ECC CONTRACTING MARKS 50 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

Rooted in family, driven by excellence — how the Farah family vision has created an innovative UAE pioneer

- Suneeti Ahuja-Kohli

In 1975, Hatem Farah and Khodr Aldah set up a modest contracting company in Dubai. What they were building quietly and doggedly-was a legacy.

Today, 50 years on, Engineering Contracting Company (ECC Contracting) stands as a formidable force in the UAE's construction sector, credited with some of the most culturally significant, technically challenging, and quietly revolutionary projects in the UAE. From restoring Dubai's historic Clock Tower to making history by completing the world's largest 3D-printed building earning ECC Contracting a Guinness World Record - ECC Contracting's journey has been anything but conventional.

Says Hatem Farah, ECC Contracting's Founder, "You can earn money and lose it. But a reputation built on quality, trust and respect-takes lifetimes, and one second to destroy."

A PARTNERSHIP BUILT TO LAST

The story of ECC Contracting began with a subcontracting offer and a refusal. In 1973, Hatem Farah was offered a lucrative job in Dubai, which he declined. Instead, he accepted a subcontracting opportunity, where he met Khodr Aldahthen a fellow engineer with sharp instincts and sharper integrity. Two years later, Hatem Farah registered ECC Contracting, and in 1977, Khodr Aldah formally joined.

Their partnership has become the backbone of ECC Contracting based not on hierarchy, but on mutual respect and unwavering teamwork. "We've worked together for five decades," says Khodr Aldah. "Not once have we argued over ego. It was never about 'I', always about 'we'."