BIG 5: Dubai government has to safeguard quality

Suppliers at The Big 5 say they support the Dubai government's moves to ensure build quality

A number of building companies have called upon the Dubai government to support their attempts to maintain quality within the industry.

Al Rajhi Holding CEO Othmar Wutscher lent his weight to the Dubai government’s drive to introduce new, tougher build standards, but warned that any new regulations would also have to be strictly enforced in order to succeed.

“They can’t just be on paper. Dubai has been built on quality but, with the economic downturn, there’s too much value engineering at the moment and buildings that may look good on the surface are anything but," he said

Al Rajhi Holding is the umbrella group for companies such as Romeo Design, Cladtech International, Mada Gypsum and Unipods.

“We realise that, at this time, we need to be competitive but we also want to remain quality conscious,” continued Wutscher.

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“In the next two or three years, I’m sure we’ll see a massive increase in the number of dedicated refurbishment companies at shows like The Big 5, as the corners being cut start to come apart – refurbishing is expensive and labour intensive.”

Cladtech International business operations director Bater Biyouk agreed, adding: “We compromise a little on price which we’re able to do at Cladtech [a curtain walls and cladding specialist], as we manufacture our own glass and steel…we can avoid the commission from the middle men. But we never compromise on quality.

“However, testing has to be thorough. Quality curtain walling is a matter of using the right material, in the right place at the right time – it has to be tested as a system, not as individual parts. We support the government is any moves it makes to improve those tests and standards.”