Are construction disputes inevitable?

Many construction projects are of long-duration and high value and foreseeing and planning for every eventuality may be impossible. Engineers and managers are expected to solve problems surfacing during the execution stage. Moreover, problems blended with conflict are damaging and manifest as disputes. The authors suggested that construction dispute can be conceptualized as having three basic components: contract provisions, triggering events and conflict. This conceptualization fits nicely with fault tree (FT) framework that is used to evaluate system failures. Furthermore, through the use of a hypothetical case, a fuzzy FT model was employed to analyze the likelihood of construction dispute. This research suggested that complex project delivered in the traditional design then build approach, construction dispute are bound to appear. © 2006 IEEE.