Arbitration-Related Construction Disputes: Classification, Legal Reasoning, and Practical Relevance

Construction projects frequently encounter disputes, often accompanied by significant challenges and consequences. Several dispute resolution mechanisms are typically recommended; yet arbitration continues to serve a principal role in jurisdictions of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite being among the most time-consuming and financially demanding mechanisms. While several studies have addressed construction disputes in the UAE, none have explicitly focused on arbitration-related disputes as a major category of disputes. To address this gap, the present study undertakes a review and analysis of 47 UAE court cases dealing with arbitration-related matters. The study intends to extract actionable insights and identify critical law articles applicable to such disputes, while also exploring the additional opportunities offered by certain law articles. The methodology adopted by the study involves (1) selecting a wide set of relevant, arbitration-related contracting and subcontracting dispute cases in the UAE; (2) reviewing and synthesizing the arbitration-related pleas within each case; (3) categorizing these pleas into several thematic groups, including the inadmissibility of the court case and/or the existence or validity of an arbitration clause, the admissibility of the court case, and the invalidity, annulment, or nullification of the arbitral award; (4) offering practical implications for construction stakeholders based on case law; and (5) identifying the law articles relied upon in ruling on the examined arbitration-related disputes, classifying them according to their degree of criticality, and outlining the additional noncontractual avenues offered by certain articles, while also providing practical implications for stakeholders concerning these critical articles. The outcome of this research is particularly valuable in providing key insights regarding arbitration agreements and arbitration-related disputes, while enhancing the legal-related knowledge base of construction participants.