Contract & Building Dispute Mediation in Devon and Cornwall

Commercial contract disputes and building disagreements can quickly become expensive and time-consuming to litigate. Mediation offers a faster route to resolution — preserving business relationships and avoiding the cost and uncertainty of court proceedings.

Types of disputes

Laurence mediates a wide range of contract and building disputes, including construction contract claims, building defects and snagging, contractor and subcontractor disagreements, disputes about the scope, quality or price of works, delay and extension of time claims, final account disputes, claims for repudiation or wrongful termination, and general commercial disagreements about supply, services and performance.

Building disputes

Disputes between homeowners and builders, and between developers and contractors, are among the most common cases referred to mediation. They tend to involve legal and technical questions at the same time: whether the work was defective, whether it was ever properly specified, what it would cost to put right, and how much of the contract price remains due. Positions harden quickly, because the work is often unfinished and the property unusable while the argument continues.

Expert evidence and the cost problem

These disputes almost always require expert evidence, and experts instructed by opposing parties routinely produce schedules that are a long way apart — not because either is dishonest, but because assessing defective work involves genuine professional judgment. Once both sides have instructed experts, the cost of the dispute starts to approach the value of the claim. Mediation gives the parties the chance to settle while the gap between the two schedules is still worth arguing about.

Multi-party and construction disputes

Construction disputes frequently involve more than two parties — an employer, a main contractor, subcontractors and a professional team, each blaming the others. Litigation between them is slow and expensive, and contribution claims multiply the costs. Mediation can bring everyone into the same process on the same day, which is often the only practical way to apportion responsibility without years of proceedings.

Why mediate?

Contract litigation is costly and slow. Proceedings can run for years and rarely produce a result either party regards as satisfactory, particularly where a continuing commercial relationship is damaged along the way. Mediation typically resolves these disputes in a single day, and can produce outcomes a court could not order — a payment structure that works for both sides' cash flow, an agreement to complete outstanding works, or a future trading arrangement that makes the settlement commercially worthwhile.