meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

UAE construction shifts to negotiated contracts

7 May 2024

Register for MEED's guest programme 

There has been a notable shift towards construction contracts being negotiated in the UAE, says UK consultancy Turner & Townsend in its latest UAE market intelligence report.

According to Turner & Townsend’s market survey, 25% of respondents indicated negotiated procurement routes as their most common experience. Clients, particularly on large-scale complex projects, are also seeking early contractor engagement, which, in some instances, is formalised through the use of a pre-construction services agreement.

The trend towards more negotiated contracts reflects the high volumes of new work coming onto the market, a finite pool of contractors and regional competition for resources. “With the combination of a more regulated real estate market and incentives for longer-term investment driving population growth, it’s difficult to see a significant tail-off in market conditions in the short term. As such, we expect tendering conditions to remain similar for the next 1-2 years,” says David Griffiths, director, UAE real estate lead, Turner & Townsend.

“The market may also experience a continued shortfall of suitable contractors, due to an exodus of major global contractors and the lures of the project pipeline in [Saudi Arabia], leading some UAE contractors to expand their operations regionally,” he adds.

The survey also showed that the use of design-and-build procurement routes has declined significantly, indicating a potential change in project delivery preferences or client demands.

Single-stage tendering

Despite more negotiated contracts, single-stage procurement remains the predominant method for the UAE construction industry, driven by competition and efficiency. Some 44% of survey participants reported experiencing single-stage procurement routes most frequently during the last six months of 2023, marking a 3% decrease from Turner & Townsend’s November 2022 figures.

The firm added that the figures do not show a shift away from the single-stage, traditional lump-sum fixed-price approach, which places significant risk on the contractors during the pricing phase, to a single-stage tender that is often heavy with provisional sums.

Another important factor is supply chain disruption. Among respondents, 88% reported disruptions in supply chains during the last six months of 2023, with 22% of them characterising the disruptions as significant.

MEED's April 2024 special report on the UAE includes:

> COMMENT: Non-oil activity underpins UAE economy
> GVT & ECONOMY: Non-oil activity underpins UAE economy
> BANKING: UAE banks seize the moment
> UPSTREAM: Adnoc oil and gas project spending sees steep uptick
> DOWNSTREAM: UAE builds its downstream and chemical sectors
> POWER: UAE marks successful power project deliveries
> WATER: Dubai tunnels project dominates UAE pipeline
> DUBAI CONSTRUCTION: Dubai real estate boosts construction sector
> ABU DHABI CONSTRUCTION: Abu Dhabi makes major construction investments

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11744420/main3229.jpg
Colin Foreman

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Dewa announces new record for power reliability

    30 April 2026

    Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that it set a new world record for the lowest electricity customer minutes lost (CML), at 0.82 minutes a year in 2025.

    The figure is equivalent to about 49 seconds of annual outage per customer. It improves on the utility’s previous record of 0.94 minutes in 2024, a reduction of around 13%.

    Dewa said it has reduced CML in Dubai from 6.88 minutes a year in 2012 to 0.82 minutes in 2025, significantly lower than the average of about 15 minutes recorded by leading electricity utilities in the European Union.

    The smart grid is a central component of Dewa’s strategy to improve reliability and efficiency. The programme is being implemented with total investments of AED7bn up to 2035.

    One of the key initiatives of the programme is the Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System, which enables remote, round-the-clock control and monitoring.

    Dewa currently has tenders out for several power and water infrastructure projects in the emirate. These include at least four Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) water transmission pipeline projects.

    According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, Dewa awarded $1.1bn-worth of new power and water contracts in 2025. Contract awards had previously reached $2.6bn in 2024, and $4bn in 2024.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16623721/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Riyadh tenders PMC deal for major sports arena

    30 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabia’s Sports Boulevard Foundation has tendered a contract inviting firms to bid for project management consultancy (PMC) services for the Global Sports Tower in the Athletics District of the Sports Boulevard development in Riyadh.

    The tender was issued on 8 April, with a bid submission deadline of 10 May.

    The 130-metre-tall Global Sports Tower will cover an area of 84,000 square metres and will include more than 30 sports facilities. The tower will feature the world’s tallest indoor climbing wall at 98 metres and a 250-metre running track.

    Earlier this week, MEED reported that the Sports Boulevard Foundation is preparing to award the main construction contract for the Global Sports Tower. MEED understands that bid evaluation has reached an advanced stage and the contract is likely to be awarded by the end of May.

    MEED reported in May last year that design work on the tower had been completed. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud approved the designs in 2024.

