Arbitrators on-line

CONSTRUCTION DISPUTES: Web selection is faster

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators has moved to speed up the resolution of construction disputes by giving parties the chance to request an adjudicator on-line.

The new system allows the referring party in a construction dispute to make their request for an adjudicator through its Web site by submitting their documentation and making their nomination payment through an encrypted software programme.

The institute said the service is the first of its kind for construction adjudication in the UK.

The adjudication process was introduced by the Housing Grants Construction & Regeneration Act 1998.

Since that time, the institute has trained nearly 300 adjudicators for a number of nominating bodies and 120 have qualified for entry to its own panel, including lawyers, architects, engineers and quantity surveyors.

As a result, it has made more than 400 nominations since the Act came in to force.

The institute said the panel allows it to match the specialist skills required for solving the dispute rather than simply using a generic panel of adjudicators and leaving the parties to take pot luck on whether the adjudicator will understand the disputed issues.

Gregory Hunt, its manager of dispute resolution services, said: 'A key advantage of resolving construction disputes through adjudication is speed.

We have taken this considerable benefit even further by ensuring that the process is as simple and accessible as possible.'

The institute has also added its new construction adjudication clause for contracts to its Web site.

LINKS: www.arbitrators.org