Jadaf Residential Building Project Delay in Construction is the seventeenth article on architecture projects from practice. The special aspect of this project is the consultancy contract defects that led to failure in completing the project. This project is a multistory residential building composed of a ground floor plus 12 upper floors and a gym and swimming pool roof floor. The project concept architectural design was completed but did not fully satisfy the client at the end of 2018. I joined the team and convinced the company owner to talk to the client and he accepted because the project was on hold. After I talked with the client the project restarted and I continued working on it developing all the building architecture and managing the other teamwork of the MEP and structure engineering. The developed project’s architectural design was submitted to the client in Sept 2019. A meeting with the client after this date pushed the project to the construction drawings phase. I prepared the construction documents including the general specifications and particular specifications along with the prepared full set of construction drawings for client approval. The client approved the submittal and gave instructions to proceed to the planning authorities and municipality to obtain the building permit. The building permit process was initiated after October 2019 and the permit was obtained in January 2020.
This project is one of many projects that illustrate how consultancy contracts may affect and cause financial damage and loss of the project. It is apparent that most architectural firms create business opportunities for themselves by submitting architectural proposals for clients in many areas of the world. This common practice brings projects to the company and also is a cause of financial loss in many cases. The project started as a proposal and the client did not ask the consultant to proceed and kept the project on hold. After I got involved, the consultant signed a simple consultancy agreement that did not cover all his legal rights. The client did not pay the consultancy fees for the design phase and documentation. That is because the contract was so simple and did not cover all the aspects. The consultant relied on his relationship with the client and always mentioned that he was his friend. The client did not pay the consultancy fees but only the first payment which is (200,000 Dhs). The remaining payments were not paid, and the client transferred the project to another consultant. The consultant raised a claim to authorities and to the courts for his rights which is under process to date. See Figure 1, a 3d sketch of the architectural design of this project.
In 2023 the project was transferred to another consultant firm for the construction and supervision phase. The project is now under construction and attached in Figure 2 is a site photo of the construction progress.
The project is a multistory residential building in one of the UAE cities. It is composed of the ground floor and 12 typical floors plus a gym and pool floor adding to that two basement floors.
The two basement floors include some of the services like firefighting components and water tanks and stores. Every 750 Sqft of residential area should have one parking. Most of the required parking is available on B1, B2, and ground floor. The ground floor has the electrical services connections and main entrance plus one flat and watchman room. A backyard garden is available for residential use. See Figure 3,4 of B1 and ground floor.
The typical floors are composed of 9 flats where 6 flats are two-bedroom flats, and the remaining are one bedroom flat. Flat architecture functional design is different from place to place to follow the external form layout and design. All the required services of vertical circulation are planned and located to fulfill the authorities’ requirements, especially the civil defense requirements.
The gym and pool floor are a typical and common practice in residential buildings to add important facilities to the flat tenants and may be rented for the public if required. See Figure 5, the pool floor level showing the pergola and other features of that floor.
The front television of the building reflects the architectural design of the external form of the building. The section shows the levels heights and requirements for the MEP services. See Figure 6 the front elevation and Figure 7 the section A-A of the building.
Figures 8 and 9 show an updated photo of the construction progress for the project in December 2023. A side photo and a rear side photo of the project.
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