An Appraisal of Dispute Resolution Practice in the Construction Industry within Kaduna State, Nigeria

Studies have shown that the construction industry is the most risky of all industries in term ofconflicts, claims and dispute arising primarily due to lack of communication, distrust,interpretation of contracts, claims, uncertainties based on imbalance in risk allocations. Theadoption of dispute resolution practice in the construction and other industry had help to savetime and money for the parties in dispute and maintains the relationship between the parties. Thestudy appraised the dispute resolution practice in the construction industry within Kaduna State,Nigeria. The method of study involved questionnaire survey and analysed employing the meanscores with relative ranking. A structured questionnaire was issued to a sample size comprising72 firms drawn from a finite population of 199 Nigerian consulting firms operating within theKaduna State. The result of the study revealed causes of disputes are payment delay, financialfailure and design error. The study also revealed that negotiation and arbitration are the mostimportantly preferred dispute resolution methods. The study concluded that construction industryshould minimize or avoid disputes by clearly understanding the contract document. The studyrecommends that the stakeholder in the construction industry should embrace dispute resolutionstrategies to manage dispute, and to foster cordial working relationship between the partiesinvolved.