Most developments in Dubai that finish late or over budget do not fail on one big decision. They drift through many small ones: a payment certified ahead of progress, an authority submission that slipped, a change agreed on site and priced months later.
This handbook follows a project through six stages, from feasibility to handover. For each stage it sets out what has to be decided, what usually goes wrong and the control that keeps the owner in charge of the budget and the programme.
The cheapest time to change a project is before it is bought. Test the site, the product and the numbers against each other, and run a full appraisal with contingency before land is committed.
Settle who signs contracts and approves payments, appoint consultants on complete scopes and freeze the brief before concept design.
Approvals sit on the critical path in Dubai. Put every submission in the programme as its own activity, with realistic review periods.
Tender on the most complete design possible, compare bids line by line and close every exclusion in writing before award.
Pay for what is on site, price every change before it is agreed, hold the programme and sign off each stage.
Start snagging floor by floor, make handover documents a condition of practical completion and hold retention until defects are closed.
For each stage, the decisions to make, the usual failure points and the controls. It also covers what fund managers and family offices look for when a development is prepared for funding, and a ten point checklist to complete before you commit capital.
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DNA Project Management is a Dubai-based PMC and owner’s representative for developers, corporate and private clients, with over AED 390 million in projects delivered and a further AED 67 million under current management. If you are planning a development, contact us or read about our services.
Feasibility and site, structure and design, approvals, procurement, construction and handover. Each has its own decisions and risks.
A project management consultant (PMC) acts as the owner’s representative, managing consultants, approvals, contractors, cost and programme on the owner’s behalf.
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