Emirates City Forum

In case of a project delay, the developer is only responsible for whatever is written in the contract. In most of sales contract, you will not find any clause requesting the developer to endemnify the purchaser for any thing in case of delays in completion. In few contracts in Dubai and after an extended delay, they have a clause where this is considered a breach of contract and hence the developer shall reimburse the purchaser for all money paid but without any penalty or premium. The party who is really penalised in case of delay in construction is the contractor, if of course, it is proven that he is responsible for delay and not the developer or the consultant or the authorities. The contractor pays a penalty for each day the construction is delayed for a maximum of 10%. Unfortunatly most delays are not caused by the contractor and are caused by the developer, the authorities that provide the different licenses and the consultant. Furtheremore, in many projects, you will find that the contractors construction finishing date is much different from the handing over date in the sale contracts. The reason is that sales start before construction starts or even construction contracts are signed.