International Construction Law Review
THE NEW COURT OF ARBITRATION IN CONSTRUCTION MATTERS OF THE AUSTRIAN STANDARDS INSTITUTE
DR ALFONS HUBER
President, Österreichische Gesellschaft für Baurecht (ÖGEBAU), Vienna, Austria
In Spring 2001 a working group was formed to establish a court of arbitration for the construction sector at the Austrian Standards Institute (ÖN) and to lay down the relevant rules of arbitration and mediation, using, as a basis, the results of previous work and preparatory activities of the officials and employees of the ÖN, of the Austrian Society of Construction Law, and of lawyers and engineers. Another impulse came from the reports about the “Construction Adjudication” established by Part II of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 in Great Britain. According to a first review, it was in the main a successful way to avoid disputes or to find speedy, fair and cost-efficient resolution.
The ÖN also provided the necessary organisational support. Three new “ÖN-Regeln” (ÖN Rules) have now been laid down as a result of the intensive co-operation between leading representatives of large clients and of the construction and construction-related trades and industry as well as of scientists, lawyers and civil engineers under the chairmanship of Prof Dr Heinz Krejci and, partly, the author of this text.
These rules are:
| ÖNR 22110 | Agreement of arbitration and rules of arbitration for construction contracts concluded under the relevant legislation on the award of contracts. |
| ÖNR 22112 | Rules of arbitration of the ÖN court of arbitration in construction matters. |
| ÖNR 22113 | Rules of mediation of the ÖN court of arbitration in construction matters. |
ÖN Rule 22113 also includes accelerated procedures for construction sites.
The ÖN Rules (ÖNR), introduced in 1998, represent a new type of specification, which do not necessarily meet the strict requirements of an ÖNORM (Austrian Standard), but are available more quickly. At European and international level, such specifications or “Codes of Good Practice” are usually laid down in the form of “Workshop Agreements” or “Publicly Available Specifications”. This new ÖN tool was first put to the test in the fields of nursing, leisure-industry services and district heating.
[2003
The International Construction Law Review
198