1 Some countries have statutory adjudication regimes applicable to construction projects in that jurisdiction, for example, in England & Wales, the regime introduced by the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Construction Act 1996). Any contractual regime would be required to meet the minimum applicable statutory requirements in those jurisdictions. 2 A dispute review board giving recommendations that would only bind the parties if there were no objections was first introduced as a 1995 World Bank Standard Bidding Conditions requirement. The first introduction of a dispute adjudication board giving binding decisions was in the Orange Book 1995. 3 16 on the Katse Dam Project and more than 20 on the Ertan Project. 4 See Chern on Dispute Boards: Practice and Procedure, 2008, Cyril Chern. 5 Global Construction Disputes Report 2019: Laying the foundation for success: Available at www.arcadis.com 6 Available at http://www.drb.org based on an analysis of its database. 7 Although FIDIC has repeatedly confirmed that any DAB decision, regardless of whether or not a NOD has been issued, should be able to be enforced summarily in arbitration. See for example the FIDIC Guidance Memorandum of 1 April 2013 which provided suggested amendments to sub-clause 20.7 in the 1999 Editions to provide for binding but not final decisions to be enforced in arbitration. This issue caused extensive debate regarding the ability, to enforce a binding but not final DAB decision. See for example, the Persero series of cases where the claimant was able to enforce a binding but not final DAB decision, but only after two sets of arbitration, High Court, and Court of Appeal proceedings, PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) TBK v CRW Joint Operation [2015] SGCA 30. The FIDIC 2017 Editions include drafting aimed at preventing these issues, though there may still be difficulties with enforcement in some jurisdictions. This will be considered in Part Two of this alert. 8 This is particularly the case as some national courts have now confirmed that the DAB is a mandatory pre-condition to arbitration, Peterborough City Council v Enterprise Managed Services Limited [2014] EWHC 3193 (TCC). About the authors vincent rowan partner, london Bree miechel partner, singapore Shareena Edmonds Partner, london Elinor Crowther Consultant singapore reedsmith driving progress through partnership