Dispute Avoidance

The assumption that recognising the objectives of collaborative working provides people with an understanding of the processes that enable them to implement it is fundamentally flawed.

Trust is a pre-requisite to the attainment of successful relational contracting outcomes.  Much is spoken of the need for trust in collaborative working arrangements yet little of it exists in the construction industry today (or ever did).

Modern forms of contract seek to embody collaborative working principles within contractual relationships in the form of a "spirit of mutual trust and cooperation".  However, many Clients seek to take advantage of lower tender prices when market conditions harden and contractors when they rise.  Either way the benefits gained through strategic partnering arrangements common at the turn of the century have been lost. in 2025  What is required is a means of consistently achieving lowest price on individual projects whilst preserving the benefits that collaborative contracting  brings.

ROPE Management stands for "Right Outcomes in Project Environments".  If a project can "Start Right,  Stay Right and End Right" then the expectations of all project participants are more likely to be met.

Rope Management is an enhancement to project activity applicable to both lump sum and design and build contracts as well as being implicit in relational contracting.  We help you to unlock the value beyond the contract.  Rope Management is part of our Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Toolbox and comprises a suite of tools that together deliver the best that collaborative working and dispute avoidance has to offer within today's increasingly price conscious market.

The Rope Management toolkit comprises:

1. The CINDAR Guide to Collaborative Working - a "how to" guide in the use of the tools.
2. A Communications Plan template - to guide the collaborative effort and ensure clear, open lines of communication are maintained.
3. A Risk Management template - to identify, evaluate and manage risks in a pro-active manner so that costs can be predicted with greater confidence.
4.  A Value Management template - to drive out waste on the project and introduce lean thinking to the construction process.
5. The Project Pricing Mechanism - to fairly apportion between the contracting parties those cost savings made against the approved budget through improved procurement effort.
6. The Relationship Monitor - to measure the state of the underlying project dynamic and identify potential for disputation.
7. The Project Mediation Rules - to quickly and cost effectively resolve conflict and keep relationships on track.  (These may easily be converted into Project Adjudication Rules where greater certainty is required.)

Rope Management products and services are available from our on-line store.  You must purchase at least the Rope Management Core Documentation (Step 1) prior to registering your project on-line with us (Step 2). 

You start by using the Core Documentation within your own team environment.  A self assessment planning worksheet is included to help you deploy the Rope Management principles.  A free "how-to" video is also available in the use of each of the Rope Management tools.

A 30 minute facilitation meeting is then arranged on-line to review your plan and get you under way.

Where your project team needs assistance in making collaborative working a success, CINDAR offers periodic facilitation workshops which can be optionally purchased and used at any time.   It is not necessary (nor is it desirable)  for these sessions to be regular (e.g., monthly) but are used whenever the project team feels it needs a "mid-course correction" or the relationship monitor signifies that some assistance is required.

Whenever an issue arises that may result in conflict or disputation,  a CINDAR is always on hand to listen and guide the parties through a conflict avoidance process based on project mediation.  Alternatively, this can become a project adjudication process where certainty of outcome is desired.  The use of CINDAR to provide these services is mandatory and forms part of the licence arrangement for use of the Rope Management Toolkit. 

STEP 1: Purchase Rope Management   STEP 2: Register your Project