ABSTRACT
Contractual disputes in construction arise because of a series of factors that combine in various ways to produce arguments, disagreements and, ultimately, disputes. Some of these factors are basic to all disputes between humans, such as the motivating factors of individuals, human behaviour, organizational behaviour, culture, etc. What makes construction contract disputes different is the nature of the dispute. This, again, depends upon a variety of things such as the terms of the contract, the technological issues of the site and the building, the character of the project personnel, the amount of time and money available, the realism of peoples’ expectations, project environmental factors, the legal basis of the argument, the magnitude of the issue, and so on. The third group of variables in this area concerns the choice of methods for resolving disputes once they have arisen. What are the options available in the contract, and what other options are there? These are the topics confronted in this Chapter.
