An introduction to the Conflict Avoidance Coalition

Ahead of Conflict Avoidance Week (24-28 March 2025), chair of the Contracts & Dispute Resolution Panel, Charles Edwards FCInstCES, asked a few questions of Len Bunton, chair of the Conflict Avoidance Coalition, to get a better idea of the organisation and the event itself.

Charles: 'Len, please could you start by explaining a little about what the Conflict Avoidance Coalition (CAC) is and its role in the construction industry?'

Len: 'Yes, the conflict avoidance process is all about intervention into issues that are arising on construction projects and resolving these through discussion and negotiation, before they escalate into costly and time-consuming disputes.
'The construction industry in the UK has been plagued with these disputes for over 50 years and they end up not only costing a great deal of money but fragmenting and often ruining relationships.
'Under a conflict avoidance process the parties need to meet and discuss the issues to try and find a solution - and if they're unable to do so collectively, they can refer the matter to what is called a CAP Professional to produce binding, or non-binding, recommendations and to work with the parties to find a solution.'

Charles: 'So conflict avoidance is critical in the construction sector?'

Len: 'Yes, it's critical - and it means any developing issues can be neutralised at the earliest possible date, to be set aside and allow the parties to concentrate on building a construction project to the highest level of quality, on programme and within budget.'

Charles: 'What do you think are the key principles of effective Conflict Avoidance?'

Len: 'One of the most prominent is the 'Conflict Avoidance Pledge' - this something the CAC is encouraging everyone involved in the construction process to sign. 
'So far about 600 organisations in the UK have signed the pledge, which is positive - but a drop in the ocean - so we hope that more members of CICES will sign too after reading this.
'However, that's still not enough - after signing the pledge, we then need parties to embed the principles of conflict avoidance into their day-to-day businesses operations.
'A number of organisations have applied for Silver and Gold Membership, which is a real demonstration that conflict avoidance is fundamental to their business - I think this is a great business development factor and is spelling out a message to potential clients that: “we are a good business to work with".'

Charles: 'So what steps can the construction industry take today to reduce the risk of disputes on their projects?'

Len: 'In my experience, many of the problems we're experiencing on construction projects are self-induced, as many contractors are not managing the contractual and commercial side of their projects effectively.
'We encourage CICES members to review the CICV Best Practice Guide and also to look at and implement the series of practice notes we've developed, which are available via: CICVForum.co.uk/downloads.'

Charles: 'And finally, how can industry professionals get involved with the Conflict Avoidance Coalition?'

Len: 'Actually, it's not just about industry professionals, as the conflict avoidance process needs to include everyone in the construction process - clients, main contractors, consultancy design teams and the whole supply chain - for this to be successful, everyone has to be involved.
'The Conflict Avoidance Coalition is making huge progress - we now have over 90 organisations involved, covering all sectors of the construction process, with the fundamental objective of seeing conflict avoidance mechanisms embedded into tender documents, which we are starting to see happen.
'Major clients like Transport for London, Network Rail and the Environment Agency have committed to the Conflict Avoidance Pledge and the Coalition has recently commenced discussions with organisations in the private sector as well.
'It’s been a huge amount of hard work but we are now beginning to see the fruits of our labour.'


Thanks to Charles and Len for their time in highlighting such an important area of our industry.

Don't miss the free online Conflict Avoidance Week launch event on Monday 24 March. 

If you'd like to learn more or become involved, please head to the Conflict Avoidance Coalition website.