Engineers based in Asia will soon be able to get an MSc in construction law and arbitration from the University of London, without travelling to England.
From July 2003, King’s College London is teaming up with the National University of Singapore (NUS) to offer an international MSc in construction law and arbitration. It is the first time that a degree has been awarded jointly between King’s and another university.
The course will suit those already professionally linked with construction – architects, engineers, project managers, surveyors – in Singapore or the wider region.
Philip Britton, director of the centre of construction law at King’s said that construction professionals often “know the legal issues, but lack the technical background”. The course is designed, in part, to demystify construction law, and challenge preconceptions.
The course will teach general law, i.e. contracts and torts, and specific law, which will include standard form contracts. The first term will be spent teaching the essential building blocks of law, while people from a legal background will learn the basics of construction. “This is not a light-weight course,” Britton warned.
Britton acknowledged that many engineers delegate legal matters to either in-house or a specialist external teams, “but not all companies have these resources,” Britton said. “This MSc could help to assist in preparing for disputes etc. To be deprived of those skills can limit what is available to you.”
