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The U.S. construction industry is a litigious industry, spending from $4 to $12 billion annually on dispute resolution (Gebken II, 2006). A recent study found that the average cost of individual disputes in the U.S. construction industry during 2011 was $10.5 million. Furthermore, the average length of time required to resolve each dispute was 14.4 months (EC Harris, 2012). In addition to the time and dollars expended, disputes inevitably damage relationships between project team members.

Common causes of construction con-tract disputes include:

• ambiguities in the contract;
• incomplete design information or employer requirements;
• conflicting party interests;
• failure to make interim awards on extensions of time and to give associated compensation; and
• failure to properly administer the con-tract (EC Harris, 2012).

Contracts are essential to the construction process. In the simplest of terms, a contract is an …