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Dispute Avoidance & Adjudication Boards (DAAB) under FIDIC Training Course

Focuses on the preventive path, not claims or arbitration: setting up a standing DAAB under FIDIC, using informal assistance and stopping disputes early.

CFC · Construction Contracts, FIDIC & ClaimsAll Levels#3148ClassroomEnglish , Arabic
Duration
5 Days
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Free substitution at any time · 30+ days' notice: full refund minus 10%. Cancellation policy

Sectors:Procurement, Contracts & Supply ChainCategories:Construction Contracts, FIDIC & Claims

Course Overview

The Dispute Avoidance & Adjudication Boards (DAAB) under FIDIC Training Course equips employers, contractors, consultants, and prospective board members to use a standing board as a working project tool. Its focus is the preventive path: how to stop a disagreement becoming a formal dispute, and how to resolve it quickly when it does. It does not teach claim preparation or arbitration practice. These appear only where they meet the board's work, because the aim here is to keep projects across the Gulf and Africa away from them. Participants begin with the FIDIC disputes clause in the second edition suite and the shift from an often ad hoc Dispute Adjudication Board to a standing board in place from the start of the project. They study board composition, one-member and three-member boards, member selection, the DAAB Agreement between the parties and the members, the General Conditions and Procedural Rules, members' independence and impartiality, and how an appointing body acts when the parties cannot agree. Budgeting for the board, and making the case for it to public-sector decision makers, are treated as real governance questions. The course then gives most of its time to avoidance in practice. Participants look at regular site visits and the agenda and reports they produce, joint requests for informal assistance, how a board can give its views without prejudging a later decision, how parties should behave so that the board hears problems while they are small, and how working culture on site changes when everyone knows a board is following the project. When a dispute must be referred, participants follow the process from referral through submissions and hearing to a reasoned, binding decision, the Notice of Dissatisfaction, amicable settlement, and how compliance with a decision can be pursued. The course is delivered through project case studies, board set-up exercises, simulated site visits, mock informal assistance sessions, a short referral simulation, and a final workshop. Participants leave with a board selection checklist, a site visit agenda and report template, a request for informal assistance, a referral outline, and a dispute avoidance plan they can adapt to their own projects.

Learning Objectives

  • Explain the purpose of a standing DAAB and how it differs from an ad hoc Dispute Adjudication Board.
  • Locate the board's work within the FIDIC disputes clause and the DAAB Agreement, General Conditions, and Procedural Rules.
  • Select suitable board members and test their independence, impartiality, and experience.
  • Decide between one-member and three-member boards in light of project size and risk.
  • Present the value of a board to public and private decision makers and budget for it.
  • Plan regular site visits, agendas, and reports that keep the board informed.
  • Use joint requests for informal assistance to resolve issues before they become disputes.
  • Build working habits that bring problems to the board while they are still small enough to resolve.
  • Link the board's work to advance warning, risk meetings, and the Engineer's agreement-or-determination step.
  • Follow a referral from first submission to a reasoned decision when avoidance has not succeeded.
  • Respond to a board decision, including the Notice of Dissatisfaction and amicable settlement.
  • Prepare a dispute avoidance plan that sets out roles, routines, and escalation for the whole project team.
  • Assess the board's performance during the project and adjust its routines where they are not working.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for contract managers, project directors, commercial managers, and legal counsel on FIDIC-based projects who want disagreements settled early rather than carried to arbitration. It is equally relevant for officials in ministries, public works departments, and public project authorities who decide whether to appoint and fund a standing board, and for development agency and lender representatives who oversee major projects and want early sight of emerging problems. Professionals in contractors, consulting engineers, law firms, and claims consultancies across the Gulf and Africa will find the course directly applicable, as will senior engineers, quantity surveyors, and lawyers who are considering serving as board members. It is particularly valuable for organizations that have been through a costly arbitration and want a different route on their next project, and for teams inheriting a contract that names a board which has never yet met, or one that was never constituted at all.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
  • Explain how a standing DAAB prevents disputes as well as deciding them.
  • Choose the right size and membership of a board for a given project and justify the choice.
  • Test a candidate's independence and impartiality and record any disclosure.
  • Complete a DAAB Agreement and identify the key Procedural Rules for the project team.
  • Justify the value and budget of a board to public and private decision makers.
  • Plan site visits, agendas, and reports for a working board throughout the project.
  • Prepare and use a joint request for informal assistance on a developing issue.
  • Bring emerging issues to the board early, through joint requests and advance warning.
  • Prepare or respond to a referral when avoidance has not succeeded.
  • Respond correctly to a board decision, including compliance and the Notice of Dissatisfaction.
  • Build a dispute avoidance plan for a FIDIC project with clear roles and routines.
  • Review the board's usefulness during the project and adjust its routines.

