David Kinlan
David is a Contracts Manager with over 35 years of global experience in civil and marine infrastructure. He specialises in commercial management, contract risk, procurement, dispute avoidance and resolution. A practising adjudicator under the Queensland Adjudication Act, he has extensive experience in adjudication and arbitration. David has worked for major dredging contractors worldwide and is the author of a book on adverse physical conditions.
Articles By David Kinlan
THE ROLE OF A DREDGING EXPERT WITNESS
In arbitration or court proceedings, the role of an expert witness is crucial, especially in a specialised field such as marine infrastructure and dredging. An effective dredging expert witness can significantly influence the outcome of a case by providing clear, unbiased and well-supported testimony. This article explores what makes an effective dredging expert witness, their duties to the tribunal, what to look for when selecting an expert, common mistakes made by experts and lessons from two notable expert witness cases.
Applying early contractor involvement in marine infrastructure procurement
Complex construction projects that use traditional procurement practices are often impacted by significant cost overruns and delays. Early contractor involvement (ECI) is a concept that strives to involve the contractor collaboratively at an early stage of a project’s development to mitigate or otherwise eliminate those risks. In August 2022, PIANC published the report “A framework for early contractor involvement in infrastructure projects” to help industry practitioners in choosing and best implementing ECI. This article is intended to develop on key aspects of the PIANC report and look at the factors that can lead to a successful maritime ECI project.
50 years of case law that transformed marine infrastructure contracts
This article reviews various court cases over the past 50 years and considers their influence on marine infrastructure contracts and the allocation of risk between contract parties. The establishment of case law and legal precedent is an ever-evolving process, it being dependent on claimants to put their disputes through the court process to seek the outcome they desire. It is often a long and costly process. The rise of adjudication in various common law jurisdictions and countries means that often disputes are resolved without recourse to the courts and various industry standard contracts have arbitration as the final and binding mechanism to resolve disputes.
Adverse physical conditions: Legal development and changes in risk profiles
In the past decade, there have been noteworthy advances in case law with respect to adverse physical conditions as well as the development and use of digital ground models that have become more widespread. This article looks at the development and changes in risk profiles that may result due to these two developments.
Valuing Variations In Dredging Contracts
Variations are essential in dredging contracts and they have the potential to generate extra costs and pose significant delay to projects. So, what is the best way to go about reaching a fair valuation in variations in dredging contracts?