9.10 Arbitrators are an expert and dedicated group of people, with whom I have had constructive discussions during the Review. Many of them also serve now as conciliators or experts, and in other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution, and they may form a core resource for the adjudication system. As stated in the Interim Report, there is considerable dissatisfaction with arbitration within the construction industry because of its perceived complexity, slowness and expense. The arbitrators themselves favour reforms to the procedures which will allow for less formality and speedier hearings86. Following the report of a Committee under the chairmanship of Lord Justice Steyn, the Department of Trade & Industry has published a draft Bill and consultation paper which seeks to clarify and consolidate the law (February 1994). Arbitration has a continuing part to play in dispute resolution within the construction industry. But it should be a last resort after practical completion, if a party to a dispute remains aggrieved by the decision of the adjudicator even though that decision has already been implemented. If the proposed system of adjudication works properly, many current arbitrators will be making decisions during the course of the project, but in the role of adjudicators, which is what many of them would wish to be able to do now. There are provisions for speedy arbitration hearings during the course of the contract under rule 7 of the JCT Arbitration Rules 1988. But the experience of arbitrators themselves is that they are little used. Full arbitration after the completion of the contract will, hopefully, become much rarer.
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86 Evidence by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, January 1994.