settlement of disputes

and God said unto Noah , the Ark shall be finished within seven days . And Noah saith , it shall be so ,. But it was not so . And the Lord saith , what seemeth to be the trouble .
This time ? and Noah saith , mine subcontractor hath bone bankrupth . THe pitch which thou commandest me to use has not arrived . The plumber hath gone on strike . And the glazier on holiday tpo Majorca , even tho I did ogffer him double time .

Construction contracts in the distant past consisted of a document of about five pages long . They generally concluded with a handskae , but underlying such aggreme were an essential set of values of competence , fairness and honesty . Today things are different . We have developed a complex and onerous set of conditions that attempt to cover every eventuality and in so doing create loopholes that the legal professions can feast upon . It has iften been suggested that the only individuals to make any money in the construction industry are the lawyers .  Precious time and resources are thus drawn away from the main purpose of the industry . Getting the project built on time , to the right design and use of construction technology at an agreed price and quality .
  Everyone in the industry aggreed that construction contracts need to become less adversariel and more simply constructed  , emphasizing the positive needs of the project . Consultants and contractors should be allowed and encouraged to use their best endeavours and to work rtogether as a team rather than watching their individuals back all of the time . When a project ends up in a protracted disuputes , the project will fail to meet its original goals and expetations . In addition , clients will sufer from high legal fees , delayed completion and occupation and general dissatisfaction . The contractor;s profits will diminish and to these will be added additional legal fees . There are no winners under these circumstances .

  The british construction industry offers its customers great flexibility . It is envided in many parts of the world . But , due to the pressures involved in getting a project completed as quickly as possible , may construction projects are inadequately or not fully deisnged before the construction work start on site . Changes to the design are therefore both inevitable and welcome in achieving satisdactory solutions to meet the needs of clients . But such changes have the result of changes to the contract programme and this in turn affects the price originally quoted by the contractor to complete the project works . Disuputes between the various parties that are involved are an ordinaryh and everday occurrence .

Thankfully  most of thse differences of opinion or interpretation are resolved in an amicable and agreeble way / However ,  if the disputes is not managed efficienctly it leads onwards to conflict and the project begins to suffer in terms of time , cost and quality . This chapter considers the potential for escalation and the alternative ways in which different  of opinion  or judgement  can be resolved .