• Home

Building owner must pay over Dh5m to Romeo Design Company

ABU DHABI — The Federal Supreme Court issued its verdict, ordering the owner of a hotel in Abu Dhabi identified as Khalaf A. to pay Dh5,518,386 beside a five per cent interest due on the amount from the date of issuing the verdict till payment of the amount as a compensation to Romeo Design L.L.C company.

The verdict has come after the reports of the legal expert and the consultant of the project where they confirmed that the Romeo Design has all rights in the amount, which requested for the conviction of the owner of the hotel.

The details of the story took place when the Romeo Design company approached to the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance and opened a file against the defendant Khalaf A. asking him to pay Dh5,465,310, beside 12 per cent interest due on the amount. The plaintiff (Romeo Design) claimed in its case that it signed a contract with the defendant Khalaf A., who is the owner of the hotel.

According the contract, Romeo Design was entrusted with the works of decorating, manufacturing and importing beside the maintenance of the furniture of the hotel, which belongs to the defendant. The company said the value of the contract was about Dh18 million and it carried out the project according to the terms of the contract. Romeo Design said it had informed the owner by concluding the works and issued an achievements certificate from the consultant and the Millennium Company, which is running the hotel.

The plaintiff said it was a surprise when the owner refused to pay the rest of the amount, which is about Dh4,310,000. Meanwhile, the company asked the defendant to pay Dh600,000, which was paid as charges for the case after the owner of the hotel made a case against it where he asked the Romeo Design to pay him Dh60 million as compensation for him due to delay in finishing the works in the hotel. The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance delegated an expert who submitted his report which supported the requests of the Romeo Design, and as a result of that, the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance issued its verdict which obliged the owner Khalaf A. to pay to Romeo Design Dh5,498,570. But the court rejected the case of the owner of the hotel, which made a complaint against Romeo Design. The two parties (the plaintiff and the defendant) did not accept the verdict, appealed against it, and went to the Court of Appeal, which issued its verdict by obliging the defendant to pay Dh5,518,386, in addition to five per cent as interest of the amount since the date of issuing the verdict till payment.

Meanwhile, the owner of the hotel appealed against the verdict at the Federal Supreme court and claimed in his appeal that Romeo Design did not achieve the works, which it was entrusted with it in proper time, and he claimed that the company started work after one-month-and-a-half of signing the contract. He also claimed that Romeo Design did not provide him with designs and maps for the works. Besides, there was also a shortage of labourers who implemented the works. He claimed that the expert, to whom the court delegated for an opinion, had no experience in furniture and decorations of hotels and the expert also did not visit the hotel, which required the verdict to be quashed.

The Federal Supreme Court said that the reports of the expert and the consultant were very clear and said that the amendments which the owner and the millennium company made in the hotel were the main reason behind the delay in the project. Therefore, the court found that Romeo Company was not responsible for the delay, and thus, it refused the appeal and upheld the verdict.

• UAE