Managing building and civil engineering project claims to reduce conflict intensity and contractors' potential to dispute

Abstract

Conflicts and disputes are major forms of uncooperative behaviour. They are fundamental determinants of successful procurement and delivery of building and civil engineering projects. Conflicts and disputes on a project are determined by the perception of parties about fairness during the administration of claims on a project. However, peopleb s perceptions about fairness may be influenced by various criteria. The research reported in this thesis examined the relationship between a contractorb s perception about fairness, conflict intensity and the contractorb s potential to dispute in the process of administering claims on a project. The central questions addressed were: how do contractorsb perception about fairness in the process for administering project claims influence conflict intensity and their potential to dispute? Are contractorsb reactions to unfavourable decisions on claims moderated by their perceptions about the procedures and processes used to make the decisions and how? The findings provide an empirical evidence to support a claims administration strategy based on principles of fairness when attempting to reduce conflicts and disputes on projects. The study concluded with a series of recommendations and strategies for administering claims on building and civil engineering projects in order to reduce conflict intensity and project ownersb exposure to dispute with contractors.