While there is a cost associated with regular Dispute Board meetings throughout the construction process, the cost is low compared to the value that Dispute Boards are delivering. The base cost of a Dispute Board in Australia is 0.1-0.2 per cent of the total project cost on a project over $100 million. That equates to between $100,000 and $200,000 for a $100 million plus project. The base cost doesn't increase much as the project value increases.
On the value side, the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) reports that 98 per cent of projects using Dispute Boards (now numbering well over 2700 internationally) have been completed without reference beyond the Dispute Board. The Australian industry statistics (as at July 2014) provided by the DRBF are impressive:
• more than 80 per cent of Dispute Board projects have finished on or ahead of time compared to the industry norm of well under 60 per cent for similar value projects without Dispute Boards. The majority of Dispute Board projects have been completed within the owner's budget;
• less than 5 per cent of Dispute Board projects have been more than 3 months late, compared to the industry norm of more than 25 per cent for similar value projects without Dispute Boards;
• just under 80 per cent have been completed without a single referral to the Dispute Board for a decision, compared with an industry norm for projects without Dispute Boards of less than half that percentage completed without off-site dispute resolution processes being invoked.