There are many beneficial reasons for contractors to choose arbitration. As a contractor, you may find that perhaps 1% or less of your projects end up in some kind of dispute. Any contractors that have had the unfortunate experience of litigation understand that the 1% of disgruntled clients can take up 99% of your time.  Time you could and should be working and focusing on other clients. There’s a saying that say’s, “80% of your profit comes from 20% of your clientele.” Arbitration allows you to quickly and efficiently put a dispute behind you.  That enables you focus on the profitable jobs. As a contractor, it is up to you to choose what kind of dispute resolution means you want to be involved in. Disputes will occur from time to time no matter how careful you are. If you have an arbitration clause attached to your contract agreement specifying that any dispute shall be submitted to DMA binding arbitration, with the DMA Rules & Procedures in effect at the time submitted, and all parties to the agreement sign (or initial) that arbitration clause, then you have chosen in advance what will happen if there is a dispute.

Arbitration allows the contractor to represent themselves, saving them literally thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees. Litigation takes months longer to resolve the dispute. Litigation usually ends in settlement and neither party gets the opportunity to ever tell their story and neither ever get their day in court. Regular non-specific arbitration clauses often end up with attorney’s or judges as arbitrators who have little knowledge of construction, who sometimes have had negative experiences with contractors themselves. DMA offers the choice of a true neutral third party who is an expert in construction. The case will be decided quickly and efficiently and the decision shall be made solely on the facts, not on case law that often has little or no bearing on your specific dispute. So much time and money is wasted on the process of law. Arbitration eliminates that waste, and DMA on site arbitration streamlines the process even further providing the fairest quickest solution to the dispute.

There are some contractors who will no longer work at all without an arbitration clause. When they ask the owner to initial the arbitration clause, and the owner refuses to agree to arbitration some contractors pass on the job. These contractors think, “Why are they refusing to sign the arbitration agreement? Does this owner already foresee a dispute even before the project starts? Why are they so interested in maintaining their rights to litigate? Are they already planning to sue me?”

Contractors interested in learning how to utilize the benefits of arbitration in their business may contact DMA here to find out when our next training session is.