SLQS-Journal Vol. 1 - Slqs-uae.org

SLQS JOURNALJanuary 2009Incorrect practices or any corrupt practices could also be regulatedif there is an insistence on all Contract Administratorsto become members of their respective Professional Institutions.All Professional Institutions require their members tobe bound by their Codes of Conduct, and take disciplinaryaction if members are found to be in contravention. Until aContract Administrator is admitted as a member of the relevantProfessional Institution, he or she should attempt to begoverned by a self imposed set of rules which would preventthe possibility of inadvertently veering into incorrect/corruptpractices, for which purpose, the following guide lines couldbe adopted (some of these are common to codes of conductof many professional institutions):• Do not misuse privileged information• Observe confidentiality where specified• Be honest in all professional dealings (Never claim more thanjustifiably due / Never deny a just and fair entitlement)• Do not provide advice on matters beyond your competence• Observe safety and environmental protection requirements• Maintain a positive attitude and take positive action at alltimes• Observe and perform your obligations and duties in a properand timely manner• Ensure fair treatment to everybody• Avoid engagements bearing conflict of interest with yourwork• Ensure Continuous Professional Development (CPD) (Undertakefurther studies in all the competence necessary forpractising the profession).Success of a project depends on the capabilities of the ContractAdministrators. Unless the Contract Administratorsexercise the Contract Administration best practice, the constructionindustry would continue to suffer from break-downof relationships and dissatisfied stakeholders as a result ofdisputes which inevitably end up in otherwise unnecessary,prohibitively expensive and extremely time consuming resolutionprocesses.Let us all work and contribute towards a better Contract Administrationin the construction industry !Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd -v- West Bromwich Building Society [1998]The respondent gave advice on home income plans. The individual claimants had assigned their initial claims to the scheme, butlater sought also to have their mortgages in favour of the respondent set aside.Held: Investors having once assigned their causes of action to the ICS, could not later themselves sue to rescind their mortgages.In construing a deed of assignment, an ambiguity need not be established before the surrounding circumstances may be taken intoaccount. Lord Hoffmann: “Interpretation is the ascertainment of the meaning which the document would convey to a reasonableperson having all the background knowledge which would reasonably have been available to the parties in the situation in whichthey were at the time of the contract.”andLord Hoffman: “The meaning which a document . . would convey to a reasonable man is not the same thing as the meaning ofits words. The meaning of words is a matter of dictionaries and grammars; the meaning of the document is what the partiesusing those words against the relevant background would reasonably have been understood to mean. The background may notmerely enable the reasonable man to choose between the possible meanings of words which are ambiguous but even (as occasionallyhappens in ordinary life) to conclude that the parties must, for whatever reason, have used the wrong words or syntax. “25