• Home
• /
• Local business

50% increase in contracting companies, consultancy offices in H1

A report issued by the Directorate of Contractors’ Classification and Consultants’ Registration at DED states that the number of contracting companies classified during the first half of this year (2009) amounted to 564 companies of which 250 companies have been classified for the first time, 66 companies have been upgraded, 231 companies have been renewed and 17 companies have been allocated a new specialization; bringing the total number of the contracting companies classified in the emirate to (2964 ) for contractors and 1305 for consultants.

On the other hand, the report pointed out that the number of contracting companies that were classified during the first half of last year (2008) amounted to 419 companies of which 166 companies were classified for the first time, 42 companies were upgraded, 195 companies were renewed and 16 companies were allocated a new specialization.

The report also pointed out that the number of consultancy offices that have been registered during the first half of this year (2009) amounted to 520 offices of which 102 offices have been registered for the first time, 326 offices have been renewed, the legal status of 44 offices has been modified and 48 offices have been allocated a new specialization.

DED Undersecretary Muhammad Omar Abdullah said: “The 50% increase in the number of contracting companies registered in Abu Dhabi is a clear indicator of the highly growing economy in the emirate and the presence of sound economic climate, both of which contribute to attracting more companies and investments into the emirate so as to achieve Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 of being among the best five governments in the world.”

He noted that the issuance of a large number of contractors’ classification certificates and consultants’ registration certificates during the first half of the year 2009 demonstrates the continuing confidence in the economy of Abu Dhabi despite the global financial crisis, thanks to the substantial support provided by Abu Dhabi wise government. Such support would further contribute to achieve higher growth rates in Abu Dhabi’s economy. Thus, the demand for the classification of contractors and the registration of consultants will increase significantly.

“The new system of contractors’ classification and consultants and engineers’ registration, for which a workshop was dedicated last June with the participation of more than 200 contractors and consultants, aims mainly to enhance the level of services offered by DED and to identify the basic trends that define the requirements necessary for the next stage which is expected to witness a great development and urban expansion in the various cities and regions of the emirate.” he added.

For his part, , Acting Director of Contractors’ Classification and Consultants’ Registration Khaled Abdullah Al-Hosani said that in the coming period DED endeavors to provide outstanding services to investors and to simplify procedures and finalize transactions in a short time, ensuring the development of this sector’s performance in the interests of investors.

Al Hosani called on all stakeholders to act in accordance with the contractors’ classification and engineers and consultants’ registration system which is an integrated system implemented by a team of dedicated experts in line with world-wide accredited international standards.

He said: “If we compare the first half of the years 2007 until this year, we will find that the contracting companies and the consultancy offices registered for the first time have doubled, as they were only 97 companies in the first half of 2007, rising in the same period of 2008 to 166 companies up by 71%, to rise by the end of last June to 250 companies up by 50.6%.”

He pointed out that the remarkable rise in the number of classified contractors and registered engineers and consultants took place after DED has transitioned from the old system to the new one which took into consideration meeting the stakeholders’ needs and requirements. Such needs and requirements have been abstracted from questionnaires that reflected the clear vision and the need to improve and develop the business environment in the real estate sector.

He further said that DED has been working since the beginning of this year to develop the contractors’ classification system and to issue the consultants’ registration and engineers acceptance system after a thorough study of the status quo ante (staff experience, questionnaires) and after visiting few countries to get acquainted with best practices and collect feedback and proposals and present them to decision-makers.

“In addition to adopting all these procedures, we have taken into account the importance of permitting the investors to own consulting offices in accordance with high-level financial and technical terms as per international standards. Furthermore, the estimated value of the project which the contractor may participate in has been raised along with a number of other significant measures, such as the development of a new sub-contractors’ classification system and the condition of obtaining OHSAS certification for occupational health and safety among other contractors’ classification conditions, particularly for first and second categories.”

“There are many advantages of the new contractors’ system, the most remarkable of which are the possibility of pooling the values of the contractor’s executed projects for the category he wishes to be classified in, the raised estimated value which the contractor may participate in, the shorter time needed to issue the classification certificate, the possibility of owning both a consultancy office and a contracting company as per specific conditions, and last but not least the addition of a sixth classification category.” he added.