Key Findings

CMS approached senior members of the construction industry from around the world, especially Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, and tracked data since 2020 to identify key trends.

Through additional interviews with construction sector professionals, this report further establishes the issues at play and highlights how businesses are responding to this particularly testing environment.

The findings illustrate the mounting delays and rising costs that are now the primary causes of tension and disputes in construction projects. The study shows that construction project stakeholders are increasingly looking to in-house legal teams, contract management teams and external law firms to help identify points of risk at the start of a project and to proactively monitor areas of risk through to completion.

The report highlights the appeal of settling points of conflict or dispute as they arise, spending small amounts on legal representation, rather than attempting to resolve these at the end of a project. Our research also recognises that some parties are reluctant to ’rock the boat’ and jeopardise the flow of the project, which requires higher levels of sensitivity and diplomacy to address tensions.

The study demonstrates the need for construction stakeholders to improve the way they manage projects, particularly in keeping better records, managing change better and submitting notices within prescribed time limits.

When full-scale disputes require formal processes to resolve them, our study clearly shows that arbitration is the number one preference for disputants. It also illustrates that enthusiasm for mediation has waned in recent years.