Company Profile

Introduction

Charndell Associates Co., Ltd., was established in Bangkok, Thailand in

September 2000. The aim of the Chairman and founder, Victor Smith, is to

provide high quality professional dispute management consultancy services to

its clients with a focus on the engineering and construction industry. These

dispute management services include both dispute avoidance and dispute

resolution.

Dispute avoidance is desirable to avoid litigation or arbitration and is achieved

by ensuring the contract clearly sets out the rights and obligations of the

parties, appropriate dispute resolution provisions are provided within the

contract and by proper administration of the contract.

Dispute resolution is achieved through commercial negotiations, Alternative

Dispute Resolution [ADR] techniques, arbitration or litigation. Assistance in

these areas is provided by Victor Smith who is a Chartered Arbitrator and

Chartered Quantity Surveyor and holds a Master of Laws Degree in

International Commercial Law (Distinction) from Northumbria University in

England.

Since 2000, Charndell has been engaged by a variety of both Thai and

International clients. These include owners, employers, main contractors,

suppliers, subcontractors, lawyers and other consultants. The assignments

received cover a wide range of projects, including hospitals, hotels, airports,

embassies, pipelines, high rise condominiums, industrial process plants, power

generation plants, luxury residential developments and underground mass

transit systems.

Services

The core professional services provided by Charndell include:

Arbitration Services: Our staff are available to be appointed as arbitrators,

expert witnesses or general advisors.

Construction Claims: Preparation, appraisal, defence and negotiation of

construction claims on behalf of employers, contractors and sub-

contractors.

Contractual Advice: Preparation and interpretation of contract documents

for the purpose of bidding, tender submissions, contract administration and

contractual claims.

Dispute Management: Managing submission of claims to arbitration,

litigation or Alternative Dispute Resolution, assisting in appointment of

lawyers and the tribunal and management of proceedings.

Quantity Surveying Services: A range of Quantity Surveying Services are

available however focus is made on tender submissions, tender analysis

and contract administration for ongoing projects and settlement of final

accounts.

Project Listing

To date Charndell has performed assignments on the following projects:

Thailand:

Alila Hotel and Resort, Phuket.

Amari Orchid Resort, Pattaya.

Athenee Residence, Bangkok.

Aviation Fuel Depot, Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok.

Baan Rajdamri, Bangkok.

Baan-Ua-Ar-Thon Government Housing Project, Chiang Mai.

Baan-Ua-Ar-Thon Government Housing Project, Kanchanaburi.

Baan-Ua-Ar-Thon Government Housing Project, Lopburi.

Baan-Ua-Ar-Thon Government Housing Project, Phuket.

Baan-Ua-Ar-Thon Government Housing Project, Prachuabkirikhan.

Baan-Ua-Ar-Thon Government Housing Project, Samutprakarn.

Baan-Ua-Ar-Thon Government Housing Project, Songkhla.

Bangchak Bio-Diesel Plant, Bang-pa-in, Ayudthaya.

Bangchak Utility Project, Bangkok.

Bangkok Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok.

Banyan Estates Project, Hua Hin.

Banyan Tree Resort, Phuket.

Cape Yamu, Phuket.

Cargo Handling and Storage Systems, Suvarnabhumi International Airport,

Bangkok.

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Cargo and Remote Parking Aprons, Suvarnabhumi International Airport,

Bangkok.

Concourse Building, Suvarnabhumi International Airport Project, Bangkok.

Conrad Hotel (All Seasons Place), Bangkok.

Crown Plaza Hotel, Phuket.

Don Muang Tollway Project, Bangkok.

Hard Rock Hotel, Pattaya.

Hilton Hotel, Bangkok.

Hilton Hotel, Hua-Hin.

Holiday Inn, Phuket.

Hyatt Spa, Hua Hin.

Infinity Condominium, Bangkok.

Iyara Beach Estate, Chonburi.

J.W. Marriott Hotel, Phuket.

Kallista Mansion, Bangkok.

Laguna Housing Project, Phuket.

