Multi–Party and Multi–Contract Arbitration in the Construction Industry

Arbitration is the favoured method of dispute resolution in international construction projects. These projects invariably involve a multitude of parties coming from different jurisdictions and bound by numerous, most often bilateral, contracts. Disputes between the parties to such bilateral contracts frequently have repercussions for other parties. For example, an employer's claim for defective work against a main contractor can then trigger a related main contractor's claim against the subcontractor who ultimately caused the defects. In such cases, there is often a need to resolve the resulting multi-contract disputes in a single arbitration in order to reduce time and costs and also avoid the risk of inconsistent or conflicting arbitral awards stemming from the conduct of separate arbitrations on identical or similar issues.

Multi-Party and Multi-Contract Arbitration in the Construction Industry provides the first detailed review of these issues in the international construction sector. Following a concise introduction to multi-party arbitration in general and a review of different contractual models used in construction projects, the book provides an assessment of how multi-party arbitration is handled under the arbitration rules and laws commonly encountered in construction disputes. It demonstrates that contracting parties will seldom be able to rely on these rules and laws if they have failed to address this matter in their contracts. The book then makes a detailed analysis of the approaches taken in a range of international and popular domestic standard forms, and the case law pertaining to them. These approaches fall short of providing workable solutions for a variety of reasons. The book therefore endeavours to provide some guidelines on the regulation of multi-party arbitration in parties' contracts and the applicable arbitration rules. The goal is to identify good practice which is likely to minimise problems.