FIDIC’s newly established certification body, FIDIC Credentialing Limited (FCL), has signed a major agreement with the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) that will see the launch of FCL’s adjudicators’ programme to increase the number of skilled and experienced dispute adjudicators who provide dispute resolution and/or avoidance services under FIDIC Contracts.

Under the terms of the memorandum of agreement, the DRBF will: -

1.    Nominate dispute board experts to sit on the new FIDIC Credentialing Limited writing and examination committees for new adjudicator assessments programme.
2.    Provide a continuing professional development training programme for the approved adjudicators on the FIDIC President’s List.

FIDIC chief executive Dr Nelson Ogunshakin said: “I am delighted to be working with the DRBF. Dispute boards play a prominent role in the successful delivery of projects, achieving avoidance of numerous disputes. The enhanced role of dispute boards under the FIDIC 2017 editions will require significantly more skilled and experienced dispute board practitioners to act on projects worldwide. To meet this objective, it is our goal to launch a new assessments programme for adjudicators.

“We look forward to working in partnership with the DRBF for them to deliver an assessment programme for adjudicators under our credentialing body, FCL Limited.”

Commenting on the new agreement, DRBF president Andrew Griffiths said: “I am pleased that the DRBF and FIDIC have entered into a memorandum of agreement whereby FIDIC’s new credentialing body FCL has engaged DRBF to prepare the necessary materials and to deliver the FCL’s assessment of potential candidates for their ability to act as dispute board members over the next two to three years.

“We anticipate this will create many more opportunities for a much broader dispute board constituency and we very much look forward to working with FIDIC over the months and years to come.”