As chairperson for the event, I ventured towards a more interactive Q & A session and encouraged delegates to not only share their thoughts on how they viewed the FIDIC 2017 changes but also whether they felt these changes reflected where the present built-environment is going in recent times having particular regard to their past experiences in Singapore or elsewhere. Adopting this approach, I shared briefly my past and present experiences on differing working cultures in the international construction industry and how they impacted contracting as a whole and FIDIC contracts (as well as other more collaborative forms) specifically. I then articulated the reasons why I felt dispute avoidance is indeed becoming fashionable and that it may yet play an even larger role in the resolution (or is it avoidance) of international construction and engineering projects.

At the end of the evening, I found the seminar really illuminating in many aspects and I was certainly enriched by the shared experiences of the speakers and the delegates alike.

 

It is fair to say that the international construction industry is moving towards having a more prescriptive or project management-styled form of contracting, all of which means it is likely two broad themes will be played out more often. First, there will continue to be a shift towards a more ‘relationship-based’ focus on contracting principles although it has to be said it is really early days (in certain jurisdictions at least) and only time will tell how it all pans out in jurisdictions where a paradigm shift in mindset may well be required for such change to take place. Second, dispute avoidance in the context of the provision of dispute boards / review boards (and its variants) will now have its place alongside other ADR mechanisms not least statutory adjudication (in applicable jurisdictions) and how that really works in tandem in practice is still to be a work in progress. Nothing seems to be cut and dried in the ever-evolving international construction industry and this is indeed why it has and will always continue to be so fascinating to me and as I tend to think, all its members too.