KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT
BY

DANIEL ANSONG SIAW

(ID: 6693911)

OCTOBER, 2012

Question 1
Discuss the importance of Notices in contract administration Notice is mainly a written communication seeking to make its recipient aware of a fact or thing as required by law or contract. In a given project notices enable the various stakeholders communicate and deliberate on issues concerning the ongoing project. In the administering of a contract, notices play certain important roles some of which are: A medium of communication between the contracting parties or stakeholders. A notice is one of means through which the consultant is able to pass on any information about the project with regards to changes or any concerns raised by the client. It is through this same medium that the contractor is able to communicate to the consultant about any discrepancy in drawings or difficulties on site as far as his obligations in the contract are concerned. Reduce to some extent disputes that may arise between contracting parties. Notices not only serve as communication medium, but it also may alleviate the occurrence of dispute between contracting parties. In that, none of the parties work in isolation and for that matter is able to use the opportunity provided by notices to clarify issues that they do not understand. Thus, the contractor is able to request the consultant to clarify issues he (contractor) do not understand before taking any action that may be wrong and thereby creating a dispute.
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Serves as an evident in the event of dispute with regards nonconformance. During the resolution of a dispute in a contract, a notice that was issued by one party but was not followed by the other party may be used as an evident to seek redress by the party who issued the notice.

Question 2
What are the main differences between Arbitration and a Valuation? Arbitration is the voluntary submission of a dispute to one or more impartial persons for a final and binding determination. In relation to construction projects, valuation is the process of estimating the value or cost of work executed over a period of time by the contractor. The table below outlines the main differences between arbitration and valuation ITE M 1 ARBITRATION It is a settlement of dispute between two parties in a contract. Usually between the client & consultant on one part and the contractor on the other side. 2 There is a third party in arbitration, which is the arbitrator (usually an expert in the field). 3 The arbitrators judgement is final and the courts can enforce the award by means of a court order Once the value of work has been agreed upon by both parties, the consultant issues a payment
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VALUATION An evaluation of work executed by the contractor for payment.

No third party involved

certificate to be paid by the client. 4 The arbitrator has judicial immunity The consultant is liable to the parties for any lack of skill, diligence or care in carrying out his duties.

Question 3
A Consultant administering a development project issues some certificates a) List these certificates b) State when they are issued and the effects of the certificates.

List of some certificates issued by consultants in the administering of development projects a) Taking over certificate b) Performance certificate c) Final Payment certificate d) Interim Payment Certificate e) Certificate of completion f) Certificate of Practical completion
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Taking over certificate This certificate is issued when the employer at his own discretion wants to take over or use any completed part of the work that is ongoing. When this certificate is issued, the contractor need to take such steps necessary to carry out any outstanding tests before the employer takes over. Also, the contractor cease to be liable for the care of such part as from the day the employer begin to use it. This means responsibility then pass to the employer.

Performance Certificate It is issued when is satisfied that the contractor has duly completed his obligations under the contract. This means that the contractor has tested all the work and remedied any defects. Performance certificate constitute acceptance of the works.

Final Payment certificate The final payment certificate is issued at the end of the contract and constitutes the final payment due, to be paid by the employer to the contractor. After this payment no other payment is made.

Certificate of completion This certificate is issued after the contractor has made good any defects in workmanship and materials reported during the period of construction of the project. This certificate means that the contractor has fully discharge his obligations under the contract and therefore not liable for any defects whatsoever during the use of the facility by the employer.

Certificate of practical completion This certificate is issued just after the completion of the practical work and warrants the start of the defects liability period.