Please sign up to the pledge
We would like to offer each and every member a place in the Register so please sign up, and let businesses know that you use effective dispute avoidance and management.
ACQP & the Conflict Avoidance Coalition
The coalition is a group comprised of around 20 of the UK's foremost professional and industry bodies who are leading a campaign to reduce financial and other costs associated with construction and engineering disputes.
The Coalition’s aims are to:
- Encourage individuals, businesses and organisations to adopt the Conflict Avoidance Pledge and embed its principles into their culture and practice.
- Actively promote collaboration and use of effective dispute avoidance and management to the construction and engineering industry.
- Provide information and guidance to the construction and engineering industry on a wide range of conflict avoidance and early intervention techniques.
- Help contracting parties to put into practice practical conflict avoidance and management procedures to deal with actual and evolving disputes early, quickly, and effectively.
We can also help you with issues you may face
Once you've signed up we'll help you should you face any issues or concerns on site. You won't have to face it on your own. We're all under one big umbrella and will help each other.
The Conflict Avoidance Pledge: What is it and what’s it for?
The Conflict Avoidance Pledge was conceived in 2017 at a meeting jointly arranged by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Civil Engineers. Senior executives and members from RICS and the ICE, along with representatives of four other professional bodies and two major infrastructure employers attended the meeting and formed a coalition. They had gathered at the ICE’s wonderful headquarters in central London to discuss how they could work in harmony to tackle the rising financial and resource costs of disputes in the construction industry.
So what does it mean?
Each signatory expresses their support for collaborative working and the use of early intervention techniques to resolve differences before they become full blown disputes. Pledge signatories explicitly state their commitment to identify, control and manage potential problems and avoid getting embroiled in adversarial procedures.
- Disputed costs average £100 million, accounting for more than a third (33.6%) of capital expenditure.
- Time extensions add nearly 16 months, or two-thirds (67.1%) to a typical schedule.
- Inaccurate, incomplete, and late designs affect a greater proportion of projects (44.8%) than scope changes alone (38.8%).
In a world where conflict is commonplace, the construction industry is no exception. In fact, it is an industry that constantly grapples with disputes and their resolution. But why do these conflicts persist? What makes us so resigned to this reality, and can we ever truly change as an industry? While change is a familiar concept to every construction professional, we must seriously question whether we are ready to fundamentally rethink how we approach conflicts and their resolution.
Contracts and Collaboration
Contracts are meant to foster collaboration within the industry, but do we truly work in cooperation? What does genuine collaboration look like? And are our perceptions of collaboration so varied that even the concept creates friction?
Contracts often include escalation clauses which appear to offer a friendlier resolution path. However, this process can be lengthy, and it takes a certain level of integrity and leadership to make decisions that benefit the project, especially when parties are already in dispute and relationships have soured. The harsh reality is that no one likes to lose.
The alternative is traditional, adversarial dispute resolution, which is proven to be both time-consuming and expensive. It can easily draw in numerous individuals from within the business, further depleting scarce funds.
The above is food for thought. As we navigate the future, it will be interesting to see how the industry and professionals that make us who we are choose to manage conflict and instil a culture of change that positively impacts us all.
If you’re a member of the associations below, you can get ACQP Membership
