How to Prevent Disputes about Public Tenders

A NEW RESEARCH PROJECT INVOLVES JURISTS FROM BOCCONI AND THREE OTHER ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES

Construction sites shut down, workers on the payroll not utilized, materials deteriorating, long litigations, projects out of schedule. The complexity of construction projects lead to many costly disputes for private and public actors, yet there is a way to prevent them.
 
The research project involves Università Bocconi, LUISS, Università di Teramo and Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia. It aims not to resolve, but to prevent litigation by setting up a dispute board that would feature three experts. They would be involved in the project since its inception and constantly communicate with all parties. In the event of a dispute, parties would not go to court immediately. They would first consult the board members, whose opinion could be binding. “According to data, this method would reduce disputes by up to 86%, at a cost of only 0.5% of the contract price”, Roberto Panetta, Adjunct Professor of Private Law at Bocconi University, says.
 
The project is of particular interest to Italy where litigations tend to end up in ordinary and administrative courts for the lack of alternative methods of dispute resolution. The dispute board would be usually composed of specialized engineers. Given the complexity of the regulation which governs construction projects in Italy, a lawyer may be added to the board as president. “In 2016, the Italian legislator established the Collegio consultivo tecnico, a technical advisory board similar to the dispute board, but it was immediately repealed. The aim of our project is therefore to offer insights to policy makers and to write a vademecum for professionals”.
 
The project was submitted for PRIN 2017 (the acronym stands for “Research projects of national interest”), a call issued by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research. It features scholars, professionals and representatives of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the national institution that finances public investments, and Salini Impregilo, a general contractor operating in more than 50 countries around the world.
 
Prof. Panetta will report on these topic Friday, May 25 at the 18th Annual International Conference & Workshops of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DPBF) that will take place in Tokyo. DPBF is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the avoidance and resolution of contract disputes.

by Claudio Todesco