Dispute Boards Mena, a key provider of information relating to construction industry dispute boards with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, has launched its new website.

With the launch of the website, Dispute Boards Mena aims to provide the region with a better understanding of the benefits and added-value that dispute boards could bring to construction projects, remarked its general manager Nina Hewitt.

The FIDIC forms of contract are the most widely used contracts for construction works in the Mena. These contracts have included provisions for the appointment of dispute boards since 1999, but the region has been very slow to adopt their use, she noted.

EC Harris’ Global Construction Disputes Report 2012 advises that the average value of disputes has reduced globally, but has increased in the Middle East.

Mike Allen, the global head of Contract Solutions at EC Harris said, “The Middle East saw a flood of major disputes last year. Over the past few years we have seen a reluctance to settle in the Gulf region, but this has been replaced by a stronger desire to do business and resolve disputes as the economies strengthen."

"On the whole, however, disputes are still costing the industry time and money. It has been calculated that 50 per cent of legal costs within the construction industry are dispute related," he revealed.

According to him, many countries outside the Mena region now adopt dispute boards as a means of avoiding and resolving disputes and many government bodies include them as requirements in their construction contracts.

Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, have even introduced legislation to ensure that attempts to settle disputes by adjudication are made prior to the commencement of litigation.

Dispute boards are mandatory for projects funded and supported by the World Bank, the European Union, the European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank.The International Chamber of Commerce, FIDIC and the Institution of Civil Engineers also recommend their use, said Hewitt.

About 99 per cent of disputes referred to Dispute Boards are resolved in less than 90 days and the cost of employing standing dispute boards is between 0.05 per cent of the construction cost on dispute free projects and 0.25 per cent for more difficult projects, she added.-TradeArabia News Service