Agreements

The two most common forms of dispute resolution, which require an agreement, are arbitration and adjudication. Of course, there is mediation but the agreements there are a bit more casual, as one cannot be forced to mediate, but one can be required to arbitrate, or be subject to adjudication. Under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1966, however, the statutory requirements overshadow individual contracts regarding adjudication (see Chapter 14). Internationally, most large-scale infrastructure projects provide for adjudication of their disputes with referral to arbitration thereafter, according to international standards developed by such groups as the International Chamber of Commerce or the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. FIDIC, for example, provides for a specific Dispute Adjudication Agreement as part of its dispute resolution procedures flowing from the dispute adjudication board procedures in its contracts. Looking then to the most prevalent form of dispute resolution, arbitration, we find that in England, for example, arbitration is generally subject to the Arbitration Act 1996 and further, particular arbitration clauses can have additional requirements such as being subject to the Construction Industry Model Arbitration Rules. With the advent of adjudication in the UK, arbitration has become a bit more rare but remains applicable to disputes and, in particular, construction disputes, where it is still possible to obtain highly qualified construction arbitrators who know what “section modulus” is or where a “soffit” belongs.