“Construction Contracts” is a very important subject to be discussed; every business in the world needs a contract to clarify the relationship between the contractual parties. Recently, many problems have occurred while dealing with contracts, especially construction contracts and problems between contractors, projects owners and consultant engineers. The main objective of this research is to try solving the wording problems of the construction contracts that leads to construction disputes that lawyers have no idea about its laws.
This research is started by recalling a background about the general perspective of management by mentioning some major definitions in management, and the importance of management in various fields especially in construction management, this background included the primary components of management in general and those related to constructions.
In this research it’s been gone deeply into the subject of construction contracts and their types and components of these contracts, also problems and confusion that could occur and cause several losses to the contract parties. This was done by reading, summarizing, and discussing seven previous studies and researches which included various problems, methods to solve them, proposed solutions, and suggested recommendations. These studies were analyzed to enrich the knowledge and enhance the capabilities of the researchers in the field of construction contracts.
Analytical approach will be followed as the research methodology. Rawabi city is being considered as a real case study, this city is located north Ramallah , it is the first typical city in Palestine that offered many job opportunities and solved many economic problems as will be discussed in the methodology. Data will be collected analyzed, and discussed through documentary analysis, interviews, and focus groups to try obtaining then suggest recommendations that could lead for better contractual forming.
Study Importance
Every research has an aim; maybe to solve a problem or to change a prosaic idea. Providing this aim gives the reader a general idea about the whole subject of the study, therefore the ability to understand and to benefit becomes more possible and effective.
The general aim of this research is to try recommending a process that could improve the status of the field of construction contracts in the West Bank, and to try creating a contractual model that saves the rights of contracts participants, also it aims to reduce disagreements which arise between them, or which results originally due to merging laws and legislations used from Jordanian and Egyptian constitutions, and due to confusions occur while formatting or drafting contracts due to unclear wording.
There are much more important aspects to consider as benefits of this research. Starting with the effects on the students who are performing the study, this study builds their abilities, enriches their knowledge, and provides them with some experience in the field of construction contracts, and hope to enable an empower them to take a proper decision when contractual problems arise in reality. Also a considerable effect to be discussed is the benefit for the university library; it’s aspired that this study will add a new material and try to enrich previous studies in the library, it could hopefully be considered as an initial reference for researchers who are interested to do relevant studies, or a reference for university students. Adding more value on topic itself is an important issue for this study, and to fit the research out to be considered as a milestone for lateral studies.
Study Rationale
Construction industry is one of the most important industries in Palestine although it’s affected by political issues. It plays a major role in civilization and urbanization. Construction contracts are the agreements written between the two parties; the owner and the contractor which contains documents that determines the rights and limits the obligations of these parties.
Construction contracting business has the second highest failure rate of any other business; the contractor and owner both have a large degree risk of losing during the construction process, contracting problems are prevailing these days in Palestine, and the increasing number of business failures in the local construction market warranted this research study.
Some Prevalent Problems in Construction Contracts
Referring to some previous studies and as a result of the weakness of the construction contracts, there are some major problems developed between contractual parties, for example, the contractor or the client may incur heavy financial losses because of the missing details or unclear parts, also delay fines paid from the contractor to the client because of the misunderstandings between them. Moreover the client may not feel satisfied with the work done by the contractor due to the unclear contract drafting.