Layan Resort, Phuket.

Le Meridien Hotel, Bangkok.

Loewe & Celine Store Outlets, Bangkok.

Main Terminal Building, Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok.

Mangosteen Resort, Phuket.

Mayfair Marriott Executive Serviced Apartments, Bangkok.

Metropolitan Hotel, Bangkok.

Mermaid Maritime Facilities Project, Chonburi.

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Millenium Residence, Bangkok.

MRTA Subway Project, (Blue Line), Bangkok.

National Fertilizer Chemical Fertilizer Plant, Rayong.

New International School Thailand (NIST), Bangkok.

Paolo Memorial Hospital, Bangkok.

Park Royal Residence, Bangkok.

Peninsula Spa, Bangkok

Plantation Apartments, Phuket

Power Transmission Lines Project - EGAT 47-65015-8-2-30(42) GBA L6,

Bangkok

Prasantmitr Thani Towers Project, Bangkok.

PTT UT CUP2 Combined Cycle Power Plant, Rayong.

PTT UT CUP3 Combined Cycle Power Plant, Rayong.

Sai Noi – North/South Bangkok Power Plants Gas Pipeline Project,

Bangkok.

Samsara Development, Phuket.

Siam Steel Rolling Mill, Rayong.

State Railway of Thailand Computerized Time Tabling and Train Diagram

Project, Bangkok.

State Railway of Thailand Track Rehabilitation Project (237km), Bangrut –

Chaiya.

Sukhothai Hotel, Bangkok.

Thai-Malaysian Gas Pipeline Project

Thappline Dedicated Fuel Line Project, Suvarnabhumi International Airport,

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Bangkok.

The Lakes at Phoenix, Pattaya.

The Pier, Phuket.

The River Condominium Project, Bangkok.

The Trees, Bangkok.

Tong Son Bay Villas, Koh Samui.

Trisara Hotel, Phuket.

United Nations Library Renovation Project, Bangkok.

Villa Santi, Phuket.

Westin Hotel, Bangkok.

Other Locations:

College of Business and Computer Science, Qatar.

Hotel De La Paix, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Manila, Philippines.

Royal Amwaj Resort and Spa, Dubai.

Rattha Somerset Greenways, Chennai, India.

Singapore Embassy, Burma.

Company Management22 March 2010

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The Chairman of the company is Mr. Victor Smith, a Chartered Arbitrator and

Chartered Quantity Surveyor. He has over twenty-five years experience in the

construction industry and has previously worked in England, France, Italy,

Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. He has spent the last eighteen years working in

Bangkok, Thailand and has considerable experience on hospitals, hotels, high-

rise condominiums and office buildings, roads, dams, water distribution

projects, airports, power generation plants, pipelines, major industrial plants,

chemical process plants and turnkey housing projects.

Victor is a Panel Arbitrator with a number of institutions in Europe, the Middle

East and Asia and has published several arbitration awards. He is currently the

Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce Thailand Arbitration

Commission; he is also the Thailand Country Representative for the Dispute

Resolution Board Foundation. He was Chairman of the Royal Institution of

Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in Thailand for two consecutive years (1997 and

1998) and has served on the RICS Dispute Faculty Board and on the

committee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators - Thailand Branch.

Victor has given several presentations on arbitration and Alternative Dispute

Resolution to both Universities and professional institutions within Thailand. He

teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution as an Adjunct Lecturer for the Master of

Laws Program in Business Law at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Management Profile – Victor Smith

Personal Details

Date of Birth 4th December, 1957.

Nationality British

Residence Bangkok, Thailand.

