ABSTRACT
Litigation is the court-based procedure allowing a party to seek legal redress for infringement of its contractual rights. However, litigation remains the fallback method of dispute resolution. The existence of litigation underpins the efficacy of the other models of dispute resolution. Construction litigation in England and Wales usually takes place in the technology and construction court (TCC), a specialist division of the high court. Litigation in the courts today is a thoroughly modern procedure. The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) came into force in April 1999 and these implemented ideas proposed by Lord Woolf. The CPR permits any number of claimants or defendants and any number of claims to be covered by one claim form. Litigation remains expensive and long despite the continuing efforts of the government and the legal community to make savings in the cost and length of time taken.
