This article is all about dispute resolution boards in construction. They are not that common or important in minor to medium sized construction projects but are worth a mention as part of a general discussion of dispute resolution in construction.
Stravelles run a course in Adjudication which aims to allow the student to run their own adjudication as the referring or responding party without paying for legal representation.
We support legal representation in more complex cases but we want to encourage especially smaller companies to feel more confident fighting for their contractual rights.
Dispute Resolution Boards (also known as Dispute Review Boards or Dispute Adjudication Boards) are simply a group of independent people who meet to discuss a dispute in a construction project.
Dispute resolution boards are only ever used on very large, complex construction and engineering projects which have many international stakeholders. Unless you are planning to work on a large project such as a new dam, a channel tunnel type project, you will never come across Dispute resolution boards.
The concept took off in the United States of America before being used worldwide. It has been used successfully in the following high profile projects:
Dispute Adjudication boards are simply a natural evolution of the process whereby the decisions of the board are binding in the interim just like the decision of an Adjudicator.
A Dispute resolution boards in construction will consist of three members including:
The chairman of the board is usually the legal member. All members must be very qualified, experienced and recognised in their respective professions.
Each party recommends one technical member and those members choose the third member as the chairman. If the two members cannot agree on a chairman then a nominating body can be appointed to recommend one.
The board visits site regularly and deals with an issues that come up as they arise.
If one party has an issue or complaint they can submit notice to the board who will discuss its merits.
Dispute resolution boards have been used successfully in many construction projects including