Briefing: The role of the Technology and Construction Court in alternative dispute resolution

The construction industry is highly litigious, and disputes can be costly, not merely in a financial sense but also in terms of the breakdown of otherwise valuable relationships due to the conflict. While arbitration and adjudication are commonly used in the construction sphere as dispute resolution tools, the adversarial nature of such processes may hold deleterious consequences for parties in terms of financial costs, delays, risks and loss of business. It was not until the late 1980s that it was realised that conventional litigation for construction disputes was far too cumbersome and expensive. Arbitration was the traditional method for the resolution of construction disputes for many years until the introduction of a range of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques, adjudication and the introduction of pre-action protocols in litigation. The English courts have also proven eager to embrace ADR during the early stages of litigation proceedings, particularly when litigation costs will exceed the amount in dispute. This briefing examines the role of the Technology and Construction Court in ADR.