Muqawala Contract (Arabic Language – AED 400)

Description:
This course focuses on the Muqawala contract which is the contract whereby the Contractor undertakes to perform a work in exchange of a consideration from the Employer.

Areas Covered:
In an introductory section, we will define the Muqawala contract and its characteristics and compare it to other contracts, especially the employment contract, agency contract, lease contract, sale contract and the deposit contract.

We will then explore the following topics:

First- Elements of the Muqawala contract including:
1- The mutual consent: Modalities of the mutual consent as the Employer may contract with the Contractor by negotiation or after a tender and the conditions of validity of the mutual consent, especially the Employer’s capacity, the Contractor’s capacity, and the validity of the mutual consent as the consent may be vitiated by duress, misrepresentation, obscene injustice or mistake in the person of the Contractor or a mistake in the account.
2- The object: The object of the Muqawala contract is double. It consists for the Contractor in the work to be performed, and for the Employer in the payment to be done to the Contractor.

Second – Effects of the Muqawala contract, including:
1- The Contractor’s three obligations, which are the completion of the work entrusted to him under the Muqawala contract, the handing over of the work after its completion and the guarantee of the work after its handover in addition to the sanction for breach of these duties.
2- The Employer’s obligations that include enabling the Contractor to complete the work, take over the work after its completion (including the terms of delivery, the place and time of delivery, the form of delivery, the legal effects of delivery and the sanction related to delivery), and payment (including how to determine the amount to be paid in the absence of any agreement in this respect – the time of payment – the place of payment – payment guarantees).

Third – The Subcontractor: A distinction will be made between the subcontracting and the assignment of the Muqawala. Then the relationship between the Main Contractor and the Subcontractor will be discussed as well as the Subcontractor’s relationship with the Employer.

Fourth – Expiry of the Muqawala contract including the usual expiry cases (i.e. execution the contract and the expiry of its period) and the unusual expiry cases (i.e. the case of the impossibility of execution, annulment, revocation, the death of the Employer, the death of the Contractor and the Employer’s unilateral termination of the contract).

Applicable decisions of the courts in the United Arab Emirates regarding joint ownership will be referred to and discussed.