Welcome!

Providence ADR are providers of alternative dispute resolution solutions for all sectors and all industries.

We have a range of experienced mediators, all qualified and accredited with the Mediation Forum of Ireland.

  If you would like to make an enquiry about our Mediation or Alternative Dispute Resolution Services, please complete this form and we will contact you to discuss it further.

We are a division of the Fahy Fitzpatrick Group. Other partners in this group are Fahy Fitzpatrick Consulting Engineers, Eco Smart Ireland & Providence Projects; providing Engineering Design, Energy & Project Management Services respectively.

What is Mediation?

Mediation is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). It is a process that helps both parties reach a solution to their problem and to arrive at an outcome that both parties are happy to accept. Mediation is a private and voluntary mechanism used by parties to avoid the costly alternative that is litigation. Any settlement terms reached in a mediation conference can be recorded and signed in an enforceable contract. Mediation is fast becoming the desired route in dispute resolution. This can be seen from the increasing number of Acts that facilitate or compel mediation before litigation.

 

Why would I need it?

Mediation offers a means of resolving a dispute that is much more cost effective and less time consuming. The mediation process can take a very short period of time by comparison to litigation and has been found to have a 95% success rate in achieving resolutions to conflicts.

 

What are the benefits?

1.)  It is much more cost effective than litigation.

2.)  It is much less time consuming than litigation.

3.)  It will show a court that you have taken every effort to resolve a situation by means other than lititgation.

Adjudication in Construction Bill 2010

As most in the Construction Industry, or anyone who reads a newspaper would know, there is a huge amount of confrontational disputes in the are of construction contracts and development agreements. The large amount of these are currently being settled with long laborious legal battles which take a large amount of time to reach a conclusion and generally lead to large legal fees in the process.

The Construction Bill 2010, which is broadly modelled on the UK model, seeks to address outstanding payment issues by introducing adjudication to construction contracts to resolve disputes arising between employers and contractors or contractors and sub- contractors through adjudication by an independent third party.

The Construction Bill will apply to any oral or written construction contracts, with the exception of a number of specific contracts, namely those with a residential occupier or those excluded by statutory order. The definition of a construction contract is broad and includes any agreement to carry out or procure construction operations, do architectural, design or surveying work as well as provide advice on building, engineering, interior or exterior decoration or the laying out of landscape in relation to construction operations. This essentially means that anyone who currently works in the area of construction for commercial clients is covered under this Bill, which is a very large catchment.

Types of construction operations included under the bill would be:

• Construction, alteration, repair, maintentance, demolition or dismantling of:
• buildings or a non-exhaustive list of structures and works
•  installations of heating, lighting, ventilation, drainage, power, water, internal and external cleaning of buildings.

As you may note from the last line, this means that all building maintenance and upgrades are also covered under the Bill, including regular cleaning of buildings.

The advent of this Bill will mark a dramatic shift in how people go about disputing payments on projects and construction contracts, as it has in the UK. Mediation will be a regular first port of call and a pre-requisite for all construction contracts.

The Bill states that a party to such a contract cannot withhold payment or part payment of money due unless they have given effective notice of the intention to do so, and this notice must identify the sum, the calculation and the grounds for withholding. There are also certain time periods identified for the issue of the notice.

The adjudication process as part of the bill, advises that the referring party must give 7 days notice of the intention to adjudicate, with a decision to be reached by the adjudicator within 28 days of the referral. The adjudicator can extend this a further 14 days only with consent of the referring party.

The bill is due to be revisited again in five months by the Seanad.