This article was produced by Olswang LLP, which joined with CMS on 1 May 2017.
This month saw the public launch of the RICS’ International Dispute Board Register and its related training programme.
Internationally, dispute boards are a well-known form of ADR. A board generally consists of one or three neutral adjudicators and is in place during the lifetime of a construction project. If an issue arises between the parties to the contract, either may refer it to the board. The idea is that any difference is resolved quickly and inexpensively, allowing the project to continue unencumbered. Since adjudicators should be experts in fields relevant to the project, boards often share characteristics with another form of ADR, expert determination, although dispute board resolution tends to be non-binding.
Dispute boards aren’t new. Both FIDIC and the ICC have long maintained lists of suitable dispute board members. So why is the RICS only launching its international register now? No clear answer has been provided. Indeed, the RICS’ inaugural list consists of members who already sit on the panels of other nominating bodies. Perhaps understandably, the launch event on May 1 was a rather low-key affair.
From Constructive’s perspective, this seems to be something of a catch-up measure by the RICS, designed to plug a gap in its dispute resolution services portfolio. The cost of maintaining a dispute board invariably makes it more suited to complex or high-value projects. In this country, parties also have the right to refer a dispute to adjudication at any time, a procedure now drawing keen attention from governments overseas. However, in more testing times for the construction market and amid continued concerns about adjudication being over-lawyered and increasingly fractious, those of us in the UK should look afresh at dispute boards when considering contractual dispute resolution mechanisms. Ultimately, time and resources spent mired in disputes is detrimental to projects and participants. A disputes board, as utilised successfully by the ODA in its delivery of this year’s Olympics, can assist. Notably, the new CIOB Complex Projects Contract , which members of our team were involved in drafting, gives prominence to a “Principal Expert” – a dispute board in all but name.
