Civil Transactions Law · Federal Decree-Law 25 of 2025
Article 829
Section Three: Employment Contracts > Chapter One: Muqawala Contract > Part Two: Effects of Muqawala ContractFirst: Obligations of the Contractor
English translation
1. If a Muqawala contract is concluded based on an agreed design in exchange for a lump- sum remuneration, the contractor may not claim any increase in the remuneration, even if the prices of the materials used in the work or the remunerations of the workers or other expenses have increased.
2. The contractor may not claim any increase in the remuneration if a modification or addition is made to the design, unless this is due to a fault attributable to the employer or is made by their authorization and they have agreed with the contractor on the increase in remuneration.
3. If the contractual equilibrium between the obligations of both the employer and the contractor is disrupted due to general exceptional circumstances that could not have been foreseen at the time of contracting, thereby undermining the basis upon which financial assessment of the Muqawala contract was founded, the court may, depending on the circumstances and after balancing the interests of both parties, order the restoration of the contractual equilibrium, including the extension of the execution period, the increase or reduction of the remuneration, or may order the rescission of the contract.
Official translation, as published by the portal.
Official Arabic text
.1 إذا تم عقد المقاولة بموجب تصميمٍ متفقٍ عليه مقابل أجرٍ مقطوع، فليس للمقاول أن يطالب بأيّ زيادةٍ في الأجر ولو ارتفعت أسعار المواد المستخدمة في العمل أو ارتفعت أجور العمال أو غيرها من النفقات.
.2 ليس للمقاول إذا حدث في التصميم تعديل أو إضافة، أن يُطالب بأيّ زيادة في الأجر إلا إذا كان ذلك راجعًا إلى خطأ صاحب العمل أو كان بإذنه واتفق مع المقاول على الزيادة في الأجر.
.3 إذا انهار التوازن العقدي بين التزامات كل من صاحب العمل والمقاول بسبب ظروف استثنائيةٍ عامَّةٍ لم يكن في الوسع توقعها وقت التعاقد وتداعى بذلك الأساس الذي قام عليه التقدير المالي لعقد المقاولة، فللمحكمة تبعًا للظروف بعد الموازنة بين مصلحة الطرفين أن تقضي بإعادة التوازن العقدي، بما في ذلك تمديد مدة التنفيذ أو زيادة الأجر أو إنقاصه أو أن تقضي بفسخ العقد.
What it means when you sign
This article covers a contractor who agrees to do work from an agreed design for a lump-sum price. In that case the contractor cannot ask for more money, even if the cost of materials, workers' pay or other expenses goes up. The contractor also cannot ask for more when the design is changed or added to, unless the change came from the employer's fault, or the employer authorised it and agreed with the contractor on the extra payment.
When you are about to sign, this article means a fixed-price works clause leaves the cost risk with the contractor, and a clause on design changes or price adjustment is the place to see who authorises a change and how the extra price is agreed. A clause adding charges for rising costs may run into this article.
There is one exception. If general exceptional circumstances that could not have been foreseen when the contract was made upset the balance between both sides' obligations and undermine the basis of the price, the court may, after weighing both parties' interests, restore the balance. That can mean extending the time, raising or lowering the price, or ending the contract.
In Fahm reports this article usually sits under: Hidden wording
Related articles
- Article 817In a muqawala contract, where a contractor carries out work for an employer, this article says who supplies the additional machinery and tools needed to finish the work.
- Article 818Cited in Fahm reportsThis article sets out how the contractor must carry out the work and what the employer may do if it goes wrong.
- Article 819The contractor is liable for any damage or loss that results from their own act or workmanship, whether it arises from their transgression or negligence or from some other cause.
- Article 828This article deals with a contract priced on a bill of quantities (BOQ) at unit prices, where the work turns out to need more than was estimated.
- Article 830This article answers what happens when a contract for work does not state the price for the work.
- Article 18This article says which country's law governs property.