Arbitration costs query

deekhay

Hi All - just wondered if any house purchasers had experience of arbitration process with a developer and how much did it cost?

We are in a fairly strong position regarding our house and a broken contract. Underfloor heating was specified in our contract and they stuck in normal radiators without telling us. Its all in now and a concrete floor in place where there should be screed underfloor heating.

Looks like we may need to initiate arbitration because the developer is not playing ball. Whats the worst case scenario on cost? I understand we need to split it between us and developer.

NUTLEY BOY

Basically, see arbitration as being like to normal civil litigation. Many of the practices and principles are identical. Arbitration is intended to be a bit less formal but you still need to comply with required standards of evidence and so on as arbitration is not a soft option.

As far as cost is concerned the practical thing to do is to approach a solicitor to obtain an indication of the likely work involved and also ask for an estimate of the likely costs involved.

What is unclear is if this is a voluntary arbitration proposal as between the contracting parties or if this is a mandatory arbitration arising from the terms of the contract which ousts the jurisdiction of the courts i.e. a Scott -v- Avery clause. If the latter, you need to see if there are already potential hazards in terms of the indicated basis of any arbitration and any mention of liability to costs.