Why are lawyers needed in the yacht build industry?

Whatever you are building or manufacturing to order, wherever in this world it happens, you will meet similar problems. A dress that doesn´t fit, a house or a yacht with a list of faults. Or the common delays, with discussions on what or who caused them.

Most of the problems can be avoided by careful research if the supplier is the right for the job and by making a realistic contract. A lawyer is not a yachtbuilder and by using lawyers to get a better deal, may just result in a better deal for; the lawyer.

Interesting topic, but as you say, nobody wants to talk about it. Maybe because we have professional yacht brokers who should take care of this on behalf of the buyers?

Being rather simple minded about these things I would ask the builder for past clients as a reference. Should it turn out that there are no repeat clients ....

Kelly Cook

Yo!

Well said both of you. Well, man need 2 specialists during his life, very talent lawer and doctor - I might add one more, even more skillfull stockbroker but decent wife not listed at this time

actually any high value investment should have lawyers consultation. no matter if it will probably turn out ok, the involvement of lawyers and owners consultants throughout the project will ensure that when it does go wrong the owner will be protected and be able to correct the problem or make a good claim.

ambitious custom projects they are bound to be delayed especially if the yard is extending itself to complete the biggest or advanced project they have done before. They extend themselves for promotional purposes. It does not help though when the specification is changing mid project either. Why to limit your question to Dutch or American yards, have Italian yards had no problems?

whether an owners claim will succeed against the yard, well Mr. Liveras succeeded against Malta Drydocks for the delayed refit of PRINCESS TANYA quite a few years ago.

Regarding paint, it is a difficult science and doesnt always work out fine.

the most important item when making a claim is evidence. Proceeding with a project as if a claim is expected is the way to go. Making arrangements or having discussions on the phone only is not recommended. Follow up phone calls with emails/faxes confirming what was said or tell the other party "I need that in writing". Copies of communications will be very useful should the project result in a claim.

Photographic evidence is very important also and must be taken daily by owners attending superintendent. Expert technical witnesses can provide opinion on photographs and documents from past events which they have been provided with and this will be useful in court.

On the basis of owner's satisfaction it is important that the owner makes himself involved at as many stages of the project as possible and informed regularly by reports/photographs/video if he cannot visit the site regularly. Because if he decides to change something at a late stage or re-do many jobs already delivered it will bring excessive delays and expenses.

Contracts must be worded carefully. Each item of construction/supply/refit must be specified clearly as to what is required. Specifying what standard applies to that item is very good, whether ISO or ASTM etc. Otherwise "to the satisfaction of owner's attending superintendent" is good or even better when a third party is involved "to the satisfaction of vessel's class" or to the satisfaction of attending third party experts. It is very good to have third parties inspecting the quality of work throughout the project, taking x-rays of welding etc, confirming that appropriate quality standards have been met.

So it is very good to have lawyers and experts involved especially even before the contract is signed because the shipyard will try very hard to find a way to get out of the penalty clauses if delivery is delayed or quality unsatisfactory. But it is important for the owner to have appropriately experienced lawyers, experts and project manager. Anybody in the maritime field he asks will tell him that yes they can do the job but are these people really experienced in yachts and have these people been involved in yacht projects of a similar size.

Why should the owner involve his usual commercial lawyers or have one of the men from his office supervising the project when none of them have the experience required for the project. He will surely not be best served. However this happens many times.

Does he trust his man at site and is this man communicating truthfully to him and involving him in the important decisions? Because if the man at site has become corrupt or does not have the same idea of quality as the owner, he will be signing his satsfaction of delivered items and this will be problematic for the owner if the project turns bad and he wants to make a claim. Also is this man getting the best price/quality ratio for the owner or are costs not been kept down and the project delaying making unneccessary expenses.

There are all types of owners, some are very hands on, some not. Some have good experience of similar projects, some do not. But if the owner does not have experience then he must surround himself with people who do. The same goes for owners building or refitting at yards where the project will be very ambitious for them or they will have to bring in subcontractors. The more ambitious and the more subcontractors, the more reliance will be placed on the project manager. His experience in similar projects will be very important in co-ordinating the subcontractors. Otherwise work will have to be ripped out to correct mistakes which are located behind that work and this will bring delays and unseen expenses.

It seems to be a good idea to go with yards and subcontractors that are cheaper but do not have the experience for that size of project or experience to deliver the quality required. Their quotations are cheaper but in the end not realistic, impossible to quote accurately if the yard has not done a similar sized project. It will end up much more expensive and delayed in the end than if the project was done by a good but expensive yard. The quality also may be much less than the owner imagined it would be. The owner will end up with an unsatisfactory yacht appointing lawyers and experts and having calls from people crying to be paid. Only the most professional and experienced teams can achieve success at smaller yards with many subcontractors.

The same goes for owners specification even in good yards, the more specific and exact that the owner can be in his specification, the more exact the yard's quotation will be. If it is not clear or exact then hourly rates will be quoted and this is something to be avoided.

So proceed as if a claim was going to be made in any investment or contract that you begin. It will protect you in the future, once you go through the process you will do that on every project but better to be prepared for the first time. Do you really realise the implications of what you are signing? did you read the small print, was the contract amended best in your favour or not? please be careful what you sign in any part of your life........