Resolve Business Disputes and Select and Prepare a Construction Contract

1. Resolve Business Disputes and Select and Prepare a Construction Contract Lesson Four Cert IV - M. S. Martin January 2012

2. Todays Lesson • Complaints and Disputes from a Builders perspective - continuation • A break up and reference to contracts and solutions Cert IV - M. S. Martin February 2012

3. Disagreements & Disputesfrom the Builders perspective Continues Cert IV - M. S. Martin February 2012

4. Actions available for disputes • Continued from last week • You could be faced with disputes, no matter how small • What do you do ? • Try and resolve the dispute by consultation & communication Call all parties concerned and try and reach a mutual agreement

5. Actions for dispute • If this fails there are avenues for any party to seek • Consultation • Try and resolve by consultation • Don’t be stubborn • Weigh up the costs & make a decision • If complaint goes further you start to pay from here

6. Actions for dispute • Independent arbitrator • A form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), itis a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons (Lawer/s), by whose decision (the "award") they agree to be bound. • This is the next level • Can be employed by either party • Must be agreed to by both • It’s important to choose an arbitrator that has no bias to either party • This will ensure satisfactory completion

7. Actions for dispute • Building Disputes Tribunal • The Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) is an accessible and low- cost service to resolve everyday disputes in New South Wales. • Established in 2002 • C.T.T.T. Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal • Hopefully you won’t need them, but if you do • It is costly and you may have to wait • In the meantime they may appoint a mediator to the problem • It would be ideal for you to settle at this point

8. Actions for dispute • The Courts • The last level is the court system • You could loose considerable money by this stage, even bankruptcy • This really should be the last resort • Try to have it sorted out before this

9. Dispute Management • Most importantly realise “complaints” lead to “disputes” • Preventative steps can be taken • Best approach is to set up your own management system to deal with complaints

10. Steps to take • 1st – set up your contracts and quotations to use, use standard contracts / contract templates, HIA, MBA, OFT, etc • 2nd – outline conditions for your sub-contractors and employees, written directions are better • 3rd – put into place a system of quality assurance • Becoming more & more popular • Often mandatory on government jobs

11. Business working plan • Create a simple plan for your business to help resolve disputes and complaints, include: • Documentation • To record disputes & complaints • Detailed to include surrounding conditions • Should list all parties involved • And the outcome

12. Business plan continued • Contract Administration • Contracts specific & enforceable by law • Both parties to know their obligations in contract • Contract sets out total conditions of construction • Also payment conditions • Lastly include clauses for resolution of disputes

13. Business plan Continued • Project & resource management • To control the contract & all associated activities • Management practices to ensure productivity • Both project & resources • Employ personnel that will work with your systems

14. Business plan continued Industrial Relations • You have both moral & legal obligations • Legally governed by “Industrial Relations Act” • Be aware of award conditions, still applicable as a basis to most agreements • Also be aware of your obligations for sub-contractors

15. Contingency plans • Forecasting & Predicting • Foresee any problems • Any previous documentation is invaluable • These previous documents will help you to employ the correct people for your project • They will also provide you with project management techniques to do the job

16. Contingency plans continued • Planning • Once you’ve identified potential disputes & complaints • It’s now possible to plan the resources and staff • And the necessary approach to make the job successful

17. Contingency plans continued • Organisation • This goes hand in hand with planning • Put management strategies in place to allow control of the circumstances • Forecasting and predicting, planning and organisationare the planning stage

18. Contingency plans continued • Controlling • How do we do this ? • Define the problem • Gain all the facts • Consider all the evidence • Consider all the alternatives • Make a decision & act on it • The plan is now in place • Coordination • The final step is to coordinate all of the stages

19. References • Competency text for ‘Resolve Business Disputes and Select and Prepare a Construction Contract’ • Reference text ‘O-Ten Management One 2182G’ • Web sites as listed below: http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/default.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitration http://www.cttt.nsw.gov.au/Dispute_resolution.html http://www.michaelatkinson.com.au/joom/ Cert IV - M. S. Martin January 2012