Academic and Professional Qualifications

2008 Fellow of The Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators

2007 LLM Masters Degree in International Commercial

Law (Distinction), Northumbria University

2006 Member of The Dispute Resolution Board Foundation

2005 Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators

2004 Post Graduate Diploma in International Commercial

Arbitration, The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

2003 Member of The London Court of International Arbitration

2003 “Chartered Arbitrator” status conferred by the Chartered

Institute of Arbitrators

2001 Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators

2001 Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

2001 Post-Graduate Diploma in Arbitration, Reading College of

Estate Management

1999 Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building

1996 Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

1982 BSc Degree in Quantity Surveying, Kingston Polytechnic

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Arbitration Experience

He has been appointed as an arbitrator by parties and arbitral institutions and

has acted as both a sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator. He has been required to

determine construction disputes, international trade disputes, shipping disputes

and general commercial disputes. He has been appointed to act as an

arbitrator in both domestic and international arbitrations where the governing

law has been English Law, Thai Law or Singaporean Law.

He has assisted clients in arbitration proceedings in Thailand under Thai law

and the arbitration rules of the Thai Arbitration Institute and the International

Chamber of Commerce [ICC]. He has participated in several ICC advanced

arbitration courses in Paris, France.

He is on the panel of arbitrators and/or listed with the following arbitration

institutions:

- The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London).

- The Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators.

- The Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.

- The Board of Trade of Thailand.

- The Dubai International Arbitration Centre.

- The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.

- The Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration.

- The London Court of International Arbitration.

- The Pacific International Arbitration Centre (Vietnam).

- The Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

- The Thai Arbitration Institute.

He is Chair of the Commission on Arbitration for ICC Thailand, a member of the

Commission on Arbitration for ICC Paris and the Thailand Country

Representative for the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation. He has served as

the Hon. Secretary of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Thailand).

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He is an Adjunct Lecturer at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand; his

subject is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for the Master of Laws Program

for Business Law (English Program). He has been a guest lecturer on

arbitration and ADR at universities in Thailand (Chulalongkorn, Mae Fah

Luang, Assumption and The Asian Institute of Technology) and has made

similar presentations for professional bodies including ICC Thailand, The

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and The Asia Business Forum. He is an

approved Tutor / Examiner for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Entry

Course.

Quantity Surveying Experience

General

Employed for over twenty six years in the international engineering and

construction industry as a Quantity Surveyor, Contracts Administrator and

Claims Consultant. He has worked in England, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia,

Dubai, Qatar, Nigeria, Thailand and the Philippines. He has spent the last

eighteen years working in Thailand. He was Chairman of RICS Thailand in

1997 and 1998 and he is an accredited assessor for candidates taking the

RICS Assessment of Professional Competence leading to membership of the

RICS.

2000 – 2009: Thailand

Chairman of own consultancy firm, Charndell Associates, providing dispute

management services, advising clients in potential and actual disputes and

acting as an arbitrator.

1991 – 2000: Thailand

Employed as a Senior Quantity Surveyor / Contracts Administrator by major

construction companies (Philip Holzmann (Thai) Ltd. and Siam Syntech

Construction) and consultancy firms (James R. Knowles Singapore and James

R. Knowles Thailand). Responsible for the day-to-day administration of major

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construction projects, preparation of claims and final accounts. Projects

assigned to included hospitals, airports, chemical process plants, combined

utility power plants, hotels, residential resorts, high-rise commercial buildings

and condominiums.

1991: France

Employed as a consultant by an international construction company, Bovis, to

conclude the final account and all claims on the entertainments centre for the

Euro Disney Project located on the outskirts of Paris, France.

1990 – 1991: Nigeria

Employed as a Contracts Engineer by a major international construction

company, Impresit-Bakolori, for the day-to-day administration of infrastructure

and engineering projects in northern Nigeria; projects included dams, water

distribution systems and road projects.

1981 – 1989: Saudi Arabia

Employed as a Contracts Engineer / Contracts Administrator by both

international and local contractors (FEAL IBS, Pegel Arabia and Ditco), in

Jeddah and Riyadh for the day-to-day administration projects including

hospitals, government housing and commercial office developments. In 1998

he spent six months working in the Head Office of FEAL IBS in Milan, Italy.

1975 – 1977 & 1980: England

Employed by professional quantity surveying firms (W. C. Inman & Partners

and E.C. Harris and Partners) as a junior Quantity Surveyor in London and the

surrounding region.

