At the root of all construction project disputes is a string of management failures.
That was the clear message from Mathew Hazenberg, director at Accuracy, who was a speaker at the Construction Week Dispute Resolution UAE Conference, organised by Construction Week Middle East.
For both project delivery and legal experts, one theme stood out in the discussion: disputes are rarely driven by a single issue. They emerge from earlier missteps that go unaddressed, such as rushed project starts, unclear scope, slow decision‑making, weak reporting or a lack of collaboration in solving problems.
What we see repeatedly:
- Projects beginning before fundamentals are fixed
- Management blind-spots resulting from poor reporting and a lack of transparency from stakeholders
- Relationships deteriorating long before formal claims appear.
There are always opportunities to reset, but only if teams are willing to collaborate on problems early, be transparent about risk and prioritise project outcomes over entrenched positions.
