The Role of the Standing Conciliator

Ciaran Fahy

December 2022

A paper presented to a meeting of the Society of Construction Law on 26th May 2022.

The paper considers the role of the Standing Conciliator under the Public Works Contract as used by the Irish public sector for building and civil engineering projects since 2007. The author first discusses the process of conciliation as used in Ireland and traces its evolution over the past 30 years or so. He then goes on to deal with the PWC form of contract, introduced in 2007, with particular emphasis on the dispute resolution provisions and the way in which they have been amended since 2016 with the introduction of a Standing Conciliator and Project Board. Finally, the paper looks in some detail at the Standing Conciliator and Project Board and how the engagement of the two together might minimise or avoid disputes.

Introduction – Conciliation – Public Works Contract – Claims and disputes under PWC – PWC: dispute management procedure – PWC: the Project Board – PWC: the Standing Conciliator – PWC: the recommendation – Project Board/Standing Conciliator in practice – Dispute avoidance – Conclusions

The author: Ciaran Fahy is an arbitrator, conciliator, adjudicator and mediator based in Dublin. 

Text: 13 pages