Dispute boards have been used on major international projects for some years, although it is only recently that dispute boards have become widely recognised. The international development banks have adopted the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) dispute adjudication board (DAB) approach to dispute boards, and the World Bank has more recently adopted a harmonised edition of the FIDIC conditions of contract, which also provides for DABs.
Few books have considered or dealt with dispute boards. This is no doubt because they have only recently become popular. Cyril Chern’s book provides an extremely practical guide to dispute boards, covering not only an introduction to the process but also providing check lists and sample documentation. A noticeable portion of the book provides precedents and forms which will be extremely valuable to those with little experience of dispute boards.
The book deals with each stage of the dispute board process: from appointing and establishing the board through selection of the board to the referral of the dispute and finally the decision. One of the major benefits of having a dispute board on a project is that they should help to avoid disputes. Chern’s book deals with case histories that demonstrate how useful a dispute board could be, but at the same time he provides useful practical guidance for board members and parties in respect of many matters, for example site visits.
Conflict of interest and removal of board members are also considered. The influence of the World Bank and other development banks is also usefully set out, as is the use of dispute boards around the world. The appendix reproduces the dispute board provisions from each of the FIDIC contracts (Red, Yellow and Silver Book) and the International Chamber of Commerce’s dispute board rules.
The book will be welcome by practitioners in the area and newcomers to the dispute board process. It is not intended to be a detailed academic review of dispute boards, but is well pitched for the current international market for texts dealing with dispute boards.
