Open Course: Available on scheduled dates. Contact cpdtraining@engineersireland.ie or call 01 665 1305, or check our CPD Calendar here.
Course Overview
Conciliation has been the principle method of resolving disputes in the Irish construction industry since 1996. It has been joined in recent years by adjudication (with a statutory right to it created by the Construction Contracts Act in 2013) and an increasing use of mediation, but conciliation has retained its dominant position. Engineers Ireland published its first Conciliation Procedure in 1995, the current edition of which was issued in 2000. In 2007 Engineers Ireland published a second Conciliation Procedure to match the requirements of the newly published Public Works Contracts; this Procedure was revised in 2013 and updated in September 2020. Engineers Ireland maintains a Panel of Conciliators. (as well as panels of Mediators, Adjudicators and Arbitrators) admission to which is by qualification and interview.
Learning Objectives
The objective of the course is to train attendees in conciliation to enable them to gain admission onto the Engineers Ireland Panel of Conciliators.
Course Content
The course starts with a review of the various methods of resolving disputes and explains why, since the mid-1990s, conciliation has been the method favoured by the Irish construction industry. It covers the contract provisions in relation to dispute resolution in the various standard forms of construction contract used in Ireland, with a focus on the Public Works Contracts, under which many conciliations take place. Dispute Avoidance is covered as is the role of the Standing Conciliator. The conciliation process and published Conciliation Procedures are covered in detail as is the appointment of a conciliator. Advice on setting up the conciliation to maximise its chance of resolving the dispute is provided as is how the conciliation should be conducted - for the last topic the views of all the principle tutors will be provided (based on the joint huge experience of successfully resolving disputes) in a panel discussion. Finally for a day and a half the attendees will have the opportunity to apply what they have learnt in a number of mock conciliations, working in small groups, each with a tutor in attendance to provide advice.
Who Should Attend
The course is primarily intended to provide training for those who wish to join the Engineers Ireland Panel of Conciliators. Attendance at and passing such a course is an essential requirement, together with demonstration of suitable knowledge and experience at an interview, for admission to the Panel. The course should also be of serious interest to those who may already be acting as conciliators but who have never attended a course on conciliation or who would like to update and broaden their knowledge of the conciliation process. Attendance is not limited to members of Engineers Ireland (neither is admission to the EI Conciliators Panel). Applicants should have adequate experience of working in the construction industry (probably for at least 10 years) and in particular of managing contracts and disputes which arise under them. They should also have a knowledge of construction law and be familiar with the standard forms of contract. The course would also be of interest to those who do not aspire to be conciliators but who are involved running construction contracts and wish to gain an in-depth knowledge of the conciliation process (which many forms of contract oblige the parties to use as a first attempt to resolve any disputes). In the event that the course is oversubscribed, priority will be given to applicants who are intending to apply to join the EI Conciliators Panel.
Course Structure and Assessment
Days 1, 2 and half of day 3 will be devoted to lectures and discussions on the various aspects of conciliation and the second half of Day 3 and Day 4 will be devoted to workshops in which small groups, assisted by tutors, will conduct mock conciliations of a number of dispute scenarios. On conclusion, participants will be required to make written submissions in the form of a reasoned Conciliator’s Recommendation, following which participants will be required to attend for a half hour interview, by appointment, on one of two days, 9th and 10th May. Those who pass the assessment will receive a certificate. The number of participants is limited so early application is recommended. If the course is substantially oversubscribed the course will be repeated at a later date.
Trainer's Profile
Brian Bond, BA, BAI, PhD, CEng., FIEI, FCIArb, Course Director
Formerly a Consulting Civil Engineer, with previous 14 years’ experience in contracting, Conciliator and Arbitrator with over 40 years’ experience of resolving disputes, creator and first Course Director of the TCD Post Graduate Diploma Course “Construction Law and Contract Administration” which has been running since 1996, formerly member of the Advisory Panel of Legal Affairs of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London and author of "Conciliation of Construction Industry Disputes" published by Routledge in October 2023.
Éamonn Conlon, SC
Solicitor, arbitrator, conciliator and accredited mediator with more than 40 years' experience of dispute resolution, most of it in construction. For more details on Éamonn Conlon, SC - https://conlon.law/about/
Gerard Monaghan, BE, MBA, CEng., FIEI, FCIArb
Gerard is a Chartered Engineer with some 35 years’ experience in the delivery of major construction projects in Ireland and internationally with a particular focus on utilities, energy and renewables.
Gerard is a Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a CEDR accredited mediator, a FIDIC Certified Adjudicator and a member of the FIDIC President's List of approved Dispute Adjudicators.
Gerard is a member of the Engineers Ireland Arbitration, Conciliation and Adjudication panels and is also a member of the Minister’s Panel of Adjudicators established in accordance with the provisions of the Irish Construction Contracts Act 2013.
He is an experienced ADR professional and is appointed regularly as arbitrator, adjudicator, mediator/conciliator and Dispute Board member.
Gerard is the current Chairman of the Engineers Ireland Disputes Resolution Board, a former Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Irish Branch) and is the Ireland country representative of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (www.drb.org).
David O’Leary, BSc, ASCS, MRICS, DipArb, FCIArb, Barrister-at-Law
Founding Managing Director of MKM Dispute Resolution, 30 years’ experience as Mediator, Conciliator and Arbitrator of construction industry disputes.David has conducted over 100 Conciliations and Mediations and is lecturer on Dispute Resolution on the Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Law and Contract Administration at Trinity College Dublin
Siobhán Fahey, BA, BAI, BA BAI LLB(Hons) CEng Dipl.Arb FCIArb MIEI MICE RConsEI
Over 30 years experience of conciliating, adjudicating, mediating and arbitrating construction contract disputes. FIDIC President's List Adjudicator; member of the panels of Arbitrators, Conciliators, Adjudicators and Mediators held by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Engineers Ireland; Chartered Arbitrator; Accredited Mediator (CIArb); member of Ministerial Panel of Adjudicators; and former Chair of the Dispute Resolution Board of Engineers Ireland.
Mel Casserly, Course Manager, BE, M.Sc., Dip. Con. Law, Dip Arb, C.Eng, MIEI, FCIArb
Member of Engineers Ireland Panel of Conciliators and Member of Engineers Ireland Dispute Resolution Board and is a Lecturer at Atlantic Technological University, Sligo.
Please contact the CPD Training Team for further information on scheduled course dates and In-Company options.