Increasingly, Dispute Review Boards (DRBs) are playing an
important role in construction projects both in Canada and
internationally as parties appreciate the assistance of neutral
experts with a familiarity with their projects who are able, on a
quick and informal basis, to provide non-binding recommendations
that divert disputes from what could otherwise become protracted
and costly disputes.
Overview
DRBs are agreed to and appointed in the contract documents at
the outset of a project. Typically, DRBs consist of one to three
members who are agreed upon by both parties or selected through a
nomination process. Members are selected for their subject matter
expertise and experts are thus rarely called over the course of the
board's deliberations. They familiarize themselves with the
project and its key participants, and often conduct site visits at
which parties make presentations to the board (Chern on Dispute
Review Boards (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2008) and
