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From 18-20 October, Limassol will host the AIJA seminar “Property developers, architects, civil engineers – contractual questions, environmental challenges and current trends” at the hotel Crowne Plaza.
Cyprus is fast becoming an emerging destination for business and professional services. The success of the island is due to the progressive legislation, regulatory environment and strong network of financial and professional services providers. Its strategic location at the crossroads of three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa - makes it a great investment hub. This makes Cyprus and the city of Limassol ideal business locations for professional services providers, real estate development and energy consultants and lawyers.
To find out more about the seminar, we asked Bernd Hauck, one of the Organising Committee Members at AIJA and Partner at Kellerhals Carrard.
Q1: What are the main highlights of the seminar?
The seminar is a great event not only for construction, real estate, and environmental and energy lawyers. The scientific programme covers questions of contract law (especially consultancy agreements), insurance contracts and environmental challenges. Furthermore, Building Information Modelling (BIM), THE hot topic in the construction industry will be discussed. The scientific part of the seminar will be closed by two panels on liability, respectively litigation and arbitration.
The social programme promises to be entertaining with a cruise on the Mediterranean coast, snorkelling and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. We will make sure to show the participants around the city and stop by a local “Taverna” where they can taste the delicious local food and enjoy the typical Cypriot hospitality.
Q2: What are the main obstacles in a construction project and will they be discussed at the seminar?
A construction manager once told me that the main issues when constructing a facility are quality, costs, deadlines and the interactions between them. Over the years, I understood that he was absolutely right. If a respective problem occurs, the building principal will try to hold as many involved parties accountable as possible. E.g. in case of a violation of deadlines by the contractor the principal might try to target the consultant as well. To explore this matter, our seminar will feature a panel on risks for consultants when contractors do not meet their deadlines.
Q3: In your view, what are the challenges and opportunities in adopting BIM? What are some recommendations that others can follow to overcome any legal issues that may arise in adopting BIM?
First and foremost, BIM is not a legal but a technical issue. BIM is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition. The construction sector considers BIM to be THE disruptive tool for the industry over the next years. We must follow our client and provide advice how to implement legal answers to their need to use BIM. Given the current lack of a broad legal standardisation, the answer can only be a proper contract addressing all the relevant questions arising in BIM projects. This especially includes the definition of each individuals’ “scope of supply” in a BIM project, the fixation of the agreed BIM structure, provisions on liability, data protection an data security issues, IP rights and the remuneration to be paid for the respective “BIM performance” (which might be in addition to the usual performance in a construction project).
To register, please visit the dedicated webpage. See you in Limassol!
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The seminar is organised by AIJA's Environmental and Energy Law Commission and Real Estate Commission. The Organising Committee includes the following AIJA members:
- Eoin CASSIDY, Mason Hayes+Curran (IRELAND)
- Martin FOERSTER, Graf & Pitkowitz Rechtsanwälte GmbH (AUSTRIA)
- Bernd HAUCK, Kellerhals Carrard (SWITZERLAND)
- Eleni POLYCARPOU, Withers LLP (UNITED KINGDOM)
- Stavros STROUZAS, Stylianou and Strouzas LLC (CYPRUS)