Originally from: AAA Handbook on Construction Arbitration and ADR - 2nd Edition

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I. Introduction

The construction industry has been dramatically and negatively affected by numerous changes to the laws and regulations controlling it over the past three decades. Environmental considerations alone have impacted individual projects, as well as entire construction-related industries, such as logging, transportation, and marine-use projects, to name a few.

Construction is a very dynamic industry. Developments in computer technology are coming fast and furious, and every advance creates new frontiers in joint design possibilities on projects. These joint ventures on design and construction include creative combinations and uses of CAD (Computer-Aided Design), CATO (Computer-Aided Take Off), and electronic transmission of files. This increased use of computer technology in one sense drastically reduces the potential for miscalculations, yet creates even greater potential for bigger disasters, since one errant keystroke can take away volumes of material instantly.

Virtual reality is now frequently used to measure and calculate use of spaces before they are actually created. Being able to measure the confines of a space in “real time” before attempting to assemble it in the field is a tremendous advantage. The surface has only been scratched on the use of this “fourth dimension” in construction.

From a design and review perspective, linking many computer terminals together has given us tremendous progress in quality and volume output of work. But, from a legal perspective, the linking of terminals will make the question of ultimate responsibility for failures that occur more challenging.