İstanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Law and Schellenberg Wittmer. co-organized the second of the Istanbul International Construction Law Conferences on April 21, 2017. The overall approach of the conference titled "Delays in International Construction – New Approaches to an Eternal Issue", was guided by the consistent philosophy of the Istanbul International Construction Law Conferences project: to foster in-depth discussions among construction practitioners for construction practitioners, with valuable guidance and insights from academia.
Due to their ever-increasing size and technical complexity, it is nowadays uncommon for international construction projects not to experience delays – some minor, some huge. In turn, such delays can have a significant impact on the costs of projects, and are frequently a major cause of disputes. For these reasons, delays are among the most intensely debated subjects in the industry. Within this one-day conference, owners as well as contractor companies, specialized lawyers and the academia came together in order to shed new light and gave practice-oriented insights on selected issues relating to delays.
In the first session chaired by Prof. Dr. Yeşim M. Atamer from İstanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Law, David Falkenstern from Blackrock Expert Services in London spoke on best practices in “Managing Delay-Related Disputes in the Course of a Project” and Didem Mutlu and Kürşat Kocakahyaoğlu from ENERJİSA gave on overview on “Internal Time Management and Early Warning Systems for Owners”. In the second session chaired by Elliott Geisinger from Schellenberg Wittmer, Geoff Bewsey from HKA, London offered “The Delay Expert's View” and Professor Doug Jones from Clayton Utz, Sydney “The Arbitrator’s View” on how to measure delays and determine causes of delay, and on what really convinces arbitral tribunals as evidence.
The third session was chaired by the President of ISTAC Arbitration Centre Prof. Dr. Ziya Akıncı from Galatasaray University Faculty of Law. In this session Kim Rosenberg from Freshfields, Dubai and Prof. Dr. Yeşim M. Atamer gave both a comparative overview on “Concurrent Delays in the Law” and “Liquidated Damages and Penalties in the Law” respectively. Member of FIDIC Executive Committee Aisha Nadar from Advokatfirman Runeland AB, Stockholm then discussed “Concurrent Delays, Liquidated Damages and Penalties in the FIDIC Forms of Contract”.
In the fourth and last session chaired by Prof. Dr. Nuray Ekşi from Yeditepe University Faculty of Law, the issue of delays in dispute prevention and dispute resolution was discussed. Gökhan Gelişen from TAV Airports Holding presented the “Industry Approaches to Dispute Prevention and Dispute Management in Relation to Delays”, Yasemin Çetinel from Çetinel Law Firm and Country Representative for Turkey for DRBF discussed “The Role of Dispute Review Boards for Early Dispute Management and Resolution in Relation to Delays” and finally Dr. Christopher Boog from Schellenberg Wittmer tried to find out if there Isn't There a Better Way to Handle Delays in Arbitration?”.
At the end of each session, the presenters as well as the practitioners had the opportunity to discuss examples from practice and exchange ideas.
İstanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Law and Schellenberg Wittmer. would like to thank DRBF, İNTES, ISTAC Arbitration Centre, Association of Turkish Consulting Engineers and Architects, Turkish Contractors Association for their contributions to the dissemination of this conference.
