Port of Seattle and Mount Rainier
Tucker just returned from the 2011 annual conference for the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) in Seattle, Washington. Attendees came from a variety of countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Turkey.
Dispute resolution boards (sometimes called dispute review boards or just DRBs) provide large projects with a means for resolving disputes during the life of the project rather than waiting until the end of the project, when problems are more pronounced and the parties’ positions are more entrenched.
Research shows that the success rates for resolving disputes and avoiding litigation in this way are phenomenal compared to more traditional methods. In essence, using a DRB provides significant reduction in cost and schedule overruns and in many cases helps a project come in under budget and ahead of schedule. DRBs are similar to having a standing arbitration panel, except that they are much cheaper and more timely, because they are used during the project instead of after the project is completed.
If you would like to know more about DRB’s, please feel free to call or email Tucker. He is trained by the DRBF in this process, and can assist you if you believe that you are in need of a dispute review board member.