Understanding the Legal Definition of a Consumer

At PDI Global LLC, we are focused on understanding the nuances of our clients’ international projects and acting as facilitators to ensure their success. This week’s choice for recommended reading is a reprint by the World Bank Group’s International Financial Corporation of the article How do You Define a Consumer under the Law?. As an arch-environmental firm working on many international projects, we are acutely aware of how the legal definition of a consumer can affect which jurisdictional law will dictate the requirements and expectations for our deliverables in our construction related contracts. In our post-CoViD era, it is even more important to understand consumer laws and their impact on our project delivery responsibilities.

Our multinational team uses best practices learned from years of experience in dealing with consumers in numerous jurisdictions and managing consortiums. Now more than ever it is essential to be able to create sophisticated consortiums to allow companies to navigate any consumer-related legal issues that may arise in any country. A growing number of jurisdictions have adopted consumer protection laws, and governments are increasingly including consumer rights in trade agreements with other countries. If you’re a company looking to participate in this market, understanding how consumer laws apply to company participation in global projects is critical. When it comes to construction projects, in particular architecture and engineering services, it becomes clear that the legal definition of a consumer may not always be obvious or within the control of the contractor or subcontractor, and that is why it is important to understand and comply with relevant consumer protections.