The joint venture of Arabtec, ACC and Besix has walked away from the $186 million (AED683 million) contract to build the Mall of Arabia at the City of Arabia project in Dubailand.
Lengthy negotiations with the client, Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group (IMG), stalled in May.
Al Jaber Engineering and Contracting (Alec), which was later asked to bid for the job, has also expressed concerns after not hearing back from the client.
Sources from within the joint venture told Construction Week that the consortium decided to back out of the project due to being busy with other projects and a few issues that it had with the client.
IMG has since split the contract package into three parts to attract more bids from smaller contractors.
"We initially backed out of the project in May as we had a few issues, including the way in which we were being dealt with," said Philippe Dessoy, general manager, Besix. "The client then repackaged the contract and came back to us but we turned it down again earlier this month."
Thomas Barry, executive director and general manager, Arabtec Construction, added: "We declined the offer to further discuss the project because they took too long to get back to us. We and our partners, Besix and ACC, had received numerous other job awards by then from keener clients to which we committed our resources. By the time IMG got back to us, our hands were full."
Barry Lewis, contracts director for Alec, confirmed that the contractor has not taken up the job. After being approached to bid, Alec had submitted an offer within a time limit, but the client didn't respond.
Hill International is the project and construction manager.
A company spokesperson confirmed that the project management firm is in charge of the contracts and evaluations for the Mall of Arabia.
Alex Vacha, project director, Mall of Arabia, has denied that the joint venture willingly backed out of the project, saying: "No contractor will back out of a project this big. We are still in negotiations with other contractors and an award can be expected soon."
The contract has now been divided into three packages including one for civil and infrastructure works, another for the mechanical and engineering works and the third for the finishing works. Source
Lengthy negotiations with the client, Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group (IMG), stalled in May.
Al Jaber Engineering and Contracting (Alec), which was later asked to bid for the job, has also expressed concerns after not hearing back from the client.
Sources from within the joint venture told Construction Week that the consortium decided to back out of the project due to being busy with other projects and a few issues that it had with the client.
IMG has since split the contract package into three parts to attract more bids from smaller contractors.
"We initially backed out of the project in May as we had a few issues, including the way in which we were being dealt with," said Philippe Dessoy, general manager, Besix. "The client then repackaged the contract and came back to us but we turned it down again earlier this month."
Thomas Barry, executive director and general manager, Arabtec Construction, added: "We declined the offer to further discuss the project because they took too long to get back to us. We and our partners, Besix and ACC, had received numerous other job awards by then from keener clients to which we committed our resources. By the time IMG got back to us, our hands were full."
Barry Lewis, contracts director for Alec, confirmed that the contractor has not taken up the job. After being approached to bid, Alec had submitted an offer within a time limit, but the client didn't respond.
Hill International is the project and construction manager.
A company spokesperson confirmed that the project management firm is in charge of the contracts and evaluations for the Mall of Arabia.
Alex Vacha, project director, Mall of Arabia, has denied that the joint venture willingly backed out of the project, saying: "No contractor will back out of a project this big. We are still in negotiations with other contractors and an award can be expected soon."
The contract has now been divided into three packages including one for civil and infrastructure works, another for the mechanical and engineering works and the third for the finishing works. Source
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