Mitigating claims through conflict avoidance in construction industry

Abstract

Conflict is defined as a serious disagreement or argument about something important between parties. When there are differences, incompatibilities in interests among parties involved, it is obvious a conflict could be exist. Construction industry is a place where the conflicting situations arise very often and it continues to act as a high explosive character. When a conflict is not managed properly it will lead to claims and if these claims are not clearly resolved the claims may turn into disputes. This study explored how to avoid conflicts in construction projects by addressing their types, causes and effects. Moreover the types and causes of claims were also addressed. The aim of the study was to develop a framework as a strategy that could reduce effectively the occurrences of conflicts to mitigate claims in construction projects in Sri Lanka. As a means to achieve the aim of this research, the study was structured into two main parts; the first part aimed at mapping up the nature of conflicts in construction projects by establishing types of conflicts, critical symptoms of conflicts, factors causing them and the strategies used in avoiding the conflicts. Moreover types of claims and causes of claims were also investigated. This was done through the literature synthesis. Secondly, a collection of data was done through a questionnaire survey and expert interviews. Through the analysed data the framework for conflict avoidance to mitigate claims has been created for the Sri Lankan context. Notwithstanding, it can be recommended to use for the construction industry as a whole. The study provides field level experiences from which the inexperience construction site professionals could learn the instances of conflicts and claims and not repeat the mistakes in their projects.