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Arbitration

As an alternative to litigation parties to disputes are turning to arbitration and

other forms of ADR to resolve their disputes. Arbitration is not a new practice,

but has become increasingly more well known in recent times as a result of

greater publicity and public awareness of arbitration.

Arbitration is one form of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution). Other forms of

ADR include mediation, adjudication, dispute boards, mini-trials and expert

determination. Each form of ADR has its own particular advantages and

disadvantages. Some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of

arbitration are:

Advantages:

Arbitration should be a more speedy and therefore cheaper process than

litigation.

Technical matters can be referred to a person with expert knowledge in

the field of the dispute so the matter can be quickly and easily

understood.

The proceedings and results of arbitration are private and not in the

public domain.

The formalities can be adjusted to suit the circumstances.

The venue and date of hearings can be adjusted to suit the parties,

rather than being fixed by the court.

An arbitration award is more easily enforced than a court award in

foreign jurisdictions.

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Disadvantages:

Judges are normally more experienced in acting in a judicial capacity

and are more familiar with the details of the law.

The right of appeal is limited (this is considered by some to be an

advantage).

There are no means of joining third parties, unless the parties consent.

Arbitration incurs expenses for the venue of the hearing and the cost of

the arbitrator(s) whereas the cost of using the court system is minimal.

Whether or not the potential advantages of arbitration are achieved largely

depends on the will of the parties.

The Arbitration Process:

Arbitration is a consensual form of dispute resolution allowing the parties to

determine how they wish the proceedings to be conducted, subject to any

limitations the rules and laws governing the arbitration may impose on the

parties.

The procedures for an arbitration would normally consist of a notice to submit a

dispute to arbitration followed by the appointment of the arbitrator(s) to sit on

the tribunal. Normally the number of arbitrators on a tribunal to determine the

disputes would be one or three. Following the appointment of the tribunal a

preliminary meeting is held to decide the procedures to be adopted to

determine the dispute and whether there are any challenges to the tribunal’s

jurisdiction. This is a very important part of the proceedings as it sets the stage

as to how the arbitration will be managed.

The record of the preliminary meeting is made by the tribunal and issued to the

parties in the form of directions that the parties are required to comply with. The

parties would then normally submit their statements of claim, statement of

defence and supporting documents. Unless the arbitration is a ‘documents only’

case a hearing then follows at which the parties are able to orally present their

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case. Based on the submissions of the parties and the results of the hearing

the tribunal will then make its award. At this time the tribunal becomes ‘ex-

officio’ and no longer has any jurisdiction over the dispute.

Once an award has been made the parties are required to comply with the

terms of the award unless there are grounds for appeal. Under most arbitration

rules there are time limits within which appeal must be made. Should a party

default and not comply with the award the other party can normally seek

enforcement of the award through the courts by either summary judgment or an

action on the award.

Management of the Arbitration:

The effectiveness of arbitration is depends largely on the tribunal’s ability to

manage the dispute. The tribunal is provided with a number of powers manage

the arbitration, some of these are provided by the arbitration agreement with

others being provided by the applicable rules or the parties themselves (by

mutual consent). While these powers can be increased they can also be limited

by the same methods, an example of this would be where the applicable rules

state that both parties shall bear their own costs of the arbitration.

Reference to Arbitration:

There are a number of ways in which a dispute can be referred to arbitration.

These normally consist of an agreement contained within a contract, by an ‘ad-

hoc’ agreement made by the parties once a dispute has arisen or by a statutory

instrument. It is vital that the arbitration agreement within a contract is effective

for the purpose of referring the dispute to arbitration, failing which the parties

cannot be obliged to submit their dispute to arbitration or request a stay of legal

proceedings. Many arbitration agreements contained within contracts are either

ineffective or unclear.

Arbitration is a complex issue that is difficult to briefly summarize due to its

dependence on a variety of factors and circumstances. Should more

information on arbitration and ADR be required we are willing to meet and

discuss these matters with interested parties.

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