Resolving Construction Disputes
95% of construction disputes are settled via mediation and conciliation, where the parties themselves remain in control
Our focus is on providing expert guidance and support to parties involved in construction disputes. John F.F.F. O’Brien will represent the claimant, the respondent, or can serve as an impartial third party, he employs a methodical approach to each case, drafting claim entitlements or defences, and identifying when to integrate expert reports.
Fairness, Impartiality and Integrity
Our legal services handle all kinds of contracts, not just the big complicated disputes, even though most cases we deal with are just that. “While we represent and advise some of the biggest construction firms in Ireland and the world, we do the same for smaller domestic contractors and sub-contractors.” We can also provide the same level of service to those who employ the contractors, whether they are private individuals, companies, or big clients in the public sector.
We handle all kinds of difficult Construction Disputes, from legal mediation and conciliation to resolving construction disputes, we will help find closure.
John F.F.F. O’Brien is a skilled third-party neutral, with experience in roles such as conciliator, mediator, and arbitrator. He is a recognised member of dispute resolution panels within Engineers Ireland, the Society of Chartered Surveyors, the Construction Industry Federation, and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. When he is appointed to conduct a hearing, he sets out to manage the process to achieve a speedy and fair closure. John’s expertise in and forensic knowledge of construction, and of the law as it applies there, is highly valued in the construction industry in Ireland.
John is available to act as a party representative, to be nominated for such roles, or to be appointed by mutual agreement between disputing parties. He offers initial consultations via teams to swiftly determine the existence of a claim entitlement..
“When I act as the referee in a dispute our keynote values apply; fairness, impartiality and integrity.”
FAQs
To disagree with someone is a healthy and very human thing to do, says John O’Brien in this interview. It is our differences in opinion that make us individuals, and this fosters conversation and debate.
John FFF O’Brien, principal consultant at John Farage O’Brien, tells John Murphy how he generally succeeds for his claimant clients in more complicated construction disputes taken to mediation and conciliation — where the parties remain in control.
Many of the professional people I meet have no idea that some of the biggest commercial contract disputes in this jurisdiction are fought, settled or decided behind closed doors.
Why are construction disputes often so terribly complicated? That’s the big question that comes up most among our clients, colleagues and advisors
How to get the ‘adversary factor’ out of disputes and disagreements
John O’Brien has a fundamental belief that in life people can generally be separated into two distinct groups, those with integrity and those without. He has found that this division has given rise to many of the disputes he has been involved in over the years
Greystones businessman John O’Brien’s company has won the highest award from Public Sector magazine for 2024, and for every year since 2017. O’Brien’s company, John Farage O’Brien Ltd, which operates from offices on Delgany’s Priory Road, has just been presented with the 2024 Legal Dispute Resolution Award by Public Sector magazine in its annual Excellence in Business […]
NO ONE KNOWS WHAT the full impact of COVID-19 will be on the economy or wider society in Ireland. However, what we do know is that its impacts will be wide-ranging for every industry, including construction. As yet, there has been no direct instruction from government that construction sites be closed. The position, on the basis […]
PRIVATE CONTRACTORS on public works contracts do not get gifts or favours from the government. For this reason, the publishing by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) of a draft letter of agreement dealing with ‘ex gratia’ payments from Employers to Contractors can only be cautiously welcomed. For reasons that I am sure you are […]
You may recall my comments in May last year when the OGP first published guidance in relation to Employers making ex gratia payments to Contractors for costs associated with the stoppage of works and closure of sites. I both started and finished with the line: Private contractors on public works contracts do not get gifts or favours from the government. […]
Irish Public Works Contracts Must Evolve Resolving a disputed public works final account, with the assistance of a neutral third party, is as much a part of the construction process today as the physical setting out of the works. However, this is simply not the way it ought to be — and it’s high time […]
A paper presented to the Dispute Resolution Board Federation webinar 4th March 2021By NG Bunni Dispute Adjudication Boards were developed by FIDIC following the successful American experience of Dispute Review Boards and first appeared in the 1995 Orange Book for Design- Build and Turnkey projects. The Board’s function of “Review” was changed to “Adjudication” in […]
Dissertation interview by Kate Hogan Final Year Quantity Surveying student in Bolton Street on Construction Adjudications in Ireland March 2024.