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Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution
The Dickson Poon School of Law

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Activity

The Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution furthers research into all areas of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution in a domestic, comparative and transnational contexts.

Members of staff at the Centre are engaged in a number of research projects nationally and internationally:

  • Dispute resolution in construction: Theory and practice around the world - see further details below
  • Transnational construction arbitration and ADR - see further details below
  • The transnational dimension of arbitration agreements and arbitral awards, particularly the law applicable to arbitration agreements and the applicability of the doctrines of issue estoppel and abuse of process in proceedings for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards
  • Statutory adjudication in the UK and in other common law jurisdictions
  • The use of Disputes Boards (DRBs, DABs, DAABs) in a global context
  • Public policy issues in construction arbitration - corruption, competition, sustainability, enviromental issues and climate change
  • Academic partner of the UK Government, evaluating trials of new procurement approaches to early contractor involvement and supply chain management
  • The legal implications of Building Information Management (BIM) - see further details belowy
  • The impact of construction projects on the community and local economy
Events

Events

Upcoming events at the Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution

Construction Adjudication

The Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution in partnership with The Adjudication Society, is engaged in a three-year project relating to construction adjudication in the UK. The project is led by Professor Renato Nazzini and Aleksander Godhe, and it considers exhaustively the practice of adjudication tracing the key statistical trends and reform. The Centre’s work in this area has had a profound impact on the practice of adjudication most notably in the area of diversity, causes of adjudicated disputes, perceptions of adjudicator biases and many others.

Lord Justice Coulson commented in his foreword that the 2022 Report was a ‘seminal moment in the story of this unique dispute resolution process’. The project has resulted in two published reports which can be accessed below:

Sky scene of buildings under scaffolding

Dispute Boards

The Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution is conducting a comprehensive empirical research project on the use and practice of Dispute Boards around the world led by Professor Renato Nazzini and Raquel Macedo Moreira. Our main goal is to collect and analyse data in relation to the worldwide use of Dispute Boards as a dispute avoidance and resolution mechanism in projects that took place between January 2018 and December 2023 (inclusive).

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Dispute Resolution in Construction: Theory and Practice Around the World 

In 2021, the Centre, led by Professor Renato Nazzini, published a study of the key challenges for arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution in the 21st Century. This study provides comprehensive, rigorous and up-to-date coverage of key issues that have emerged in the first quarter of the 21st Century in transnational construction arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

Covering six general themes, this book discusses:

  • The transnational dimension of arbitration agreements and arbitral awards, particularly the law applicable to arbitration agreements and the applicability of the doctrines of issue estoppel and abuse of process in proceedings for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral award
  • The importance of contractual adjudication such as dispute boards in construction and infrastructure projects  
  • The increasing prevalence of statutory adjudication mechanisms across the world  
  • The greater incidence of investment disputes and disputes against States and State entities over construction and infrastructure concessions and agreements 

Transnational Construction Arbitration and ADR

In 2018, the Centre, led by Professor Renato Nazzini, published a study of construction arbitration and ADR from a comparative and international perspective.

The research focused on the following key themes:

  • The validity of arbitration clauses and multi-tier clauses
  • The choice of institutional arbitration and problems and challenges facing arbitral institutions in today’s global economy
  • Multi-party arbitration, joinder and consolidation of additional parties in arbitration, and multi-party arbitration provisions in institutional rules
  • Expert evidence, the role of expert witnesses in construction arbitration, delay and disruption and quantum issues
  • Investment arbitration, examining the circumstances in which construction contracts can be considered “investments” for the purposes of investment arbitration and the question of when State interference with contractual rights may amount to “expropriation”, thus entitling the expropriated party to a remedy against the host State
  • The enforcement of arbitral awards, focusing on the mechanics of the New York Convention and the key issues that have emerged in relation to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards under the Convention, including the enforcement of awards annulled at the seat, public policy, and whether Dispute Adjudication Boards (“DABs”) decisions may be enforceable under the Convention, recognition and enforcement of domestic and foreign arbitral awards in the Middle East, and estoppel in enforcement proceedings as a means of achieving more convergence and limiting foreign shopping internationally once an award has been rendered and enforcement is sought
  • Summary justice in the construction sector, Dispute Boards (“DBs”), enforceability of DAB decisions, and the interaction of emergency arbitrator procedures with other pre-arbitral mechanisms, including, for example, mediation or DAB provisions   

Procurement strategies for incentivising collaborative delivery to optimise whole-life outcomes

In November 2019, the Centre of Construction Law, working with University of Cambridge Engineering Department was awarded a grant by Centre for Digital Built Britain with funding provided by Innovate UK through the Government's Industrial Strategy.
This grant funds a two-year research programme that will examine and support construction procurement and contracting undertaken by high-performing collaborative clients and their teams.The research project aims to examine, in detail, successful programmes that have delivered significant improvements in long-term performance by adopting collaborative procurement and management strategies. It will explore and analyse the connections between successful collaborative procurement and digital technology.

CFeature Buildings

Performance through Procurement

In November 2019, the Centre of Construction Law, in collaboration with the Supply Chain School, Construction Leadership Council, Buiding Better, South East Wales Collaborative Procurement Framework (SEWSCAP), along with a number of prominent house builders and contractors, has commenced the 3-year 'Performance Through Procurement' project funded by the Construction Industry Training Board.
The Centre will be contributing its expertise in construction law, new forms of contracting, business models and form of contract to develop new collaborative procurement training modules and materials for the construction industry.

CFeature Workmen