The key focus of the Middle East’s construction sector this year will be on project delivery, with contract awards expected to slow through 2015 and schemes not considered crucial likely to slow or stall.

But while projects are expected to slow due to the rapid fall in the value of oil since the middle of last year, projects associated with major events or that are part of a country’s blueprint plans will move ahead.

“The vanity projects that are out there will be slow, will be reorganised. Things that were struggling for feasibility may be stopped altogether [or] just go back to the drawing board,” said David Clifton, regional development director at Faithful+Gould.

He said that where projects have a tighter timeline for completion, there is a better understanding around cost. The construction industry in the Middle East needs to move away from an attitude of the cheapest price wins contract bids to one that looks at total value and takes a partnership approach to projects.

“I do understand that procurement laws in certain countries are driven by the lowest price, but it’s trying to help influence that judiciary and that law-making level that you won’t necessarily get what you want for the lowest price,” he said.

Clifton said contract negotiation can be “adversarial and one sided”, although this is changing.

“The onus still seems to be about passing risk rather than having an equitable share of the risk, which is not necessarily the best way. There are a lot of conversations [happening] about true partnership… and I’m seeing it work in quite a few projects, but it is not the norm yet.”