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Construction Engineering Law

Masters in Civil Engineering

Construction Engineering Law

Overview

Engineering projects are technical endeavors that are performed by group of trade professional that join their hands together. These participants are bounded by legal contracts to perform their roles and responsibilities. Also there are specific laws, codes and regulations controlling the industries and their operations. In order to perform efficiently, engineers should be aware of the legal implications of all these contractual aspects, laws, and their inferences. The need for understanding these laws and regulations, being able to efficiently interpret laws, and implementation of engineering projects require special skill sets for the engineers that are not taught in regular engineering programs. Moreover, with the increasing globalization of the economies, new international and regional ventures, such as; China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), One Belt One Road (OBOR), Asia Infrastructure Development Bank (AIDB) etc. and increasing opportunities for foreign direct investments (FDI), the technical understanding of legal aspects, codes, and regulations have become much more essential and challenging for engineers in order to be competitive in the market. With the aim of enhancing the capacity of engineers regarding legal aspects of engineering application, it is proposed that NED University of Engineering & Technology introduce a specialized degree program titled Masters of Engineering Civil (M.Engg.) Specialization in Construction Engineering Law. In this regards, this document proposes details of Masters of Engineering Civil (M.Engg.) Specialization in Construction Engineering Law. The proposed program has been tailored to give construction professionals in building, construction, engineering, public owner organizations, and associated industries the legal knowledge to take the next step in their careers.

Objectives

Graduates of this program will be able to perform effectively and accurately in areas of Construction Engineering law. Specifically, the graduates

of this program will;

i. Understand knowledge of relevant legal aspects in Construction Engineering.

ii. Analyze practical and theoretical problems in order to provide structured solutions to legal issues in Construction Engineering.

iii. Communicate, write, and document clearly regarding the laws and its applications to the real construction project issues.

 

Compulsory Courses

The legal systems: Sources of law and court system;  Basic  Principles  of  Contract  law; Sale of  Goods Laws;  Business Organizations;  Money  and Banking  Laws; Health and Safety at Work; Agency; Property Law;  Taxation Law; Contracts,  Negligence, and Malpractice; Complaints, Motions, Trials, and Appeals; Partnership, Corporations, and Liability for the Acts of Others; Employment Law;   Bankruptcy;   Act   of   1976 to   make provision for the regulation of the engineering profession; Other pertinent laws.

Overview  of  Intellectual  Property  Law; The Use of Intellectual Property in Business; Introduction to Patents; Obtaining Information from a Patent; Patentable Subject Matter  and Utility;  Requirement of Non-Obviousness for Patentability; The Patenting Process  and Patent  Application; Design  Patents;  Protection  of  information and    communication related patents; Business method protection; Trademark; Ethical Reasoning and ethics for  engineer ethics,  norms  and  codes of   professional conduct; Workplace rights and responsibilities; Ethics and research misconduct, authorship credits etc.

Principles  of  construction  contracts  (basics, doctrines, and elements of contract.); Review of  types  of  construction contract  (DB, DBB, CMAA, CM@Risk); Overview of Standard forms of  Contracts  (PEC,  AIA,  FIDIC  etc.); Design liability of engineers and contractors; Finance and management of contracts; Contractual obligations of employer, architect/engineer, and contractors; Concepts and processes in construction law including procurement; Right to payment, time, completion  and liquidated  damages;  Public works procurement and tendering procedures; PPRA regulations, SPPRA regulations;  New and emerging  options  including,  integrated project delivery, public private partnerships, concessions and joint ventures, early and collaborative working, frameworks and alliances; Subcontracting and supply contracts; overview of international perspective of contracts and procurement.

Contract Administration for Claims and Claims Avoidance; Types of Claims; Construction contact errors; Unforeseen and changed conditions; Delays, disruptions, acceleration, termination, and proving of claims; Extension of  time  claims;  Methods  of  Delay  Analysis (Use of CPM  techniques, Forensic Schedule analysis, window analysis, etc.); Claim for Additional Payments and its calculations; Construction claims related documentation; Claims preparation and presentation; Essential Elements of a Successful Claim; International perspective of construction claims.

Introduction to Construction Disputes; Starting point, causes and reasons of arise of disputes; Role of the Engineer in dispute avoidance; Dispute avoidance; Negotiation; Mediation; Arbitration ; Expert determination ; Early neutral evaluation ; Procedures  of dispute resolution as per PEC rules, FIDIC,  AIA and comparison among the  requirements.; Overview of  Arbitration law in Pakistan and Arbitration Act  of  1940;   Dispute review and resolution boards; Litigation ; Multi-party Dispute Resolution.

