A Introduction

20.1 No one likes disputes. No party enters into a contractual relationship wanting things to go wrong. Yet all offshore contracts will include dispute resolution provisions setting out procedures to regulate how disputes should be resolved. A focus on resolution is obviously important: The nature of construction in the offshore business means that very large sums of money are involved, the parties may have ongoing commercial relationships to preserve and, just as no one likes disputes, no one likes allocating resources to lawyers and legal proceedings, when such resources could be better designated.