01
Delay & extension of time
Critical path, concurrency, employer risk, access, approvals, disruption, acceleration and liquidated-damages issues.
UNIONE™ - SECTOR BENCH
Construction, Infrastructure & Projects
Construction disputes are record-heavy, technically dense and often time-sensitive. UNIONE connects project administration, delay, variation, payment, defects, expert issues, arbitration and recovery in one sector-specific pathway without old panel counts, fixed package prices or automatic appointment claims.
Sector BenchThe project record is often the dispute.
SECTOR REALITY
The project record is often the dispute.
Sector disputes are shaped by the contracts, records, operational events, technical questions and regulatory context behind them. UNIONE connects those sector realities to prevention, assessment, arbitration and enforcement.
02
Variations & change
Scope change, instruction authority, valuation, notice, time effect and disputed entitlement.
03
Payment & certification
Applications, certificates, withholding, set-off, milestone payment, final account and cash-flow disputes.
04
Defects & performance
Design responsibility, workmanship, specification, testing, fitness for purpose, rectification and latent defects.
05
Subcontract & supply chain
Back-to-back obligations, nominations, interface risk, delay allocation and multi-tier liability.
06
Major project / concession interface
EPC, PPP, concession, project-finance, land, permitting, utility and State/SOE dependencies.
FOUR COMMERCIAL MOMENTS
Start with the decision the organisation faces.
The sector page should connect each problem to the smallest credible intervention first, while keeping arbitration available when binding determination is required.
01
Before You Sign™
Stress-test dispute-facing contract architecture while it can still be changed.
Contract route →02
Before You Arbitrate™
Separate merits, evidence, quantum and commercial exposure before full proceedings.
Decision route →03
Arbitration
Build procedure around the sector record, experts, urgency and cross-border context.
Arbitration route →04
Before You Enforce™
Connect the award or right to assets, jurisdiction, security and recovery.
Recovery route →PREVENTION & CONTRACT ARCHITECTURE
The dispute is often created before the notice is sent.
A sector-specific prevention review should focus on the mechanisms most likely to create ambiguity, evidential weakness, escalation or recovery problems.
01
Notice architecture
Make notices, time bars, instructions, records and escalation operationally usable rather than merely formal.
02
Programme and delay records
Preserve baseline, updates, progress, critical path, mitigation and disruption evidence in a usable chronology.
03
Variation control
Define instruction authority, valuation method, substantiation, approval and time impact.
04
Payment and certification
Clarify application, certification, withholding, set-off, retention and final-account mechanics.
05
Design and performance allocation
Separate design responsibility, specification compliance, performance criteria, testing and rectification.
06
Dispute board / neutral interface
Where adopted, define the role, escalation route, confidentiality, later-role conflicts and transition into arbitration.
SECTOR PRACTICE FRAMEWORKS
Credibility should be visible in the documents and operating systems practitioners actually use.
UNIONE should describe the contract families, records and technical contexts that matter without claiming exclusive expertise, fixed panel numbers or guaranteed outcomes.
- Standard-form and bespoke construction contractsProject administration, notices, variations, delay, payment, testing, defects and dispute escalation.
- Project controls and contemporaneous recordsProgrammes, progress reports, RFIs, instructions, site diaries, correspondence, payment records and change logs.
- Expert evidenceDelay, quantum, engineering, valuation, geotechnical, architectural and specialist technical evidence.
- Subcontract and interface architectureFlow-down obligations, packages, nominated parties, supply chain, interfaces and responsibility matrices.
- Project finance and concession documentsSecurity, step-in, completion, concession, availability and government-interface questions where relevant.
WHO THIS SERVES
The full sector dispute ecosystem.
Different users arrive with different commercial questions. Each should be able to see where the institution may become relevant without being pushed into arbitration-first language.
Developers & project owners
Delay, variation, design, payment, completion, defects and concession-interface disputes.
Main contractors
Entitlement, records, EOT, disruption, variations, payment, subcontract and recovery.
Subcontractors & suppliers
Flow-down obligations, payment, delay allocation, variations, defects and interface risk.
Lenders & investors
Completion, performance, step-in, project security and recovery exposure.
Government & infrastructure authorities
Public projects, concessions, variation, delay, termination and State/SOE interfaces.
Counsel, experts & neutrals
Procedure designed around project records, expert disciplines and the commercial need for continuity.
SECTOR BENCH
Professional standing should mean genuine sector capability - not automatic work.
Sector Bench standing may support discovery and professional participation. It does not create entitlement to arbitral, neutral, expert or other appointments.
Q
Qualification
Relevant legal, engineering, quantity surveying, architecture, project controls or other professional qualification.
E
Experience
Meaningful project, contract, claims, expert or dispute experience.
R
Records
Ability to work with programmes, notices, valuations, drawings, correspondence and project-control material.
T
Technical understanding
A defined construction or infrastructure specialism rather than generic commercial experience alone.
I
Independence
Ability to satisfy applicable conflicts, disclosure and impartiality requirements for any later role.
P
Procedure
Understanding of how delay, quantum and technical evidence should be managed proportionately in arbitration or other processes.
GLOBAL BY DESIGN
Coordinate centrally. Use local counsel where domestic law requires it.
Digital submission, secure document exchange, video meetings, sector-specialist review and jurisdiction intelligence can operate across borders. Reserved domestic-law work remains with appropriately qualified local professionals.
Cross-border sector workThe institutional layer can travel without pretending local law has disappeared.
- Remote institutional deliveryCentral administration, secure exchange, virtual meetings and sector-specialist review can operate across borders.
- Professional boundaryDomestic-law advice, court representation and locally reserved activities remain with appropriately qualified professionals.
- Appointment firewallSector Bench standing, prior solution work or professional participation does not predetermine any later case appointment.
- Enforcement awarenessRecognition and recovery should be considered early where the dispute or asset profile makes them commercially material.
DECISION ROUTER
What is happening right now?
The question is not simply whether a project dispute should be arbitrated. It is what needs to be preserved, assessed or decided now.
A
Contract or project architecture
The problem can still be designed out, allocated or better documented.
Start before signing →B
Live dispute or claim
The organisation needs an independent view before choosing process.
Assess the dispute →D
Award or recovery issue
Recognition, assets, security or enforcement geography is now central.
Plan recovery →