I. Introduction

Too often conflicts between owners and contractors escalate into

litigation, or contractors absorb cost overruns to avoid protracted

disputes and damaged business relations while owners pay too much for

extra work. Construction disputes should never escalate into litigation.

The need for a rational, non-adversarial, and cost-effective approach to

resolving construction disputes is evident.

To help avoid disputes, partnering has been adopted in the U.S.

construction industry, and should be used by more. Partnering is a formal

process for building teamwork among the owner, contractor, designer,

subcontractors, and others. Its purpose is to improve the attitudes of all

parties, reduce conflict, and facilitate reasonable settlements. In many

ways, partnering is a return to how business relationships used to be.

Partnering improves attitudes, reduces conflict, and facilitates

settlement. It starts with securing a commitment from all parties and

brings everyone together in a pre-construction workshop. The project

team defines a mission statement with common goals, implements

improved communication, establishes conflict resolution procedures, and

then works together to complete a successful project.

Partnering helps avoid disputes but isn’t always well-implemented;

contractors sometimes feel reluctant to press for legitimate change orders

which could threaten long-term business relationships, while owners

sometimes overpay for changes in order to maintain the partnering

process. In addition, contractors’ records are frequently inadequate for