THE Scottish construction industry has been urged to embrace an inaugural week-long event designed to promote conflict avoidance and collaboration in the industry.
The Conflict Avoidance Week takes place across the UK from March 24-28. Organised by the Conflict Avoidance Coalition (CAC) – a collective of industry bodies committed to reducing the costs associated with disputes – the aim is to highlight the importance of a proactive approach to conflict management.
The CAC encourages organisations to sign up to the Conflict Avoidance Pledge (CAP), which is a commitment by construction and engineering professionals to early intervention and conflict avoidance. Signatories are expected to maintain good business relationships, strive to deal with issues which crop up on projects early and amicably, and embed the CAP principles into their workplace culture.
Len Bunton, Chair of the steering group of the Conflict Avoidance Coalition, told Project Scotland the campaign has been one of the biggest examples of collaboration across the industry that he’s ever experienced.
“We now have over 500 organisations that have signed the Conflict Avoidance Pledge,” Len revealed. “The Conflict Avoidance Coalition has brought together almost 90 different bodies involved in the construction industry to promote conflict avoidance.
“Everybody is pointing in the right direction now to get early intervention into issues and projects to prevent them escalating into expensive and time-consuming disputes. The support from both the public and private sectors at the moment is absolutely amazing. We decided we would have a week at the end of March involving a series of events across the UK promoting conflict avoidance. We’ve asked all 86 organisations to get the message out to their member organisations. Some of these associations have 700-800 member firms.
“It’s an attempt to focus for a week on the success of the process. We’ll be delivering webinars, podcasts, and articles. It’s about creating as much awareness as we can about this process.”
CAC members have been urged to support Conflict Avoidance Week by encouraging members and clients to sign the CAP, hosting conflict avoidance events, showcasing success stories, and highlighting how they are embedding conflict avoidance strategies and practices into its daily operations.
Len Bunton added, “We’ve got a great bunch of committed people on the Coalition who have been very supportive. We’re currently engaging with organisations in the nuclear sector, power, defence, hospitals – you name it, anybody who gets involved in construction and engineering projects. And we’re now engaging with the private sector because they build an enormous number of projects every year.”
Len praised the Scottish response to the campaign, highlighting that all CICV Forum members signed the Conflict Avoidance Pledge. He has been a long-time advocate of more amicable dispute resolution practices, adding that the biggest obstacle over the years has been getting the word out.
“The industry is notorious,” Len said. “The left hand doesn’t speak to the right hand, so my role has been to generate interest in this and getting people to commit.
“It’s not just a case of signing up and getting a diploma to put on the wall in your office. Organisations must demonstrate that conflict avoidance is an integral part of their day-to-day business.”
