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Very few building projects are free of niggles and disputes and differences of various kinds and degrees. This is hardly surprising when you think about working and sometimes living with strangers for weeks or months on end, and at a time when on top of a fair dose of the usual daily hassles that life throws your way, you also have to put up with the added financial pressure and the inconvenience, noise, nuisance, mess and stress of having work undertaken in or about your family home, or indeed, a family living in the middle of your worksite if you’re a contractor.
If those disputes are not addressed and resolved promptly they can become hugely destructive of one’s life, time consuming, and hugely expensive to sort out – and regrettably that is exactly what happens more often than not! There are many reasons why simple matters that subsequently give rise to major and costly disputes and differences are not raised or debated when they are first noticed and at a time when they could so easily and cheaply be resolved. Most common amongst those reasons is that one side does not want to offend the other. The real shame is that the longer the matter is left, and the more matters in difference that there are, the bigger the mess, stress and the cost, and the greater the offence that will be taken as a result – absolutely nothing is gained, and in fact much is lost, by delaying the resolution of these matters. Because the Scheme requires parties to notify BUILDSAFE® when a dispute arises so that BUILDSAFE® may, as agent for the claimant, secure the immediate appointment of an adjudicator, through the Building Disputes Tribunal, parties are relieved of any sense of unease or guilt around whether or not to initiate an adjudication because they are required do so as a matter of procedure under the contract. Accordingly, the dispute will be resolved promptly and cost effectively leaving the parties free to get on with the job. However, it is really worth noting that in practice, most disputes are settled quickly and amicably by the parties directly as soon as the prospect of adjudication and a third party decision maker is raised, and without any need for an adjudicator to be involved. More information about adjudication can be found on the Building Disputes Tribunal Website www.buildingdisputestribunal.co.nz |
