Trust Repair Strategies along the Claim/Dispute Timeline

Abstract

Claims and disputes are inevitable in construction projects. Focusing on non-contractual mechanisms such as trust contributes to minimizing the occurrence of disputes. The existence of trust between project participants enhances the project performance and contributes to successfully delivering the project smoothly. However, several aspects may cause trust deterioration between the participants of the project. The main subjects that may lead to trust deterioration among the project participants are delays in work progress, delays in releasing payments, opportunistic behaviors, and rework due to change orders. The presence of claims causes trust to deteriorate between the parties. A demand is made by either party pursuant to the contract conditions, such an action by either party is taken to protect its entitlement under the contract. Either party may perform violated action(s) during the administration process of claims and disputes, causing trust to further deteriorate between the parties. Trust deterioration is felt at the individual level, and it is felt differently among the project participants. The conflict between the participants may reach a level where the project participants (employer, engineer, and contractor) commit back-and-forth violated actions during the administration process of claims and disputes, leading to a cycle of violated actions. In this regard, it is significant to implement trust repair strategies to repair the broken trust between the parties and to preserve trust through the project period.

Researchers have discussed how trust is established, deteriorated, and repaired in construction projects, but no research has yet discussed both trust deterioration and trust-repair strategies in the context of the claim/dispute timeline. This research aims to classify and highlight the possible actions that contribute to trust deterioration in relation to the stages offered in the standard claim/dispute timelines, specifically FIDIC 2017, and to explore the interjection of trust-repair strategies along the claim/dispute timeline to repair trust between the participants of the project.