American Journal of Civil Engineering

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Assessment of Construction Dispute Resolution in Ethiopian Somali Regional State Road Projects: A Case Study on Road Projects in the Region

Received: 10 August 2016    Accepted: 19 August 2016    Published: 12 September 2016
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Abstract

The construction industry has been a paradoxical leader in both dispute occurrences and dispute resolution systems for many years. This study assessed the construction dispute resolution mechanism in Ethiopian Somali Region Road Construction Industry. It has identified the causes that lead to construction dispute in the road sector; determined the most frequent causes of the dispute; and analyzed its current dispute resolution mechanisms. Results show to have five major categories of disputes which are design-related, contractor-related, owner related, contract-related, and external factors ranked from first to fifth, respectively. The Dispute Resolution Mechanisms currently used in the road construction industry of the Ethiopian Somali region are an Amicable Settlement (Negotiation), DRE, Arbitration (Litigation), and “others” not disclosed by respondents. ADR is to a certain extent, effectively used in contracts in the construction industry. Negotiation is initially most frequently used in resolving disputes in road construction projects in Somali Region. However, parties cannot resolve the issue through Negotiation thereby resorted to Arbitration (Litigation). Arbitration is the final stage of dispute management in the road construction sector and arbitration proceedings resemble to regular court litigation. Various but specific recommendations were forwarded to major construction stakeholders to minimize or avoid disputes. Such as disputes can be reduced by checking that the contract documents are in place. Avoid making general statements, and instead set out a complete list of specifications, drawings, questions and answers, and others that apply to the project.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13
Published in American Journal of Civil Engineering (Volume 4, Issue 6, November 2016)
Page(s) 282-289
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Causes of Disputes, Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, Mediation, Road Construction, Somali Regional State

References
[1] Abera, B. (2005). Assessment of Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods in the Ethiopian Construction Projects. Addis Ababa University. Unpublished.
[2] Acharya, N. K., Lee, Y. D., and H. M. (2006). Conflicting factors in construction projects: Korean perspective. Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management. 543-566.
[3] Alemu, M. Wubishet J. and Tamene A. (2015). Assessment of Effectiveness of Dispute Review Expert Practice in Ethiopian Federal Road Projects. International Journal of Engineering and Technical Research IJETR, 15-19.
[4] Azhar, Rizwan U. Farooqui and Salman. (2014). Key Causes of Disputes in the Pakistani Construction Industry– Assessment of Trends from the Viewpoint of Contractors. ASC Annual International Conference Proceedings. Auburn: Associated Schools of Construction.
[5] Emre Cakmak and Pinar Irlayici Cakmak. (2013). an analysis of causes of disputes in the construction industry using analytical network process. Science Direct, 183 – 187. Istanbul.
[6] ERA Manual, “Standard Bidding Documents for Roadwork Contracts ICB, Dispute Resolution Procedure”. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Roads Authority, unpublished.
[7] Fenn, P. (1997). Conflict and dispute in construction. Construction Management and Economics, 513-518.
[8] Groton, J. P. (1997). Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Construction Industry. Dispute Resolution Journal, 52 (3), 48-57.
[9] Howard, W. E., Bell, L. C., and McCormick, R. E. (1997). "Economic principles of contractor compensation." Journal of Management in Engineering, 13 (5), 81-89.
[10] Jergeas, G. F., and Hartman, F. T. (1994). "Contractor' Construction-Claims Avoidance. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 120 (3), 553-560.
[11] M. Abeynayake and Ch. Weddikkara, Special Features and Experiences of The Full-term Dispute Adjudication Board As An Alternative Dispute Resolution Method In The Construction Industry Of Sri Lanka” University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2013, pp 2-6.
[12] Raberger, G. (2008). Best Practice DB Processes. Cape Town: The Dispute Resolution Board Foundation. Retrieved from www.drb.org
[13] Robert, Dispute resolution boards. Australia, 2004, pp. 4-9.
[14] R. B. Talib, “Dispute review boards in the context of Malaysian construction industry”. University technology Malaysia, 2011, pp. 1-8.
[15] Wubishet, J. (2008). Risk Management for Construction Projects. EACE Journal, 1-12.
Author Information
  • Construction Engineering and management, Jimma University Institute of Technology, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jimma, Ethiopia

