Dispute settlement in under a month

A new independent complaints procedure will allow builders to settle disputes with members of the public in under 21 days.

Set up by the Federation of Master Builders and the RICS and due to commence at the end of June, the service aims to drastically speed up the current small claims court procedure, which can take up to two years to reach a decision.

Under the new scheme, reported in Building magazine, a RICS panel of adjudicators will settle disputes over contractual issues. The losing party will be liable to pay all fees on top of any claims awarded and the adjudicators will charge about £110 per hour, spending no more than 10 hours on a single case.

According to Ron Wilson, director of the FMB for Yorkshire and Trent, the team leading the initiative, judgements will be more reliable because court case often don't have construction professionals dealing with cases.

The news follows the drastic actions of builder Nigel Gray who destroyed £15,000-worth of property he built when the owner refused to pay.