construction disputes are the lack of competence of project participants, inadequate contract administration, changes by the Client, exaggerated claims, and inappropriate payments. Other areas of dispute are ambiguity in contract terms, errors in contract documents, changes/ variations to the contract – the principle if they are changes/ variations, and secondly, the cost of such change, and poor/incorrect risk allocation. A very common dispute and/ or difference is the validity of payment applications/ notices and pay-less notices, which are commonly known within the sector as “smash and grabs.” How can construction disputes be avoided? The likelihood of avoiding or having more chance of success should a dispute happen from before the contract was entered into. The contract requires to be in a suitable form for the works being undertaken, the parties, the value and complexity of the works, and the party’s appetite for risk. The contract also requires to be understood by the party’s representatives who are operating the contract, i.e., what are the notice provisions for delay, what constitutes a variation or a change, and how are claims notified and valued. Considering that a leading cause of disputes and/ or differences is the lack of competence of project participants and inadequate contract administration, it is clear that the construction industry is required to review its training of staff, resourcing of projects (are the projects either under-resourced or not equipped with the correct resource in terms of experience and qualifications). What is construction adjudication, and what types of disputes is adjudication used for? Statutory adjudication is the most popular form of dispute resolution for construction contract disputes in the UK 6 LAWYER MONTHLY MAY 2024
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