Civil Engineering July 2021 | Vol 29 No 6

Civil Engineering July 2021 19 19 July 2021 Civil Engineering existing requirement, but the course should be at least five days in length) Q Q The two-day course titled ‘The legal process of dealing with construction disputes’ to ensure that delegates understand the purpose of an amicable settlement and where it fits into the dispute resolution process. SAICE has a course in place, but any similar course approved by the SAICE ADR Panel will be recognised Q Q The one-day course conducted by the SAICE ADR Panel titled, ‘Course for admission to the SAICE President’s List for the category Amicable Settlement Facilitators’, which sets out to determine whether a person is fit for admission to the list and includes the Code of Conduct and Guidelines for Amicable Settlement. It is not only the Amicable Settlement Facilitator who should attend these courses, but also representatives of employers, contractors, and employers’ agents. If all involved in the amicable settlement proce- dure understand the purpose, workings and techniques of the procedure, and apply them correctly and see where the procedure fits into the whole construction dispute resolu- tion process, disputes should be successfully resolved (or avoided in the first place) in the best interests of all involved, including the beneficiaries of the project. NOTES 1 An inquisitorial approach means that the Amicable Settlement Facilitator lays down the procedure to be followed, after consulting with the disputing parties in a fact-finding inquiry in which the parties concerned and the witnesses are questioned. The facilitator acts more like an inquisitor than an observer as he conducts investigations into the matter and questions and seeks information from the parties and witnesses. He is permitted to take the initiative in investigating and ascertaining the facts of the case and the law relating to the dispute. 2 The other admission criteria include registration with SAICE; registration with ECSA for a period of at least 10 years; having worked as a project manager, construction manager or employer’s agent for a period of at least 10 years; having appropriate contract management experience; and having detailed working knowledge of the standard types of contracts. For more details on the admission criteria, see https://saice. org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ Criteria-for-admission-to-the-Presidents- List-as-an-Arbitrator-Adjudicator-or- Amicable-Settlement-Facilitator.pdf . 3 There are about 46 people on the SAICE President’s List for Amicable Settlement Facilitators. All of them are also either on the List for Adjudicators, the List for Arbitrators, or both. They could therefore be deemed to meet the requirement relating to “the course for admission to the SAICE President’s List for the category Adjudicator”. It is not clear how many of these people have attended a five-day course covering amicable settlement/ mediation and the two-day SAICE course on the legal process of dealing with construction disputes, but probably not many of them (because of other criteria for joining the President’s List). It can therefore be assumed that those currently on the SAICE President’s List for Amicable Settlement Facilitators are not really trained to operate in their role in an atmosphere of trust and transparency, with a clear understanding of their obligation to facilitate the resolution of contractual differences in an amicable manner. 4 Attendance at such courses could also assist in resolving labour, community and environmental pressure group conflicts on a construction site. These courses would therefore not be adapted to deal only with the amicable settlement of construction disputes. For more information contact Bryan Westcott Pr Eng Chairman: SAICE ADR Panel bjw@icon.co.za Big Red Road, Birdsville On site, Muttaburra Outback sunset Aged Care, Barcaldine Aroona Floodways, Emerald SERVICING CENTRAL, WESTERN, AND NORTH WEST QUEENSLAND SINCE 1945 NOW HIRING: RPEQ CIVIL ENGINEER with 5+ year’s experience CIVIL ENGINEER with local government experience Permanent, full time positions Remuneration depending on experience + 12.5% superannuation + long service leave + 5 weeks leave + more WE’RE HIRING FOR TWO POSITIONS IN BARCALDINE, QLD gbaengineers.com.au Full position descriptions available at GBA Consulting Engineers provide first class sustainable engineering solutions to outback communities spanning over 500,000km², offering a wide variety of services. Offices in Barcaldine, Emerald and Rockahmpton, QLD Tel: 07 4651 5177 Email: hr@gbaengineers.com.au @gbaengineers /gbaengineers