Our people

Richard Davies

Partner, Construction & Engineering UAE

Expertise

Richard is a construction, engineering and procurement specialist who has recently joined our newly-launched Abu Dhabi office. He has been based in Abu Dhabi since 2011 (and in the UAE since 2008).

Experienced in transactions and disputes relating to development, construction and engineering projects across all sectors (including rail, air mobility, airports, logistics, technology, urban development, power, district cooling and desalination) Richard advises a wide range of clients including operators, owners, government agencies, contractors and consultants.

He has extensive experience of standard forms of contract commonly used in the region, as well as bespoke arrangements, across all procurement routes including design-bid-build, D&B, EPC, EPCM, construction management, BOOT and DBO. He has helped several clients maintain and update their standard forms of consultants’ appointments and ancillary documents (e.g. forms of performance security, direct agreements, novation and consortium agreements).

He is a FIDIC-accredited adjudicator and CEDR-certified mediator and has been recognised as a leading practitioner in Legal 500 and Chambers UAE rankings for more than 10 years, is listed in Lexology Index (formerly WWL) and was named as “Construction lawyer of the Year” at the 2025 Middle East Legal Era Awards.

Experience

Richard's experience includes:

Advising a free-zone authority and developer on the procurement of their forthcoming expansion (involving new high rise buildings and facilities) and negotiating the final form of contract with the winning bidder following an extensive tender process.
Acting for the developer/operator of vertiports for the Dubai air mobility initiative. The mandate involved negotiating the 25-year concession agreement with the relevant authority, consultants’ appointments (lead designer, project manager, cost consultant), and drafting construction documentation (both “traditional” and “design/build”) which were tendered.
Acting for a fund (comprising a developer and its financial stakeholders) in negotiating the building contract for a high-spec residential building, the last plot available on the Palm Jumeirah crescent.
Acted for a UAE-based distribution company on their logistical and storage facilities in Jebel Ali, Dubai, procured on a D&B basis. Also acted as Project Counsel during execution, helping the client deal with claims and project close-out issues.
Advised a Myanmar developer on the split (on/offshore) procurement of a mixed-use development in downtown Yangon – involving the conversion of a historic railway building and four connected new-build towers.
Advised a fund on the 2-stage D&B procurement of a hotel and branded residence in Limasol, Cyprus.
Advised an Abu Dhabi based SWF on the termination of several contracts and successful appointment of replacement contractors upon the high-profile insolvency of a well-known contractor.
Acted for two engineering companies in relation to pursuing claims and, ultimately, settlement agreements connected to the design and construction of a maintenance facility in Abu Dhabi.
Advised a desalination specialist on the EPC procurement of an agricultural desalination plant in Abu Dhabi.
Acted on multi-million dollar value arbitrations on the following airport and transportation projects:

Abu Dhabi midfield terminal (acted for subcontractor against main contractor)

Muscat and Salalah Airport (acted for main contractor in separate proceedings defending claims from 2 subcontractors, and in proceedings pursued against the Employer).

Dubai Metro (acted for subcontractor and designer in dispute with main contractor over aspects of the design and changes of security systems).