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Time to 'take the pledge' to avoid contract disputes

With the COVID-19 affected construction industry experiencing a high level of uncertainty and difficult challenges for the foreseeable future, any initiative that helps contractors and subcontractors avoid issues that could threaten their very existence - and put jobs at risk - has to be welcomed with open arms. That's why the RICS-backed Conflict Avoidance Pledge, created by the Conflict Avoidance Coalition Steering Group (CACSG), is so important.

The Pledge aims to drive behavioural change in the land, property and construction industry by encouraging all organisations to consider their working practices and the way they deal with disputes. The pledge is voluntary and self-assessed, and can be signed by any organisation or firm regardless of size or location.

What the Pledge involves

When an organisation signs the pledge, it means they are committed to:

There is no fee or cost to become a signatory and, once you have made your pledge, you will be able to display the pledge's logo on promotional materials.

Get help with the Conflict Avoidance Toolkit

Implementing the Pledge is easy when you use the Conflict Avoidance Toolkit which distinguishes between:

• dispute avoidance - drafting contracts carefully to allocate risk and set up mechanisms to highlight emerging disputes for action, and
• early intervention - enabling swift handling of disagreements before they escalate.

The toolkit acknowledges that well-designed dispute avoidance procedures encourage communication and compromise, help identify problems early and enable them to be addressed in non-adversarial environments.

Need further assistance?

The Pledge is an excellent starting point to get your business into a better place and - for some - encouraging cultural change in the business so a different mindset is adopted over time.

But if you need help in setting up new conflict avoidance procedures or identifying where improvements can be made in your business, please contact us.

We work with businesses across the construction sector to help them protect their interests and avoid contractual issues, so we are ideally placed to provide you with professional advice and support.

Call us on 0161 974 6655 or email .