    The Sports Boulevard development runs across Riyadh from east to west and, once complete, is set to be the world’s longest park spanning more than 135 kilometres.

    The development will be spread across several districts, including Wadi Hanifah, Arts, Urban Wadi, Entertainment, Athletics and Eco, as well as Sands Sports Park.

    The large-scale project aims to transform central Riyadh – currently dominated by major highways – into a recreational corridor.

    Sports Boulevard, which will feature 4.4 million sq m of public realm and landmark buildings, will also be home to the Centre for Cinematic Arts and a 2,000-seat amphitheatre.

    The development will provide more than 2.3 million sq m of mixed-use commercial, residential, and retail assets, along with sports facilities around the park, known as Linear Park.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16622287/main.jpeg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Contractors submit Saudi Arabia phosphate rail track bids

    30 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) received bids from contractors on 27 April for a multibillion-riyal tender to double the tracks on the existing phosphate transport railway network connecting the Waad Al-Shamal mines to Ras Al-Khair in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

    The tender – covering the second section of the track-doubling works and spanning more than 150 kilometres (km) – was issued on 9 February.

    This follows SAR receiving bids on 1 February for the project’s first phase, which spans about 100km from the AZ1/Nariyah Yard to Ras Al-Khair.

    The scope includes track doubling, alignment modifications, new utility bridges, culvert widening and hydrological structures, as well as the conversion of the AZ1 siding into a mainline track. It also includes support for signalling and telecommunications systems.

    The tender notice was issued in late November.

    Switzerland-based engineering firm ARX is the project consultant.

    MEED understands that these two packages are the first of four that SAR is expected to tender for the phosphate railway line. Other packages anticipated to be tendered shortly include the depot and systems packages.

    In 2023, MEED reported that SAR was planning two projects to increase its freight capacity, including an estimated SR4.2bn ($1.1bn) project to install a second track along the North Train Freight Line and construct three new freight yards.

    Formerly known as the North-South Railway, the North Train is a 1,550km-long freight line running from the phosphate and bauxite mines in the far north of the kingdom to the Al-Baithah junction. There, it diverges into a line southward to Riyadh and a second line running east to downstream fertiliser production and alumina refining facilities at Ras Al-Khair on the Gulf coast.

    Adding a second track and the freight yards will significantly increase the network’s cargo-carrying capacity and facilitate increased industrial production. Project implementation is expected to take four years.

    State-owned SAR is also considering increasing the localisation of railway materials and equipment, including the construction of a cement sleeper manufacturing facility.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16622526/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Iraq sets up commission for $5bn pipeline project

    30 April 2026

    Iraq is setting up a high-level commission to oversee the development of the planned $5bn Basra-Haditha crude oil pipeline project.

    The decision was made at a meeting held on 26 April, attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and the Minister of Petroleum Hayyan Abdul Ghani Al-Sawad, as well as other officials and consultants.

    The commission will be chaired by the undersecretary of the Oil Ministry and include advisers to the prime minister, along with director-generals from the Oil Ministry and the Industry & Minerals Ministry.

    Al-Sudani said the pipeline project will increase flexibility in transporting crude oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, as well as the Syrian port of Baniyas and Jordan’s port of Aqaba.

    The pipeline is also expected to strengthen supply to refineries in central and northern Iraq and support higher domestic refining output.

    The meeting also approved allocating $1.5bn to the project this year, with funding provided through the Iraq-China oil-for-infrastructure mechanism, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Ministry.

    Earlier this month, Iraq’s Council of Ministers approved amendments allowing the Oil Ministry to directly invite specialised companies to bid for the 685-kilometre pipeline.

    The pipeline is expected to have a capacity of up to 2.25 million barrels a day.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16621546/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Construction begins on Dubai Healthcare City projects

    30 April 2026

    Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA) has begun construction on Pixel DHCC and Ibn Sina+, two flagship developments in Dubai Healthcare City.

    Local contractor International Foundation Group has been appointed to carry out the enabling works.

    The two projects form part of Phase 1 of DHCA’s AED1.3bn ($354m) development programme and are scheduled for completion in November 2027.

    Pixel DHCC, designed by Hong Kong-based P&T Architects and Engineers, is planned as Dubai Healthcare City’s first LEED Platinum-certified office building. The nine-storey commercial development will cover 13,000 sq m.

    Ibn Sina+, designed by Dubai’s Design and Architecture Bureau, will be a five-storey medical complex spanning 5,800 sq m.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16611156/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal