Kluwer Construction Blog

President Dilma Rouseef wants to make a firm position that the country’s airport system will indeed improve in a fast track model. In her 3rd day in Office the new President has decided to privatize the construction and operation of 2 new airport terminals in the State of São Paulo. President Dilma also decided to open up the capital of INFRAERO (the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company) and create an special Secretariat – directly attached to the the Presidency’s Office – to oversight civil aviation business in Brazil.

Auction date has been defined

The meeting held between Dilma Roussef, the Brazilian President-elect and members of the State Office and the Government transport sector sealed the date for the auction for the bullet train that will connect Campinas-São Paulo-Rio de Janeiro. According to Dilma’s decision, it will take place on November 29, 2010.

Requests had been made by businessmen to postpone this date, and in view of this, the meeting was held yesterday been the President-elect and the members of the government responsible for the auction.

According to allegations of interested parties, the administration had delayed in disclosing the rules due to the electoral process, which allegedly [...]

In May 2010, the Government submitted to the Parliament a proposal for an amendment of the Federal Law on Public Procurement (Message to the Parliament of 19 May 2010, 10.051, http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/ff/2010/4051.pdf). The amendment would, in respect of Federal procurement processes for certain types of projects, preclude unsuccessful bidders from seeking a stay of the entire process when challenging a decision of the adjudicatory authority. According to the Government, the current public procurement regulations do not achieve one of their stated main goals, namely the efficient use of public funds.

Whilst interest in the recent UK judgment in the case of City Inn v Shepherd Construction may be confined to these shores, it is sufficiently important in the UK construction arena to warrant a mention on this Blog. The level of interest generated by this case initially may seem disproportionate to the complexity of issues and the amounts of money at stake. But ever since the option to adjudicate became compulsory for all UK based “construction contracts” in 1996 (Under the Housing Grants, Construction & Regeneration Act – see opsi), there has been a distinct lack of relevant construction UK case law on matters such as causation and delay – as parties choose the quicker, cheap [...]

On July 13th 2010 Brazilian Federal Government launched bidding documents regarding the concession regime and procedures for implementation and operation of the High-Speed Rail (TAV – Trem de Alta Velocidade) that will connect the cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Campinas. The project specifies that the construction, operation, and maintenance will be granted to the consortium that provides the lowest fare for service. The final schedule calls for the railway to be completed by 2017, although the Brazilian Federal Government anticipates the line will be partially open before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. TAV is worth US 20 billion.

The World Bank and IFC have recently reported that Russia’s current energy inefficiency is equal to the annual primary energy consumption of France. Indeed, the low local cost of energy, a mainly declarative legislation on environmental efficiency and little public interest have long kept Russia out of the global warming debate, and far away from the exotic issue of green buildings.

This trend is hopefully coming to an end with the recent enactment of a new law with compulsory requirements on energy saving and efficiency. This marks a clear ambition by Russian policymakers and will probably enhance the nascent interest in green buildings of the main players in the real estate industry, who were severely hit by the current crisis and seek new growth opportunities.

US$ 22 billion to be invested in these projects in the in the Brazilian railway system

On Monday, April 19, 2010, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia handed down “the longest-ever prison sentence” for a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violation. Charles Jumet was sentenced to 87 months in prison for conspiring to violate the FCPA and for making false statements to federal agents. Jumet, a vice president of Ports Engineering Consultants Corp. (PECC), pled guilty to paying over $200,000 in bribes to high-ranking Panamanian government officials between 1997 and 2003 in exchange for maritime contracts to maintain lighthouses and buoys along Panama’s waterways. (PECC’s president, John Warwick, also has pled guilty to the same conduct and is scheduled to [...]

I am a contractor working on a wastewater project in Eastern Europe, using the FIDIC Yellow Book –Design & Build. Vol.3 of our contract contains the following clause:

“Tests on Completion

The first 30 days shall be a monitoring period during which the Contractor sets up the operation of the plant and conducts his own water quality tests to confirm that the final effluent consent has been met. At the end of this period the Contractor shall notify the Engineer that the plant is complete and meeting the Process Guarantee which then shall be met by a further 30 consecutive days before Taking Over can take place.”

We have met the final 30 consec [...]

Non-U.S. companies frequently ask whether they are eligible to compete for U.S. Government construction and renovation projects, whether within the U.S. or on U.S.-owned facilities abroad. The answer is a simple “yes” in the great majority of cases, unless the project requires access to secure or classified information. Much of the work on U.S. Embassies, for example, requires such access (and some is restricted to only U.S. firms). To work on a secure/classified project, the contractor must possess an Industrial Facility Clearance (FCL), issued in accordance with the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM). So let’s consider the requirements for that.

To b [...]