Dispute boards

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A dispute board is a body formed pursuant to the provisions of a building contract (eg FIDIC contracts) which is intended to assist in the resolution of disputes referred to it by the parties to the contract. See Practice Note: Dispute boards—what are they and what are their advantages and disadvantages?

The extent of the dispute board’s powers, its procedures and its ability for its decisions to bind the contracting parties will be set out in the contract—a dispute board does not generally have any statutory powers. A dispute board will normally have three members, but may sometimes just have a single member. The parties will enter into a separate tripartite contract to appoint each of the board members. The form of such appointment will often be annexed to the main construction contract. See Practice Note:

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