’s drawing? Some tricky Subcontractors would want to claim against the Main Contractor for loss caused to them due to the Architect’s alleged breach of their obligation to the Employer to provide accurate construction information for the Employer’s Requirements. Some parties argue that a contractor did have a duty to warn the architect if it is ‘believed’ that there, in ‘ordinary’ circumstances, was a ‘serious’ defect in the design. The three keywords are interpreted differently by different parties depending upon the circumstances.

Thanks!

(1) Can the Main Contractor refuse to comply with an Architect’s instruction which requires the acceptance of the quotation of a Sub-contractor chosen by the Architect?

(2) If the Employer gives instructions on site directly to the contractor, must the Contract follow-up with the Architect to confirm those instructions in writing? or just ?

(3) Does the Clerk of Works has the power stop the Works?

Uniform Building by-Laws 1984 - Clause 84



I remember staying in a room next to the bathroom on a Condo in Penang 3 years ago. Guess what? At night the ammonia odor seeped into the room from the wall.

Do you mean the work method statement?

Bro, I understand just how you feel as I went through the experience.

Sometimes, you have to kawan-baik² with the Resident Engineers.

Just wondering...

(1) Is the Contractor liable for design produced by a nominated sub-contractor?

(2) If the Architect’s design is faulty, but the Contractor builds it badly, who is liable?

(3) Say a contractor, working under a PAM'98 contract, knows broadly what is required, but does not have drawings or specification which shows precisely what is required. So, the contractor thinks it knows what to do and carries on with the work to its own detail. Subsequently, the detail fails with serious consequences. For example, it might be a badly constructed roof detail, an inadequate stanchion base or perhaps wrongly positioned heating pipes. Is the Contractor liable for something done on its own initiative?

Are you working under Gamuda in Dubai?

Wrong information, impracticable designs, or unclear specifications. Yup, these problems are faced by many suppliers as well as the procurement officers. Some purchase requests made by the incompetent/young Engineers with incomplete specifications on the BQ, are simply insufficient detail for the purchaser to source the right item or the supplier to provide an accurate quote.

Some Project Managers who authorize the purchase requests also do not check the required specification carefully. For example, young engineers often don't attention to the I-beams that are available in a variety of standard sizes and thickness. The same for piping standards ASTM API BS JIS DIN. When the material is delayed, they will play the blame game.

Besides, the person who performs the material take-offs does not communicate with the Engineers. Engineer obtains the BQ from them and directly fax the raw BQ (with Company chop) to the Suppliers.

This post has been edited by Critical_Fallacy: Oct 21 2014, 04:54 PM

The time to erect a Prefab building is fast. I've seen how they erected McDonald's at Kulim Landmark Central in 2012.

Try this!

M+W High Tech Projects Malaysia Sdn Bhd
20th Floor, Unit A, Gurney Tower
No 18 Persiaran Gurney
10250 Penang, Malaysia
Phone +604-370-4500
Fax +604-370-4510

Or this:

Lead Management Engineering (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
No. 124/125 Jalan Persiaran 6,
Kulim Avenue, Kulim Hi Tech Park,
09000 Kulim, Kedah
Tel: +604 410 2128
Fax: +604 484 6902

Should be able to command your expected salary.

BlueScope Lysaght?

I feel that fondo's true question is "How can a contractor claim for disruption of work?"

Disruption often affects non-critical parts of a project, but not to the extent that those parts become critical. If a contractor was kept on site for longer than the contract period, it used to be accepted that the contractor would be able to recover overhead costs and loss of profit for the whole of the period of delay, provided that the delay or disruption of work was not due to its own fault of course.

Commonly, a contractor’s claim for delay or disruption relies on comparing anticipated with actual labor costs. This approach, however, is lacking in any kind of merit because there may be many reasons for the costs of labor being greater than the contractor anticipated at tender stage, other than reasons for which the employer or the architect can be held accountable.

An acceptable method of evaluating disruption is to compare: the value to the contractor of the work done per man during a period of no disruption, with the value per man doing the disrupted period, and then to apply the ratio obtained to the total cost of labor. It is obvious that, if this method is to work, the defendant (Employer / Architect) may argue that it must be possible to isolate a period free from disruption.