The Middle East region saw its dispute value increase to nearly seven per cent, once more, to their highest value since 2011, according to a report by Arcadis, a leading design and consultancy firm.

It remains the only region with increasing dispute values compared to last year, stated the company in its report titled "Global Construction Disputes: Don’t get left behind".

This year’s report is Arcadis’ sixth annual study into the duration, value, common causes, and methods of resolution of construction disputes across the globe.

The report found that construction disputes were the highest in the Middle East at $82 million, followed by Asia at $67 million. However, in North America, the UK and Continental Europe, dispute values dipped to an average of $25 million.

Craig Beeson, the head of contract solutions, Middle East at Arcadis, said: "In an economic environment impacted by the oil price, the market continued to see a restriction in decision-making within the industry."

"This drove a lack of appropriate delegation to project management consultants and client representatives, thereby prolonging critical commercial decisions and generating cash flow issues related to instructed variations," stated Beeson.

Failure to properly administer the contract holds on to its top position regionally from last year as the main cause of construction disputes, followed by poorly drafted or incomplete and unsubstantiated claims, said Beeson.

The top three causes in 2015 were:

*Failure to properly administer the contract;
*Poorly drafted or incomplete and unsubstantiated claims; and
*Incomplete design information or employer requirements (for design and build).

In the Middle East, where a joint venture (JV) is in place, the proportion of disputes caused by a JV-related issued dropped in 2015, moving down almost 10 per cent to 32.3 per cent, he added.-TradeArabia News Service