INGENIEUR
Dispute
Resolution
D
ispute resolution takes many forms.
Malaysia is well developed in this respect
considering the long history of a legal system
inherited from the British Administration. However,
with the increasing number of development
projects, the trend is moving towards Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR) to relieve the burden of
the court. There is also a suggestion for litigation
filed in the court to be converted to university
arbitration to utilise the untapped potential of
cheaper and faster arbitration services.
An international organisation is promoting
commercial dispute prevention and settlement,
placing more focus on dispute preventive
measures. This will undoubtedly be a preferred
choice for industries in preventing project delay
and additional cost of doing business.
The long awaited longstop liability on the design
of consulting engineers under the Limitation Act
was finally passed by the Parliament and gazetted
recently. Here the article on “Limitation of Liability
of Engineers” provides readers with the technical
aspects of the legal amendments, in particular to
the over-riding 15-year longstop from the act of
negligence giving rise to damage.
As a reminder to engineers of their liability for
works undertaken by them, the Position Paper on
“Responsibility and Accountability of Stakeholders
4 6
VOL
2019
VOL 78
55 APRIL-JUNE
JUNE 2013
in the Construction Industry” covers a wide range
of areas of possible failure. The matrix of what
goes wrong covers all stakeholders involved
from developer to local authority on one side and
the supply chain of construction industry from
project inception stage to demolition stage on
the other. Practicing engineers should study the
recommendations by the BEM Working Group at
each stage of the supply chain.
The issue of liquidated damages under
construction contracts often leads to argument
between parties concerned. The article on “Recent
Federal Court Decision on Liquidated Damages
Clauses” provides deeper insight into the matter
and what each party should consider to ensure
that the amount stipulated in the liquidated
damages clauses is a reasonable amount of
compensation for the breach.
As my last message as President of BEM, I
wish to express my gratitude to the Publication
Committee for their wonderful work, and to all
Board members and readers for your unwavering
support during my tenure. I wish to end here by
saying that I enjoyed serving BEM and seeing the
progress over the last few years.
Dato’ Sri Ir. Dr Roslan bin Md Taha
President BEM