Elective Courses

An  Overview  of  Environmental  Law  and its Development; Legal and Administrative; Structures for  their Implementation from the International, Regional and National Perspectives; Regulations and laws in Pakistan and the Laws of Selected Countries; Project  Planning  Applications,  Permissions and Other Consents;  Planning and Pollution Control;  Site  Hazards,  nuisance  and waste management; Environmental Impact Assessment; Environmental Crisis Management  ; Application of Policy Issues in Environmental Management  ; Political Economy  of Environmental Regulations; Case studies.

The  role  of  specifications  and construction project   documents;    Relationship   between drawings    and   specifications;    Types    of specifications; Organization and formatting of specifications; Specification writing principles. Bidding    documents, general    conditions, special conditions; Bonds,  guarantees   and warranties writing; Specification resources and writing  procedures;  Modifications  to  bidding and  contract  documents;   Computer  Aided; Specifications writing; Specifications and plan interpretation; Case studies.

Case study and analysis of reported appellate decisions on common construction law issues on topics such as tort or negligence; Quantum merit;  privity  of contract, flow  down   clauses; suspension and termination; cases related to funding,   penalty   clauses;   design   liability; concurrent  delays;  insurance  and bonding; landmark cases that lead to development of new legal doctrines (eg: Severin; Spearin doctrines); licensing; bid disputes; contract issues; construction lien law; surety problems; and unresolved claims; international construction project related case studies

Study of building codes required at city, provincial, and federal levels and their relation to quality control. These may include (but not limited to): Conduct and Consulting Byelaws; Construction and Operations Engineering Works Byelaws; Code of Ethics and Conduct; Building Code of Pakistan; Building Code of Pakistan-Energy Provisions; Building Code of Pakistan Fire Safety Provisions; Building Control and Town Planning Regulations; Land Regulations; Different Development

Authorities and their regulations; Overview of Regional Codes; Overview of International Codes; Comparative assessment of national vs. international codes and regulations.

Risk  Management Essentials;  Risk  and legal  aspects during project inception, feasibility and financing, procurement  model selection; Risk identification and mitigation  strategies  employed  during  the  delivery phase and their role in avoiding unnecessary disputation; Allocation of Risks through Contracts; Philosophies and commercial drivers affecting risk allocation  in contracts  and consultancy  agreements; Security for performance mechanisms and instruments; Risk Insurance mechanisms in Construction; Insurance products available to the construction industry and related laws; International best practices in Risk insurance; Managing sub-contract/suppliers risk; Need for documentation, written procedures and maintenance of risk records; Construction Law & Risk Management Cases Studies

International   Construction   Projects;   Typical Hazards in International Construction Business;   Civil    law   vs.   Common Law; Common  delivery methods  and international construction; Unification and standardization in International Construction Projects; Aspects of Price, time variations, and claims; FIDIC Contracts; AIA Contracts; Overview of Construction  terms  in  different  languages, such as;  Chinese,  Czech, English,  French, German, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish; The  influence of  national culture  on the  preparation,  evaluation  and negotiation of time and money claims on international construction projects; International Projects Dispute Resolution; Projects funded by International Funding Agencies (World Bank, ADB, AIDB); Case studies

Introduction to Forensic Engineering; Competencies and Qualifications of Forensic Engineers: qualifications, attributes competencies, technical skills, legal knowledge, detective skills, communication skills, personality characteristics etc. The Standard of Care: expert testimony, methods, validity, reliability, Delphi process of expert consensus; Civil Engineering Investigations: activities in investigation, site investigation, sampling and collection of evidence, preliminary findings, equipment and its selection, recording observations, photography, sample removal, eyewitness account, field tests, document collection and review, theoretical analysis, laboratory tests and investigation, office investigations determination of procedural responsibilities, reports; Ethics of Forensic Engineering: code of ethics, solicitation of work, contract process, testimony ethics, damage caused by unethical conduct, ethical standards for publication, interaction with media; The Legal Forum: role of forensic engineer as a witness in mediation and litigation, admissibility of testimony by forensic engineers, rules of evidence and testimony, testimony in courts and at deposition (preparation, demeanor, speech, direct examination, cross examination etc.), codes and guidelines (local and international) for professionals engaged as experts; The Business of Forensic Engineering: readiness, marketing, decisions, liability, insurance individual and group practice; National and International Case Studies.

Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Projects, Need and Importance; Establishing a PPP Framework (Legal and Administrative); Defining the PPP process; Role of the Legislature; Project Identification and PPP Screening; Appraising PPP Projects; 

Assessing Legal Feasibility; Assessing Technical, Commercial, Environmental & Social Feasibility; Structuring and Drafting the Tender & Contract Documents; Testing, Marketing and Communicating the Project; before Project Launch; Tendering and; Awarding the Project Strategy, Delivery & Commission; Managing the Contract Operations and Handback; Global Trends; national and international case study(s).