  • Jimma University Institute of Technology, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jimma, Ethiopia

  • Jimma University Institute of Technology, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jimma, Ethiopia

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  • APA Style

    Assegid Getahun, Yolente C. Macarubbo, Alemu Mosisa. (2016). Assessment of Construction Dispute Resolution in Ethiopian Somali Regional State Road Projects: A Case Study on Road Projects in the Region. American Journal of Civil Engineering, 4(6), 282-289. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13

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    ACS Style

    Assegid Getahun; Yolente C. Macarubbo; Alemu Mosisa. Assessment of Construction Dispute Resolution in Ethiopian Somali Regional State Road Projects: A Case Study on Road Projects in the Region. Am. J. Civ. Eng. 2016, 4(6), 282-289. doi: 10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13

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    AMA Style

    Assegid Getahun, Yolente C. Macarubbo, Alemu Mosisa. Assessment of Construction Dispute Resolution in Ethiopian Somali Regional State Road Projects: A Case Study on Road Projects in the Region. Am J Civ Eng. 2016;4(6):282-289. doi: 10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13,
      author = {Assegid Getahun and Yolente C. Macarubbo and Alemu Mosisa},
      title = {Assessment of Construction Dispute Resolution in Ethiopian Somali Regional State Road Projects: A Case Study on Road Projects in the Region},
      journal = {American Journal of Civil Engineering},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6},
      pages = {282-289},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajce.20160406.13},
      abstract = {The construction industry has been a paradoxical leader in both dispute occurrences and dispute resolution systems for many years. This study assessed the construction dispute resolution mechanism in Ethiopian Somali Region Road Construction Industry. It has identified the causes that lead to construction dispute in the road sector; determined the most frequent causes of the dispute; and analyzed its current dispute resolution mechanisms. Results show to have five major categories of disputes which are design-related, contractor-related, owner related, contract-related, and external factors ranked from first to fifth, respectively. The Dispute Resolution Mechanisms currently used in the road construction industry of the Ethiopian Somali region are an Amicable Settlement (Negotiation), DRE, Arbitration (Litigation), and “others” not disclosed by respondents. ADR is to a certain extent, effectively used in contracts in the construction industry. Negotiation is initially most frequently used in resolving disputes in road construction projects in Somali Region. However, parties cannot resolve the issue through Negotiation thereby resorted to Arbitration (Litigation). Arbitration is the final stage of dispute management in the road construction sector and arbitration proceedings resemble to regular court litigation. Various but specific recommendations were forwarded to major construction stakeholders to minimize or avoid disputes. Such as disputes can be reduced by checking that the contract documents are in place. Avoid making general statements, and instead set out a complete list of specifications, drawings, questions and answers, and others that apply to the project.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    AU  - Assegid Getahun
    AU  - Yolente C. Macarubbo
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    T2  - American Journal of Civil Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Civil Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Civil Engineering
    SP  - 282
    EP  - 289
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8737
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20160406.13
    AB  - The construction industry has been a paradoxical leader in both dispute occurrences and dispute resolution systems for many years. This study assessed the construction dispute resolution mechanism in Ethiopian Somali Region Road Construction Industry. It has identified the causes that lead to construction dispute in the road sector; determined the most frequent causes of the dispute; and analyzed its current dispute resolution mechanisms. Results show to have five major categories of disputes which are design-related, contractor-related, owner related, contract-related, and external factors ranked from first to fifth, respectively. The Dispute Resolution Mechanisms currently used in the road construction industry of the Ethiopian Somali region are an Amicable Settlement (Negotiation), DRE, Arbitration (Litigation), and “others” not disclosed by respondents. ADR is to a certain extent, effectively used in contracts in the construction industry. Negotiation is initially most frequently used in resolving disputes in road construction projects in Somali Region. However, parties cannot resolve the issue through Negotiation thereby resorted to Arbitration (Litigation). Arbitration is the final stage of dispute management in the road construction sector and arbitration proceedings resemble to regular court litigation. Various but specific recommendations were forwarded to major construction stakeholders to minimize or avoid disputes. Such as disputes can be reduced by checking that the contract documents are in place. Avoid making general statements, and instead set out a complete list of specifications, drawings, questions and answers, and others that apply to the project.
    VL  - 4
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