Effectiveness of dispute adjudication boards, South Africa

The paper details the results of a review of the performance of six dispute adjudication boards appointed for contracts which were constructed in South Africa and, with the exception of one, were completed between 2004 and 2008. The review was conducted at a meeting held in Johannesburg in August 2008 and the participation was confined to persons who had been members of the boards or employees of the employer, contractor and engineer who had been directly involved in the process during the course of the contracts. The input and discussion was between people who had direct experience of the dispute adjudication boards and the associated procedures. The authors, who were members of several of the boards, describe a number of the problems and difficulties that were experienced and suggest various methods for avoiding such problems in the future. It is hoped that the experiences and recommendations detailed in this paper will be of assistance to those who intend to use the dispute board mechanism for the reso...