Arbitration Practice in Construction Contracts

Arbitration has been the accepted means of dispute resolution in the construction industry since the early development of the contract system. The first edition of the Institution of Civil Engineers' General Conditions of Contract for Civil Engineering Works , published in 1945, included provision for arbitration; and all subsequent editions, together with derivatives of those forms, and corresponding standard forms of contract in the building industry, have made similar provision. Despite the universal use of arbitration in resolving the construction industry disputes few of the engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and managers invovled in such disputes understand how they should proceed. Instead they abdicate their management functions to lawyers, who understand the law but often do not understand construction. This book seeks to promote better understanding of arbitration procedures by construction practitioners, so that they need not feel obliged to employ lawyers, especially in dealing with minor disputes. In larger disputes, where lawyers are appointed, a better understanding of arbitration procedures by managers will help them to make wise decisions

Table of Contents:
Foreword. Preface to the third edition. Preface to the first edition. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Arbitration agreements. Powers of an arbitrator. Appointment of the arbitrator. Preliminaries. Evidence. The hearing. The award. Costs. Finality of the award; enforcement; appeals. The contractor as claimant. Appendices - specimen documents. The Arbitration Act 1950. The Arbitration Act 1975. The Arbitration Act 1979. The Rules of the Supreme Court (Amendment No.3) 1979. The Arbitration Act 1979 (Commencement) Order 1979. Interest tables. Flow chart. Bibliography. Table of cases. Index.

Review :
"This is a book which is designed to provide the reader with as much practical information as possible about arbitration law and procedure, in an accessible form, and within a modest compass." - The Rt Hon Lord Goff of Chieveley, Former President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators "...a clear practical guide. Of very great value to the reader will be th enormously useful appendices containing specimen documents which are a model of clarity. A very useful introduction to the mysteries of this fascinating form of dispute resolution." - Arbitration "...provides a very comprehensive review of the practice of arbitration...a first class exposition...to be commended as extraordinarily good value." - Structural Survey