Decision-Making Governance Platforms for the Progression of Construction Claims and Disputes

Abstract

Contractual mechanisms devised for construction claims and disputes administration and tracking nowadays involve multiple gated stages. The progression of claims through such multiple gates is an indication that the disagreement between the parties to a construction contract is escalating to the level of a dispute. While it is recognized that both owners and contractors are expected to retain appropriate levels of staffing for handling claim–dispute evolution, there is lack of work investigating the types of involved staff and the organization and inner workings of such assigned teams. The aim of the work presented in this paper was to highlight the progression milestones that may typically be characteristic of the claim/dispute administration mechanism and require collective decision making on the part of the contractor’s staff. It therefore involves analyzing the platforms that organize these professionals into teams, as well as the modus operandi that facilitates their undertaking of decisions that need to be made along what may likely be a lengthy process. It further provides a conceptualization of the change in the topology of these governance platforms that is expected to take place along the various identified decision-making milestones. The findings reveal an expected shift of control from the professionals assigned at the project level to those more senior staff operating at the middle management and executive levels. The latter group, typically located at the corporate office and of higher competencies and qualifications, is reasoned to eventually take custody of the process at the later stages of resolution, possibly at times that well surpass the contract’s life span.