There are three specific purposes of Construction Dispute Research. First, this volume aims to summarise studies on construction dispute. Second, apart from the theoretical constructs, where appropriate empirical tests are also included. This approach serves to go beyond the commonly used anecdotal approach for the subject matters. Third, it is the sincere hope of the authors that this book will help shaping research agenda of construction dispute. The studies are mostly framed from a management perspective drawing on methods and concepts in contract law, economics, psychology and management science. The book has twenty chapters that are arranged in four parts covering conceptualisation, avoidance, negotiation and mediation. Part 1 is devoted for dispute conceptualisation. A building is only as strong as its foundation. Thus it is no better start to study construction dispute by conceptualisation. The theme of Part 2 is dispute avoidance. The conventional wisdom of ‘prevention is better than cure’ seems can be applied to all problems. As far as construction dispute is concerned, equitable risk allocation and trust are the two most commonly accepted avoidance strategies. Part 3 focuses on negotiation that is the gateway to resolution as almost all disputes are negotiated first before the service of other mechanisms. Negotiation is sometimes described as an art because settlement may not be obtained solely from legal and rational approaches. Part 3 discusses the behavioral dimensions of construction dispute negotiation. Part 4 deals with Mediation- a form of assisted negotiation. Specially, the skill of the mediators in facilitating settlement, the interrelationships among dispute sources, mediator tactics and mediation outcomes are explored. The studies presented in Construction Dispute Research collectively demonstrate holistic approach in dispute management. Each chapter can be read as a study on its own. Practitioners will find the book a handy reference in dispute management and resolution. Students would find the book useful in explaining in details the causes of dispute, the processes to resolve them. The research design and empirical approaches are particularly useful to students in construction management, architectural, surveying and civil engineering programs.

As an expansion of the book “Construction Dispute Research” published in 2014, this book presents further contributions and breaks into three new research foci in construction dispute studies. Part A discusses the conceptualization and minimization of biases in construction dispute decisions; Part B examines other impediments against settlement such as inequity, power asymmetry and loss aversion. Part C focuses on realty check of construction dispute negotiation conditions such as market competition, interdependence of contracting parties and dispute avoidance function of construction incentivization. This book showcases new ideas in construction dispute research. It offers research studies that are theory rich and conducted with robust methodologies. The research implications are practical and implementable.

The National Academy of Construction (NAC) has determined that disputes, and their accompanying inefficiencies and costs, constitute a significant problem for the industry. In 2002, the NAC assessed the industry's progress in attacking this problem and determined that although the tools, techniques, and processes for preventing and efficiently resolving disputes are already in place, they are not being widely used. In 2003, the NAC helped to persuade the Center for Construction Industry Studies (CCIS) at the University of Texas and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to finance and conduct empirical research to develop accurate information about the relative transaction costs of various forms of dispute resolution. In 2004 the NAC teamed with the Federal Facilities Council (FFC) of the National Research Council to sponsor the "Government/Industry Forum on Reducing Construction Costs: Uses of Best Dispute Resolution Practices by Project Owners." The forum was held on September 23, 2004, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Speakers and panelists at the forum addressed several topics. Reducing Construction Costs addresses topics such as the root causes of disputes and the impact of disputes on project costs and the economics of the construction industry. A second topic addressed was dispute resolution tools and techniques for preventing, managing, and resolving construction- related disputes. This report documents examples of successful uses of dispute resolution tools and techniques on some high-profile projects, and also provides ways to encourage greater use of dispute resolution tools throughout the industry. This report addresses steps that owners of construction projects (who have the greatest ability to influence how their projects are conducted) should take in order to make their projects more successful.

Analyses how conflicts on construction projects all too often escalate into costly and drawn-out disputes. It identifies strategies that parties can employ to ensure that conflicts are used to generate positive solutions to problems rather than escalating those problems into disputes. Gerber and Ong, Monash University.

This synthesis report will be of interest to transportation agency administrators, including contract administrators; construction, design, claims, and scheduling engineers; project staff and managers; attorneys; and construction contractors. This synthesis describes the state of the practice with respect to procedures used throughout the United States to resolve disputes to avoid construction claims. Fair and timely resolution of contract disputes may help lessen highway construction project administrative costs, benefitting the public, the agency, and the contractor. This report of the Transportation Research Board examines the underlying reasons for contract disputes and identifies methods for dispute avoidance and resolution. It complements the information in NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 105: Construction Contract Claims: Causes and Methods of Settlement, which focused on the causes of disputes. This synthesis further emphasizes finding ways to settle disputes at their inception, before they become formal claims or lawsuits.

For graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in Dispute Resolution. This text addresses new and innovative ways to promote collaborative environments and resolve disputes in construction by emphasizing the different steps in the Dispute Resolution Ladder and spelling out the main features of a conflict management plan. It also includes some practical applications of Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Techniques in the construction industry throughout different cultures.

Construction disputes by their very nature are often complex, sometimes multi-party disputes, many of which are not suited to either adjudication or traditional form of litigation (which are often slow, expensive and divisive). The sheer complexity of construction creates a compelling case for the introduction of alternative approaches within this adversarial industry. This book traces the history, development, current status and future direction of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the UK construction industry. It draws on the largest collection of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors-funded surveys on Scottish and English disputants’ perceptions and attitudes to ADR. It includes an examination of the key legislative and regulatory principles relating to ADR in the Construction sphere. The study also evaluates the role and functions of the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) in England and, with reference to case law, identifies its facilitative approach to ADR. The coherence of the TCC’s approach to issues such as refusal to resort to ADR is also examined. It will be a valuable reference work for scholars and practitioners in construction and the built environment, in the UK and internationally.