Key features of conflict avoidance

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This Overview directs practitioners to core materials on the key features of conflict avoidance in construction projects, with links to guidance and checklists. Conflict avoidance is legally significant because it reduces the incidence and severity of claims that would otherwise proceed to adjudication, litigation or arbitration, and supports delivery within the statutory and contractual frameworks that govern construction.

Practitioners should understand how contract drafting and project governance embed dispute - avoidance behaviours: clear risk allocation, early issue identification, notice and change - control regimes, authority matrices and contemporaneous records. The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (as amended) establishes payment and adjudication rights; effective conflict avoidance complements, but does not displace, these mechanisms. The Pre - Action Protocol for Construction and Engineering Disputes and the TCC Guide encourage early engagement and ADR.

Standard forms incorporate avoidance tools to differing degrees. NEC contracts use early warning and risk registers; FIDIC utilises Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Boards; JCT forms provide negotiation and mediation options. Voluntary industry schemes, including the RICS Conflict Avoidance Pledge and Conflict Avoidance Process, promote early neutral assistance and facilitated settlement.

Key practical features include robust...

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