Water utilities
The water-utility sector sits at the intersection of regulation, public infrastructure and long-term investment. Regulatory changes, the integration of water-service providers, investment in the modernisation and development of infrastructure, and the requirements of the national and European regulatory framework create a complex environment in which legal questions have to be considered together with operational, financial and project objectives.
Kovač Legal provides specialist legal support to public water-service providers, units of local self-government, public contracting authorities, investors, contractors and other participants in the water-utility sector. We advise throughout the life cycle of infrastructure projects, from regulatory and corporate structuring and preparation of the investment, through public procurement, financing and contracting, to delivery of the project, management of contractual risks and the resolution of disputes.
Our approach connects experience in regulated activities and the public sector with the practices of Corporate & M&A, Public Procurement, Infrastructure & Construction, FIDIC, EU-Funded Projects, Commercial Contracts and Dispute Resolution. In that way we give clients coordinated legal support in complex infrastructure and investment projects.
We advise water-service providers and their founders on questions of organisation, governance and regulatory compliance, and on status and organisational changes in the water-services sector.
Our services include:
- status and organisation of water-service providers
- status and organisational changes
- integration and reorganisation of water-service providers
- corporate and governance relationships
- general and internal acts
- relations with founders, users and other stakeholders
- communication and proceedings before the competent authorities
We follow water-utility and other infrastructure projects through their whole development and investment cycle, from the initial structuring and preparation of the project to contracting, construction and completion of the investment.
Our services include:
- structuring and preparation of infrastructure projects
- legal support in the delivery of investment programmes
- contractual models for the delivery of infrastructure projects
- coordination of legal questions with technical, financial and other project advisers
- support during delivery and completion of the project
We provide legal support to public contracting authorities and other participants at every stage of public-procurement procedures, with particular experience in procurement connected with larger infrastructure projects and projects co-financed by European Union funds.
Our services include:
- preparation and conduct of public-procurement procedures
- procurement documents and contractual conditions
- legal questions during the procurement procedure
- procurement of works, goods and services
- procurement in infrastructure projects
- contracting of projects financed or co-financed by European Union funds
- management of legal risks connected with delivery of the project
- irregularities and financial corrections
Water-utility projects in the Republic of Croatia are often financed by European Union funds. As a consequence, FIDIC conditions of contract are as a rule used when those projects are carried out. Kovač Legal has extensive experience in advising and representing contracting authorities and contractors on projects in which the FIDIC conditions of contract are applied (see Construction and FIDIC projects).
We also follow clients after the contract is concluded, during the delivery of infrastructure projects, when sound management of the contractual relationship often becomes essential to the success of the project.
Our services include:
- interpretation and performance of contractual obligations
- amendments to the contract during its performance
- additional and unforeseen works
- subcontracting
- time limits and delays
- claims of the contracting authority and the contractor
- prevention and early management of contractual disputes
We advise on the legal and regulatory aspects of concessions and other models for the organisation, development and use of public and water-utility infrastructure.
Our services include:
- regulatory and contractual structuring
- allocation of rights, obligations and risks
- long-term contractual relationships
- questions connected with the development and use of infrastructure
We represent clients in regulatory and administrative proceedings and in proceedings for legal protection arising from activity in the water-utility sector and from the preparation and delivery of infrastructure projects.
Our services include:
- review proceedings in public procurement
- regulatory proceedings
- administrative and inspection proceedings
- administrative disputes
- questions connected with irregularities and financial corrections
- representation before the competent authorities
In infrastructure and construction projects we connect sector and contractual experience with our dispute-resolution practice, with a focus on identifying disputed questions early and managing claims effectively.
Our services include:
- contractual and commercial disputes
- disputes between the contracting authority, the contractor and other participants in the project
- disputes connected with additional works, changes, time limits and performance of the contract
- negotiation and settlement
- amicable dispute resolution
- disputes and arbitration