Construction contractor and consultant fined AED 10 million for building two fall schools

The Court of Cassation in Abu Dhabi, rejected the petitions submitted by a contracting company and an engineering consultant, and decided to uphold the Court of Appeal's ruling by fining them in solidarity 10 million and 477 thousand dirhams, for failing to build two schools, which resulted in the evacuation of the schools for the safety of students after the emergence of large cracks in the walls Increasing the decline in the floors of rooms and internal and external courtyards of the two schools.

The case is due to the agreement of one of the government agencies, in agreement with a contracting company, to implement the construction of two schools worth 55 million dirhams, but the contracting company, the implementation of the project is flawed, by implementing the foundations by way of deep foundations and loading floor slabs on the soil directly without loading them on bridges This error caused a drop in the floors and cracks in the walls and outside yards in the two schools, so I carried out maintenance work on these defects more than once to no avail as the landing and cracks continued to occur further, then I submitted an apology letter about the They continue to carry out maintenance work, and they are not responsible for those defects based on what was reported in the soil laboratory report they used.

Details of the case indicated that the project consultant did not perform his supervisory duty and did not allow such mistakes to be made.

The government commissioned an engineering consultancy office to prepare a technical study and conduct the necessary technical tests related to landing and cracks. The latter submitted a report that concluded that the landing resulted from the presence of layers of "dafan" with a depth of 10 meters, and the floors were established on those layers and provided solutions to repair those defects. The committee submitted a report that the project could not be received in its current status for final acceptance of the many defects in it. Rstein to ensure the safety of students after the appearance of large cracks in the walls and increased landing in the rooms floors indoor and outdoor arenas for the two schools.

The governmental authority filed a lawsuit against the contracting company, and the latter filed a counterclaim requesting the reassignment of the Expert Committee to explain the compensation due to it for the damages caused by the delay in the implementation of the project, and the losses incurred due to the increase in cost and high prices and wages of workers and delay payment After the court filed its original and supplementary reports, the court ruled in the original lawsuit to oblige the contracting company to pay the government entity 42 million dirhams for damages and legal interest by 5% annually from the date of becoming. The judgment is final and until full payment, and in the case by refusing opposite, and spent the reasons for judgment to dismiss the case face (Consultant).

The government agency appealed this ruling as the contracting company, and after the court included the appeals, it rejected the appeal of the government agency, and in the appeal of the contracting company, canceled the appealed judgment in the rejection of the case against the project consultant, and again reinstated the consultant in solidarity with the contracting company, To pay the sentenced amount of AED 42 million to the government entity, and at the same interest, and to support it otherwise.

The contracting company challenged the judiciary by way of cassation, and the project consultant, Consulting Office, challenged it in the same way. The court ruled in part that the contested judgment was overturned. For the damage caused to the buildings of the two schools, which were limited to the first report and determine the percentage of the consultant's contribution in the preparation of designs and plans in the light of what was stated in the reasons for the judgment.

After filing its report, the court ruled in the appeals to amend the appealed judgment to oblige the contracting company and the engineering consultant to pay the government entity in solidarity 10 million and 477 thousand dirhams, instead of the amount previously judged. Consideration of the petitions, as challenged by the contracting company in the same way request to reverse, and the government authority filed a memorandum with each petition request rejected.

• The two schools were evacuated for the safety of the students after the emergence of large cracks in the walls.