Minimizing construction disputes

Younis, G

Abstract

The continuing incidence of costly disputes in the construction industry has led to a
common interest of researchers in different countries to identify the generic aspects of
conflicts, claims, disputes and their resolution. This thesis undertakes an extensive
review of literature in the field of construction disputes examining the current
understanding of the causes of disputes, as identified by other researchers in the field, and
attempts made to minimize them. An analysis of the literature helps identify important
themes for particular investigation: procurement methods, risk allocation, claims
management and dispute resolution methods.
A preliminary examination of 20 projects in Lebanon confirmed the existence and
revealed the extent of disputes on Lebanese projects. Twenty-four semi-structured
interviews with practitioners actively involved in construction projects in Lebanon at the
project management level are conducted, from which a set of dispute influencing areas
emerge. Fifty cases of disputes occurring on four live case study projects in Lebanon are
also analysed to examine the risk allocation and occurrence, the behavioural attitudes of
key stakeholders, and the factors which lead to disputes between the parties. The
findings demonstrate the relationship between those risks which are addressed in the
contract and their interaction (when they eventuate) with the behavioural traits of the
project participants involved. Furthermore, the dispute factors encountered in these fifty
cases are categorized into dispute influencing areas to establish any correlation with the
areas raised in the twenty-four interviews. Following comparison of the evidence gained
from the literature, the interviews and the case studies, a set of provisional
recommendations to minimize disputes is proposed and organized under three themes: a
pre-contract award workshop; the drafting of general and particular conditions of
contract; and the potential for improvement based behavioural on compliance of project
participants. The validity of the provisional recommendations is tested by the reviews of
five experts in the field of construction disputes, in accordance with which the
recommendations are amended.

Citation

Younis, G. Minimizing construction disputes. (Thesis). Salford : University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2012
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2010