ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that seeding more efficient and effective ways of resolving disputes in the construction industry, although valuable, is a means of tackling symptoms rather than causes and as such, may serve to foster complacency. It argues that the crucial goal should be to prevent conflicts and disputes arising. In so aiming, considerations of attitudes of participants and the cultural contexts of projects are reviewed and imperatives for changes discussed. A central tenet is that the traditional ethos of the merits of competition amongst groups of players leading to bidding for work is a prime factor in the generation of conflicts and disputes. In construction, attention to time performance on projects and the vogue for quality provision through quality assurance is acknowledgement of the trend. It is regrettable that standard procedures for allocation of work remain focused firmly on price competition as the final/ primary factor.
