Using Contracts to Achieve Dispute Prevention
Employing contracts to achieve dispute prevention requires us to become involved in various dispute prevention techniques. These include the following:
- Equitable risk sharing
- Innovative project award and delivery systems, incentive programs, constructability analysis and cost and schedule controls
The costs of implementing these techniques are often viewed by owners as additional costs. However, the benefits that owners ultimately obtain far exceed the costs.
Key questions that arise on every project that should be addressed by the project participants include the following:
- Is this the appropriate project delivery system?
- With many project participants, how do you keep misunderstandings to a minimum?
- How should project risks be allocated?
As a means of promoting the equitable distribution of construction project risks, the following contract ideas in this and the following pages are being put forward. Some of these ideas may seem to be heresy to some, depending upon whose ox is being gored. The writer does not suggest that these ideas represent a panacea for the construction industry. They are only put forward for thought and quiet consideration.
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Compatibility of Interests
