Acting Promptly to Protect you
Before starting any dispute resolution process, Edge Consult will review your contractual position, providing an initial indication of the strengths and weaknesses of your case. At Edge Consult we value the repeat business of our clients. Therefore, we will provide you with our honest opinion on the advantages and risks of the options available to you.
It is often said the three most important issues in successful dispute resolution are records, records and records. Edge Consult can work with you to collate the relevant records to support your position. With these records we can then prepare a detailed and evidenced submission, be it in negotiations, adjudication or litigation support.
Negotiation / Mediation
Where there is a dispute, in the first instance most parties will try to negotiate a settlement, be that informally or in an organised mediation. As with all negotiations, it is best to start from a position of strength, fully prepared with all supporting documents necessary to argue your case.
Often the other party does not grasp the strength of our client’s position until our evidenced report has been presented. Edge Consult’s Partners have the experience and expertise to work with you in assembling a robust and evidenced negotiation position.
However, should the negotiation or mediation be unsuccessful, the documents assembled for the negotiation will not go to waste. If an adjudication is commenced, this documentation will become essential evidence to support your position.
Expert Witness Statements and Litigation Support
Edge Consult often provide Expert Witness Statements or litigation support on matters such as delay analysis, valuation, loss and expense and contract administration.
The Partners’ extensive experience in these areas, as both construction professionals and dispute resolution consultants, will provide you with the necessary independent expertise. Often these areas are inextricably linked. Edge Consult can provide Reports covering all of these key areas.
Adjudication
Whilst some people in the property and construction industries still consider lawyers and the courts as the first step to resolving a construction dispute, many are now aware of the huge advantages in using the specialist dispute consultants and adjudication. In most instances, adjudication will resolve disputes far quicker and cheaper than by using the courts.
The Partners at Edge Consult have acted as Party Representative in well over 700 adjudications, representing Employers, Contractors, Sub-Contractors and Consultants. We act for parties who wish to begin an adjudication or need to respond to an adjudication commenced against them.
As your Party Representative, Edge Consult will represent you, dealing with the procedural, contractual, cost and programme matters that may form the dispute.
Where there is a contractual or statutory right to have a dispute resolved by adjudication, a dispute can be referred by either of the contracting parties. From the issue of a Notice of Adjudication to the receipt of a Decision is typically just 5 to 6 weeks.
This Decision is then binding on the parties. Occasionally Decisions are challenged in the courts, but this is very rare as the courts tend to enforce an adjudication decision in all but exceptional circumstances.
For more information on the adjudication process, please give us a call.
