Length of North American construction disputes continues to increase

The average time taken to resolve construction disputes in North America increased to an average of 17.7 months in 2017, an increase of two months from 2016, according to a report released by Arcadis.

Length of disputes in the region far exceeded the global average, the report says. Globally, the length of time to resolve disputes stood at 14.8 months, a one month increase over 2016.

The average value of North American disputes decreased to US $19M in 2017 from $21M in 2016. Globally, the figure stood at US $43.4M, up from $32.5M in 2016.

“Failure to properly administer the contract” remained the most common cause of construction disputes globally, and “errors and/or omissions in the contract documentation” remained the most common cause in North America. With positive economic drivers and larger and more complex projects anticipated this year, there is a critical need to embrace more sophisticated risk management and claims avoidance techniques, including leveraging digitalization, Arcadis says.