The BAY Difference...

Streamlined Arbitration and Mediation conducted by industry leading professionals at costs far less than traditional ADR is the BAY CONSTRUCTION ADR PROGRAM advantage.

The field of Alternative Dispute Resolution has developed to provide a cost and time effective substitute for litigation. Perhaps no industry has taken advantage more of the ADR system than the Construction Industry. Mediation, Arbitration, Project Neutrals and Dispute Resolution Boards are mainstays of the Construction Claim process.

Yet, the advantages of using traditional ADR methods in the Construction Industry to provide expeditious decisions, cost reduction, and control are being threatened by the increasing complexity and cost of the dispute resolution process itself.

What is needed is a new approach to the traditional Alternative Dispute Resolution methodology - a new form of ADR for construction cases.

A Real Alternative...

In response to the rising costs and increasing time needed for resolution of cases, BAY Mediation & Arbitration Services, LLC, in collaboration with one of the world's largest construction management and construction claims consulting firms, has developed an alternative process for the resolution of claims and disputes tailored specifically to the Construction Industry.

BAY is a leading provider of mediation, arbitration and neutral services to the legal community in the Southeast. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it has, for almost a decade, provided trained facilitators and decision makers to resolve claims as an alternative to trial. BAY was formed in order to offer reliable, professional and affordable mediation and arbitration services to a growing ADR market.

The BAY CONSTRUCTION ADR PROGRAM is based on the concept that to realize fully the potential for savings in time and costs, Construction ADR must be efficient and predictable in its processes and procedures. It must also be staffed by professionals who are knowledgeable in the industry and who have experience in the types of issues that arise in construction disputes. The process must be flexible, within the framework of predictable time and cost. It should minimize administrative costs, and the prospects for delay of the ultimate resolution.

Benefits of the BAY Program

The program, developed through the collaboration of BAY and the international construction consultancy firm addresses those goals through the use of defined procedures and rules. This process allows for the customization of the system to the needs of the parties and the project, as the ADR process should be a mechanism to expedite resolution of the dispute, not an impediment to the resolution.

To accomplish this mission, the BAY Construction ADR Program includes:

• A panel of professionals, who are
  • experienced and respected within the construction industry;
  • trained in ADR; and
  • dedicated to the construction industry.
• A defined process, which
  • relies for its framework on the Rules of Civil Procedures and the traditional concept of mediation and arbitration;
  • provides for a defined and agreed upon timetable; and
  • allows for inquiry into and disclosure of the background for each side of the issue, without an unduly formal discovery process.
• Predictable costs for Arbitration, consisting of.
  • No Initial Filing and Set Up Fee, regardless of the size of the dispute.
  • reasonable hearing fee per party/per hour
  • expenses (outside neutral experts, travel, hotel, meals) charged would be actual cost plus 10%
  • arbitrator hourly fees per hour/per arbitrator
  • elimination of "non professional" administrators, coordinators or buffers
  • availability of single and multi-arbitrator panels
  • neutral selected collaborative experts, where deemed appropriate by the parties

BAY Construction ADR Arbitration Program options:

• paper-filed arbitrations (no hearing - single arbitrator - bill by the hour)
• small claims up to $1,000.000.00 (single arbitrator - bill by the hour)
• mid-sized claims up to $3,000.000.00 (single or multi-panel arbitrator(s) -- bill by the hour per arbitrator)
• large or complex claims (three member panel - bill by the hour per arbitrator)
• mediation followed by arbitration - available for small, mid-sized and complex claims
• case evaluation alternatives
• mock summary trial presentations
• arbitrators who have tried construction cases

BAY Construction ADR Mediation Program options:

• mediation costs and fees (by the hour based on the number of parties)
• early neutral evaluation
• mediators who have tried and mediated construction cases

The BAY Mediation & Arbitration Construction ADR Program is designed to push the parties to an expedited and cost efficient resolution of the dispute. The mediators and arbitrators are leaders in the construction industry and understand and actively litigate the very issues presented in construction mediations and arbitrations. Having your construction dispute resolved at BAY will be Time Well Spent.