Course Outline

Course Outline:

Day 1

The Standing Board and the Preventive Path

  • Why disputes grow on construction projects, and what prevention can achieve
  • The FIDIC disputes clause in the second edition suite
  • Standing boards versus ad hoc Dispute Adjudication Boards
  • The board compared with the Engineer, amicable settlement, and arbitration
  • How the board fits Red, Yellow, and Silver Book projects
  • Making the case for a board to ministries, employers, and lenders
  • Common reasons a board is never constituted although the contract provides for one
  • Practical application: participants prepare a short case for appointing a board on a public project
Day 2

Setting Up the Board

  • One-member and three-member boards and how to choose
  • Selecting members: skills, experience, nationality, and availability
  • Independence, impartiality, and disclosure of conflicts
  • The DAAB Agreement, General Conditions, and Procedural Rules
  • Fees and expenses as a budgeting and governance issue, and sharing them
  • Appointment failure, appointing bodies, and replacing a member
  • Timing the appointment so the board is in place before the first problems arise
  • Practical application: participants select a board and complete a DAAB Agreement checklist
Day 3

Avoidance in Practice: Site Visits and Informal Assistance

  • The purpose and timing of regular site visits
  • Agendas, progress briefing, risk review, and visit reports
  • What the parties should send the board, and when
  • Joint requests for informal assistance: form, scope, and confidentiality
  • Giving a view without prejudging a later decision
  • What a useful visit report contains, and how the parties should act on its findings
  • Keeping the board informed between visits without creating a parallel claim process
  • Practical application: participants run a simulated site visit and an informal assistance session
Day 4

Culture, Behaviors, and Early Resolution

  • Linking the board to advance warning and project risk meetings
  • The Engineer's agreement-or-determination step and how to use it with the board in mind
  • Senior-level escalation and problem-solving routines
  • Record keeping that helps settle issues rather than build a case
  • Overcoming common barriers in public-sector and contractor organizations
  • Treating early board opinions as tools for negotiated settlement
  • The role of senior management in encouraging teams to raise problems rather than hide them
  • Practical application: participants handle a developing delay issue through the avoidance route
Day 5

When Avoidance Fails: Referral, Decision, and Next Steps

  • What makes a matter a dispute, and how to refer it
  • Submissions, hearing, and how the board runs the process
  • The reasoned decision and its binding effect while it stands
  • Notice of Dissatisfaction, amicable settlement, and enforcing compliance
  • The limited role of arbitration when the preventive path is exhausted
  • Lessons from boards that worked and boards that were appointed but never properly used
  • Final workshop: participants develop a dispute avoidance plan for a major FIDIC project

Upcoming Dates

Selected date

Makkah · 8 – 12 Mar 2027 · Classroom

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2 – 6 Nov 2026€4,300—
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9 – 13 Nov 2026€6,700—
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16 – 20 Nov 2026€5,100—
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16 – 20 Nov 2026€5,100—
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AmmanScheduled
22 – 26 Nov 2026€3,100€2,790until 2 Nov
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30 Nov – 4 Dec 2026€4,800€4,320until 9 Nov
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30 Nov – 4 Dec 2026€5,400€4,860until 9 Nov
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7 – 11 Dec 2026€5,400€4,860until 16 Nov
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BeirutScheduled
13 – 17 Dec 2026€4,000€3,600until 23 Nov
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20 – 24 Dec 2026€3,300€2,970until 30 Nov
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21 – 25 Dec 2026€5,800€5,220until 30 Nov
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28 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027€5,100€4,590until 7 Dec
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10 – 14 Jan 2027€4,400€3,960until 21 Dec
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17 – 21 Jan 2027€4,400€3,960until 28 Dec
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ErbilScheduled
24 – 28 Jan 2027€3,100€2,790until 4 Jan
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IstanbulScheduled
25 – 29 Jan 2027€4,700€4,230until 4 Jan
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31 Jan – 4 Feb 2027€4,200€3,780until 11 Jan
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KigaliScheduled
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Kuala LumpurScheduled
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15 – 19 Feb 2027€5,400€4,860until 25 Jan
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22 – 26 Feb 2027€5,600€5,040until 1 Feb
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22 – 26 Feb 2027€4,200€3,780until 1 Feb
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MadridScheduled
1 – 5 Mar 2027€5,400€4,860until 8 Feb
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8 – 12 Mar 2027€4,200€3,780until 15 Feb
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