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Features -
Book Review
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Written by David Cornes
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Author: David Richbell
Published in March 2008 by Blackwell Publishing Limited
ISBN: 978-1-4051-6931-8
Paperback - 175 pages
Price: £44.50 / €62.30
David Richbell is well qualified by experience and training to write this book about construction mediation: before his life as a mediator and trainer of mediators, he was a Quantity Surveyor with national contractors and then ran his own quantity surveying practice for 20 years. He was a Director at the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) for five years. His work at the coal face of the construction industry helps him to give this book a very practical aspect that will appeal to those in the construction industry faced with disputes and wondering about how to resolve them.
 For example, he has a Chapter about dispute creation in the construction industry and moves on from that to analyse why that is so. In that context as he says in his Introduction, his purpose in writing the book is to "…attempt to deliver to the industry that I love a book that will help restore common sense to its disagreements and so allow it to become an even more human and respected industry than the one I left." He has achieved that mission with distinction and I urge people in the construction industry and related professions to read this book.
He takes the reader through the dispute resolution options in construction disputes, including what he calls the "imposed solutions" of the likes of litigation, arbitration and adjudication where a third party judge, arbitrator or adjudicator makes a decision and why they sometimes fail the disputing parties. He then sets out a compelling case for consensual dispute resolution where the parties themselves retain control over the negotiations and the settlement rather than handing the dispute over to a third party to make a decision. He includes a complete chapter arguing the case for the mediation of construction disputes and makes that case with compelling logic. He writes of better deals, speed, economy, flexibility, ongoing relationships and finality.
At a very practical level, he explains how to prepare for mediation, how to present and negotiate at the mediation and how to document a settlement reached in mediation. These narratives could be a bit of a dry read but David Richbell has avoided that trap, bringing his writing to life by inserting real Case Studies into the text in boxes to illustrate his points. Anyone preparing to attend a construction mediation for the first time would be well advised to read this book and those chapters in particular. They are full of insight into the process of mediation in construction. They lead the reader to a concluding chapter called "How to win at mediation", which ends by the need to go to celebrate a successful mediation outcome with a drink, preferably with the other side: a positive step after a successful day.
The book has some useful Appendices: a summary of decided cases involving mediation; the use of Decision Trees in mediation (including a brief discussion of the pros and cons of their use); a pre-mediation check-list; a typical mediation agreement and a typical settlement agreement and Tomlin Order.
There is no doubt that the construction industry and its related professions are increasingly using mediation as one of the many available dispute resolution tools. The timing of publication of this book is, therefore, apposite. It is highly recommended as essential reading for those in the construction industry who find themselves involved in a dispute and who need to have a good understanding of what mediation can offer. In like manner, those in the industry who have already agreed to mediate a dispute can find in this book a wealth of information to help them prepare for and go through a mediation to best effect. Not only would the staff of construction companies, and their subcontractors, benefit from this book, so would Architects, Engineers, Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors. Insurers in the construction field will also find the book helpful.
David Cornes
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Book Review 
