Open Course: Available on scheduled dates. Contact cpdtraining@engineersireland.ie or call 01 665 1305, or check our CPD Calendar here.
Course Overview and Objectives
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 Contract 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. The objective of the course is to train attendees
in conciliation to enable them to demonstrate an adequate knowledge of
conciliation and how one should be conducted to satisfy this requirement for
gaining admission onto the Engineers Ireland Panel of Conciliators.
Admission to the panel also requires experience of conciliation, which may be
obtained through participation in the Engineers Ireland Pupillage Scheme.
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 manging 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 Duration
The course will be run over four full days, Friday 20 &
Saturday 21 March and Friday 17 & Saturday 18 April 2026. It will
be an in-person course run in Engineers Ireland, 22 Clyde Road, Dublin 4.
The course includes a considerable amount of work outside the four days in
attendance. This relates to a number of mock conciliations in which the
participants are allotted roles to play with the production and submission of
associated documentation. Those enlisting for the course should ensure that
they can find the necessary time. Those who attended this course previously had
not anticipated that so much time was required between the two weekends and
struggled to manage the tasks to be done.
Dates
Day 1 & 2 - Friday 20th and Saturday 21st March
2026
Day 3 & 4 - Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April 2026
Assessment Interviews - If Required
08 & 09 May
Format and Summary of Course
The course will be a mixture of lectures, with discussion
sessions, and hands-on participation in mock conciliations with role play for
participants. Participants will have the opportunity to act as the
conciliator and as representatives of the parties. For some of these they will
be required to produce and submit documents associated with the allocated role.
After conclusion of the course, participants will be
required to make written submissions in the form of a reasoned Conciliator’s
Recommendation.
Assessment will be continuous, throughout the mock
conciliation workshops, including the associated written submissions, and of
the post-course submitted Conciliator’s Recommendation. In addition,
participants may be required to attend an interview, of about half an hour, by
appointment, on 08 or 09 May.
Those who pass the assessment will receive a certificate.
The number of participants is limited so early application is
recommended.
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.