Why Construction Contracts Go Wrong (or an Aetiological Approach to Construction Disputes)

Peter Fenn

April 2002

A paper given at a meeting of the Society of Construction Law in Derbyshire on 5th March 2002.

Peter Fenn considers the lack of evidence that is apparent in any discussion of construction disputes, and discusses the absence of an empirical base to the study of disputes. He proposes that the lack of an empirical base means that there has been little scientific consideration of the issues of understanding, explanation or prediction of construction disputes.

Introduction – The Problem – An explanation for the lack of evidence – The literature on why construction contracts go wrong – A proposal – Conclusion.

The author: Peter Fenn BSc, Phd, FICS, FCIArb is a Senior Lecturer at the Manchester Centre for Civil and Construction Engineering, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Engineering.

Text 9 pages.

PDF file size: 196k