Resolve to resolve: A review of the RICS Dilapidations Scheme for expert determination

Abstract

The RICS announced the setting up of a new initiative for resolving dilapidations disputes by expert determination at the Dilapidations Conference in September 2014. It is a consensual procedure in which the parties agree to refer terminal dilapidations disputes to expert determination if they are not resolved within 9 months. This paper is a review of the various forms of dispute resolution and, in particular, considers the new RICS initiative for expert determination of dilapidations disputes. It looks at how differing dispute resolution methods can be appropriate for certain types of dispute and not so appropriate for others, and asks whether signing up to the RICS scheme could be a disadvantage as well as an advantage. The article also considers Appropriate Dispute Resolution in comparison to litigation and suggests reasons why Appropriate Dispute Resolution is not used more widely, apart from under the direction of the courts. Towards the end of the paper there is an assessment of the status quo and a forecast of what the future might hold. In making its predictions the paper reaches what some may see as an unexpected conclusion.