Yeşim M. Atamer, Ece Baş Süzel and Elliott Geisinger (Eds.), Uluslararası İnşaat Sözleşmelerinde Gecikme ve Temerrüt – Değişmeyen Bir Soruna Yeni Yaklaşımlar (Delays in International Construction – New Approaches to an Eternal Issue), İstanbul Uluslararası İnşaat Hukuku Konferansları Serisi – II (İstanbul International Construction Law Conferences Series - II), XII Levha Publishers, 2018, XXXIV + 326 pp.
On 21 February 2015 İstanbul Bilgi University and Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd had co-organized a conference on International Construction Contracts and Dispute Resolution. This conference became the initiator of a long and fruitful cooperation between the two institutions. Inspired by the very positive feedback we got from the participants of our first conference we decided to launch the Istanbul International Construction Law Conferences (https://construction-law.bilgi.edu.tr). Our second conference in this series took place 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 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. This book is the collection of papers written by the speakers.
The first section of the book is dedicated to the industry´s perspective and tools on time management. David Falkenstern and İlke Şahin from Blackrock Expert Services in London explains best practices in managing delay-related disputes in the course of a project whereas Didem Mutlu and Kürşat Kocakahyaoğlu from ENERJİSA give an overview on internal time management and early warning systems for owners. The second section focuses on what really convinces arbitral tribunals as evidence. Here Geoff Bewsey from HKA, London offers the delay expert´s view regarding measurement of delays and determining causes of delay.
In the third section of the book some problematic contractual terms relating to delay are discussed at length. First, Kim Rosenberg from Freshfields, Dubai gives a comparative overview on concurrent delays in the law. This article is followed by Prof. Dr. Yeşim M. Atamer´s comparative contribution on liquidated damages and penalties. Finally, member of FIDIC Executive Committee Aisha Nadar from Advokatfirman Runeland AB, Stockholm discusses the approach of the FIDIC Forms of Contract towards concurrent delays, liquidated damages and penalties clauses.
In the fourth and last section, the issue of delays in dispute prevention and dispute resolution are discussed. Gökhan Gelişen from TAV Airports Holding presents 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 discusses the role of dispute review boards for early dispute management and resolution in relation to delays, and finally Dr. Christopher Boog from Schellenberg Wittmer tries to find out if there isn´t a better way to handle delays in arbitration.
We very much hope that this collection of essays representing the views of practitioners as well as professionals of the construction world will be received with interest. On this occasion, we would like to thank several institutions and individuals who made this event as well as the publication possible. First of all, we thank the speakers for their contributions to the conference as well as the making of this book. The Association of Turkish Consulting Engineers and Architects, DRBF, INTES, ISTAC Arbitration Centre, and Turkish Contractors Association kindly helped to disseminating this conference. Research assistants Yasemin Kabaklıoğlu Arslanyürek, Gözde Hatipoğlu, Gökçe Kurtulan and Zeynep Damla Taşkın at Istanbul Bilgi University carried all the burden of organizing this conference, together with Koray Özkan from Delano Tourism - we are indebted to them. Zeynep Damla Taşkın has additionally taken over the fastidious work of putting this book together. We are grateful to her, and Erol Öz and Sevil Öcalan from On İki Levha Publishing for bearing with our endless requests for changes.
Yeşim M. Atamer | Ece Baş Süzel | Elliott Geisinger
Istanbul/Geneva, February 2018
