Construction & Infrastructure

Construction counsel in the UAE

The UAE builds at a scale few markets match — under a legal regime few imports survive unmodified. FIDIC forms sit on top of a Civil Code that writes mandatory terms into every contract: decennial liability that cannot be excluded, liquidated damages a tribunal can reopen, and no statutory adjudication to fall back on. Neo Legal advises employers, contractors, subcontractors and consultants across the whole arc — the contract, the claim, the bond and the dispute.

Speak to our construction team → Start with FIDIC under UAE law
FIDIC · Muqawala
Common-law forms, Civil Code reality
DIAC · ICC
Arbitration-first dispute practice
Both sides
Employers & contractors, deal after deal
Est. 1891
The UAE practice of Cornwalls

What we do for you

Why UAE construction law is its own discipline

Three features make imported instincts dangerous here. The Civil Code overrides drafting: the muqawala provisions supply terms the parties never wrote, decennial liability is mandatory, and liquidated damages can be adjusted to actual loss. There is no statutory adjudication — no SOPA, no HGCRA — so payment protection is whatever the contract and your bond position give you. And disputes route differently: arbitration for most substantial contracts; Arabic-language court proceedings that pivot on a court-appointed expert for the rest. We practise the UAE version, not the imported one.

Who we act for

Employers and developers procuring projects and defending claims; main contractors making them; subcontractors caught between pay-when-paid clauses and site reality; engineers and consultants managing decennial and professional exposure; and investors buying into projects or distressed contractors — with M&A, tax and regulatory answered in-house, and Mandarin service for Chinese contractors and developers through our China Desk.

The construction bench

The practice is led by partner Richard Hutchings — FIDIC and bespoke contracts, variation and EOT claims, bonds and DIAC/ICC arbitration, having acted for developers, contractors, owners, government and insurers — with senior associate Anthony Blazevic across front-end packages, defective-works and termination disputes. Unpaid certificates and payment-chain recoveries run with partner Bill Moustafa, who brings more than 25 years of debt-recovery and credit-management experience, and property-side acquisitions and off-plan matters sit with partner Michael Mammen, recognised in Best Lawyers 2017–2024.

2026: the year the ground rules changed

Three regimes landed on UAE construction in a single year. Dubai’s contractor registration law (Law No. 7 of 2025) puts every contractor — free zones and DIFC included — onto a unified register with classification-based project ceilings and a compliance deadline of 8 January 2027. The Building Quality and Safety Law (No. 3 of 2026) creates a digital lifecycle record for every building and applies retroactively to existing stock. And the new Civil Code, effective 1 June 2026, refines decennial liability, gives latent defects their own regime with a one-year claim window, and reaches ongoing obligations under contracts signed years ago. For off-plan buyers caught in late handovers, see our delay and defects guide.

Construction law UAE — frequently asked questions

What does a construction lawyer do in the UAE?
Two halves of one practice. Before problems: drafting and negotiating construction contracts — FIDIC forms and their schedules of amendments, subcontracts, consultancy appointments — and structuring bonds, insurance and payment security. When problems arrive: preparing and defending variation, EOT and prolongation claims, advising on termination and decennial liability, resisting or making bond calls, and running disputes through DIAC or ICC arbitration or the UAE courts. The two halves are inseparable here, because the Civil Code writes mandatory terms into every contract whether the parties drafted them or not.
Are FIDIC contracts legally binding in the UAE?
Yes — FIDIC forms are the UAE market standard and fully enforceable, but they operate subject to the Civil Code. The muqawala provisions and other mandatory rules override inconsistent drafting: decennial liability cannot be excluded, liquidated damages can be adjusted to actual loss, and good-faith obligations colour how clauses apply. A FIDIC contract in the UAE never means quite what the unamended form says — see FIDIC under UAE law.
What is decennial liability and can we contract out of it?
The contractor and supervising engineer are jointly and severally liable for ten years from handover for collapse and for defects threatening structural stability or safety, with claims allowed up to three years from discovery. It is mandatory — exclusion clauses are void. It cannot be contracted out of, but it can be managed: insurance, subcontractor indemnities, scope discipline on the supervision role. See the decennial liability guide.
Can an employer call our performance bond without proving default?
If the bond is on-demand — as most UAE performance bonds are — the bank generally pays on a compliant demand without investigating the dispute. Remedies exist: courts can restrain demonstrably abusive or fraudulent calls, and an unjustified call may be actionable under the contract. But the real protections are set at drafting: wording, expiry, reduction mechanics and contractual conditions on calls. See bonds and guarantees.
Should our dispute go to arbitration or the UAE courts?
Usually the contract already decided — most substantial UAE construction contracts choose DIAC or ICC arbitration: construction-literate tribunals, English proceedings, New York Convention enforcement. Court proceedings run in Arabic and typically turn on a court-appointed expert's report, which changes strategy completely. We run arbitration directly and manage onshore court work through instructed local advocates. See disputes in the UAE.
Is there statutory adjudication or security of payment in the UAE?
No — unlike Australia, the UK or Singapore, the UAE has no statutory adjudication or security-of-payment regime. Payment protection is contractual: certification mechanics, suspension rights, payment security, and ultimately claims in arbitration or court. That absence makes front-end drafting the contractor's real security of payment — and it is where we spend most of our preventative effort.
The construction library
FIDIC Under UAE Law
What survives the Civil Code — and what doesn't.
Decennial Liability
The ten-year risk you cannot exclude.
Claims, Variations & EOT
Building claims that survive scrutiny.
Construction Disputes
DIAC, the court-expert system and enforcement.

A contract to sign, a claim to make,
or a bond under threat?

Tell us where the project stands. We will map the position under the contract and the Civil Code — and the fastest route to the outcome you need.

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