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

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

Disagreements & Disputes from the Builders perspective Continues Cert IV - M. S. Martin February 2012

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

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

Actions for dispute Independent arbitrator A form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), it is 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 organisation are the planning stage

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

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: ml Cert IV - M. S. Martin January 2012