For some years there has been growing dissatisfaction with litigation and arbitration as a means of settling construction disputes, and increasingly parties have been turning to adjudication and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). This trend was given a major impetus by the introduction of the 1996 Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act and the Scheme for Construction Contracts, which resulted in statutory adjudication being introduced in most of the main building and engineering standard forms.

This book surveys the growth of ADR and looks in detail at the various methods:

* adjudication and expert determination
* mediation and conciliation
* dispute review boards and disputes advisers
* other forms, such as mini-trial and mediation-arbitration

It discusses the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act and the Scheme for Construction Contracts, and their effect on adjudication and construction contracts considering both procedural and legal issues. It looks in detail at the adjudication clauses of all the main building and engineering contracts.