About Me

I am Peter Collie, I own this site and I am a construction lawyer with many years experience of dealing with construction disputes. I am on the FIDIC President’s List of Adjudicators and keen advocate of Dispute Boards.

I am a dual qualified lawyer and construction professional and I am able to bring to bear both legal knowledge and practical construction knowledge to seek to resolve disputes. I provide strategic advice to clients and parties, aimed at avoiding disputes wherever possible and if a dispute is unavoidable I provide strategic advice on the best way to handle the dispute.

I actually started my working life as an apprentice joiner. Following completion of my apprenticeship I studied and trained as a quantity surveyor and have worked on a variety of projects from house refurbishment to large petrochemical projects.

In 1994 I qualified as a Barrister and have acted as a lawyer since, I have been a self employed Barrister from 2000.

In 2009 I became one of only 69 FIDIC accredited Dispute Board members. I act as a Dispute Board on a variety of matters from roads and bridges to large infrastructure projects such as power stations, roads, tunnels and rail projects.

Disputes in the construction industry are inevitable because of a variety of reasons from communication, management of change, not appreciating the risks, design changes, preference engineering and defects.

Dispute Boards are a truly innovative method of seeking to avoid disputes as they arise, to use the jargon “in real time”. The skill of a Dispute Board is to ensure that the parties to a construction contract are talking to each other, addressing the allocation of risks and performance issues such that potential disputes evaporate.’.

As part of my dispute avoidance role I am involved in the Crossrail CAP an initiative aimed at avoiding disputes on major construction projects in London.

Most of the time I am involved in FIDIC projects using the FIDIC Dispute Board rules, however the ICC in Paris and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators also have their own rules.

In addition to being on the FIDIC President’s list I am also on the DRBF, RICS and TeCBar list of dispute board members. I was also appointed by the ICC in Paris.

In the UK we have a specialist court that deals with construction disputes called the Technology and Construction Court. I am an experienced advocate in this court and the English appeal courts.

Internationally I am an experienced advocate, arbitrator, Dispute Board member, Mediator and Adjudicator dealing with major international projects.

My full cv is available here.

Please feel free to browse my website and do not forget to check out my tweets!

Examples of the work I do include:

• Appointed Sole Standing Dispute Board across 3 Roads Contracts in Georgia by ICC.
• Adjudicator in a dispute over the design of the work in an EPC Waste to Power Project.
• Appointed as Sole Expert Review Board by ICC on a US$2 Billion PPP gas-fired power station. & desalination plant in Bahrain.
• Appointed as a dispute avoider on Crossrail projects (TfL CAP).
• Appointed as Adjudicator on a £3million professional negligence claim on a roads project in Scotland.
• Appointed 4 times as Adjudicator on a housing development in London
• Representing a contractor in an ICC Arbitration relating to a PPP Desalination Plant in Saudi Arabia.
• Representing a government in an arbitration over an Infrastructure project in the Caribbean (FIDIC Contract).
• Advising a specialist contractor in relation to several coal fired power stations in South Africa.
• Appointed Adjudicator in relation to a professional negligence claim on a 5 star Hotel.
• Appointed Adjudicator 4 times on a Combined Cycle Power Station in the UK.
• Appointed Adjudicator on an Olympic 2012 Legacy Project.
• Appointed as Expert on a Housing Project in Bahrain.
• Appointed Arbitrator on a dispute in Mauritius.
• Appointed Adjudicator on a dispute over a Waste to Energy and Composting Facility.
• Acting as co-arbitrator (DIAC) in a dispute over the termination of a contract for a large water plant (UAE).
• Acting as co-arbitrator (DIAC) on a dispute over professional fees and alleged negligence (UAE).
• Appointed as Adjudicator on four disputes over a new Football Stadium.
• Counsel in the first no payment or payless notices dispute enforcement in the UK.
• Litigation representing a major contractor in a procurement dispute in the UK.
• Appointed Adjudicator on a dispute over the Media Centre for the London 2012 Olympics.
• Appointed as Adjudicator 5 times in relation to disputes under an NEC Contract.
• Appointed Adjudicator 5 times in relation to disputes over the construction of a boutique hotel.
• Appointed as Arbitrator on a dispute over professional fees.
• Appointed as Arbitrator on a dispute over the construction of a large private residence.
• Arbitration (FIDIC); Representing a specialist erection company in relation to a dispute over the erection of wind turbines in the North Sea.
• Advising a blue-chip client with regard to their contractual entitlement in relation to a large PFI Light Rail Infrastructure Project in a £45 million dispute.
• Representing a blue-chip client in a £7 million dispute over who caused delays to a major PFI project.
• Acting as adjudicator on a FIDIC engineering contract in a circa £10 million dispute over the construction of a power station. The dispute included termination and the correct valuation of the works.
• Sole Dispute Board Member on a dispute over water and sewerage installation in Bulgaria.
• Representing a contractor in relation to sewage works scrubbing plant disputes.
• Representing the employer (HAT) in a major claim for breach of contract and professional negligence.
• Advising a specialist international cladding contractor on a dispute over the supply and delivery of cladding for a mixed-use development, including successfully appearing as advocate to lift an injunction to prevent a bank paying under a Standby Letter of Credit.
• Advising a main contractor in an adjudication under the NEC form of contract over the measurement and value of the works.
• Acting as mediator in a five-party dispute in relation to high aluminium concrete structures.
• Advising on a contract for the construction of an international airport.

Other activities

I am a visiting lecturer on the MSc in Construction Law at the University of Wolverhampton. I lecture, examine and assess candidates for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the RICS. Ie lecture regularly for the CIOB, RICS, CIArb and various clients. I am the author of the CIArb’s book “Introduction to Adjudication”. I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Building’s Dispute Resolution Board. I was part of the working party revising the RICS Practice Note on Surveyor’s Acting as Expert Witnesses. I Chaired a Webinair on Procurement Law and co-presented a Webinair on the NEC3 suite of contracts.

I was awarded the Chartered Institute of Building’s Silver Medal for the Contract Administration Paper of the Membership Examination in 1988.

My memberships/positions include:

• Member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building
• Fellow of the Institute of Carpenters
• Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• Licentiate of the City & Guilds of London Institute
• Member of the Society of Construction law, TECBAR, the Association of Midland Mediators, the Dispute Review Board Foundation.

I am on the following panels:

• Arbitration: CIArb, TECBAR, DIAC, GIAC
• Adjudication: RICS, TeCSA, CIArb, CIOB, CIC, TECBAR, ACE (Founder Member), FIDIC, DRBF
• Dispute Boards: DRBF, FIDIC, TECBAR, RICS
• Mediation: RICS, CIArb, Bar Council, TECBAR, ADR Chambers, AMM.

I hold the following qualifications:

• Master of Laws LLM with Distinction
• LLB(Hons)
• Barrister
• Chartered Construction Manager
• Chartered Surveyor
• Chartered Arbitrator
• Fellow of the Institute of Carpenters
• Licentiate of the City & Guilds Institute