A STUDY OF LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE SUDANESE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TOWARD MITIGATING THE LEGAL PITFALLS

Abstract

The idea of this research is a result of real problems that faced the researcher in his professional life together with his observations of legal problems that disturb the inner feelings of him because of their severe impacts on the economical, professional and social life of the engineers. The initiation was encouraged by the current environment of the Sudanese Construction Industry which suffers of plenty of obstacles that tending to minimize its outputs. The scope of the study is concerned with legal issues related to the industry and the involvement of laws and rules in the common practice of the profession. Assessment of the current situation is one of the main targets of this research. The research components were created from the described scope taking in consideration wisdoms from previous practice and future expectations. Strong relationships between legal aspects and other aspects such as managerial, technical and financial were deducted from the compiled data. The discussion dealt with all aspects in details. The theoretical part of the research was carefully framed from topics related to the issue which assisted in getting logical interpretation for the results obtained from the field. Symbolic graphs, figures and flowcharts beside tables were used in expressing and presenting the analytical part of the research and consequently to format the findings and recommendations of the study. The research problems were discussed thoroughly in the light of the results and hence some practical solutions were established towards mitigating the effects of the industry problems. Referring to the research assumptions, the two main actors in the industry namely the engineer and the company were studied carefully by analyzing their current situations and the deficiencies in their performance. The state of deterioration of these two entities was thoroughly discussed and specific recommendations were put forward in terms of complementary solutions to improve current situations. Some enhancements were proposed in the forms of checklists established to reform for the model engineer and the model company. These models are resultants of applying recommended corrective actions in order to enhance the situation. The research explored comparative indices for local construction industry with respect to the standard level of practice. The indices give strong indications for the current situation and the deficiencies that always irritate practitioners and customers alike. The research concluded with general characteristics for the targeted engineer and the targeted company. The recommendations of the research showed the necessity of changing the current situation of the industry by improving its entire environment which could not be achieved other than by establishing long term plans along with adhoc short term plans to mitigate the effects of pitfalls.