The American Arbitration Association’s Construction Practice Area & Construction Rules for arbitration date back to 1966. The AIA, ConsensusDocs, and other form and custom contracts use AAA arbitration clauses. Yet, there are three additional reasons for using construction mediation
- Construction expertise is essential for disputes related to construction . Neither judges nor juries are versed in critical path method scheduling ("CPM"), buy-downs for performance liquidated damages, or the contract structures for an IPD, EPC, EPCM, or design-build project. The American Arbitration Association’s Construction arbitrators are well-vetted – and this I well know. Moreover, parties to arbitration have many construction arbitrators from which to choose. These construction arbitrators are able to combine two complex areas of knowledge – construction technical knowledge and construction law – to resolve disputes.
- Construction arbitration costs are low because arbitration is similar to a short, equity bench trial (that is, provided lawyers do not treat arbitration like a civil trial). In complex trials, an army of attorneys rack up costs with pleadings, motions, and depositions.
- Lastly, a construction arbitration takes months - not years as civil litigation does. The civil courts take months just to schedule hearings, and these same courts take years to schedule trials.
Include an American Arbitration Association construction arbitration clause in your design agreement or construction contract - or agree to construction arbitration if there is a dispute. Construction arbitration will enable you to obtain expertise to decide your case, decrease costs related to disputes, and save precious time.
For more information, checkout this link: https://www.adr.org/construction
