Strategic support for construction arbitration and dispute boards
Equitas supports clients engaged in arbitration, adjudication and dispute board processes arising from construction and engineering projects. We provide technically grounded, contractually informed and commercially aware support from early dispute assessment through to submissions, expert coordination and hearing preparation.
We work with contractors, employers and legal counsel on complex international construction disputes.
Dispute resolution support
for complex project matters
Formal dispute processes in construction projects require more than technical analysis alone. They demand coordinated understanding of the contract, the project history, the evidential record, the procedural forum and the strategic objectives of the party involved. Equitas assists clients in navigating that intersection.
Metehan Caglar Sonbahar has been appointed as a Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB) and Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Board (DAAB) member under the FIDIC suite on international infrastructure projects. He has also been appointed as arbitrator in construction-related proceedings. This first-hand experience of sitting as a neutral decision-maker directly informs the quality and focus of our dispute support advisory work.
We are particularly well placed to assist on international construction disputes involving the FIDIC Red Book, Yellow Book and Silver Book, where delay, quantum, variation, entitlement and contract administration issues often need to be integrated into a single structured position.
“Disputes are rarely won by analysis in isolation. They are resolved through disciplined integration of facts, contract, evidence and strategy.”
Our contribution is to bring structure and clarity to technically complex matters, so that project events, entitlement issues and evidential support are presented in a form that assists decision-makers and strengthens the client’s overall position.
Support across arbitration
and dispute boards
Our services are designed to support parties and legal teams through the practical and analytical demands of formal construction dispute processes.
Arbitration Support
Support to parties and legal teams in construction arbitrations, including technical review, contractual analysis, chronology development, claim and defence support, evidential organisation and coordination of delay and quantum inputs across ICC, LCIA, DIAC, ISTAC, ICSID, UNCITRAL and ad hoc proceedings.
Dispute Board Support
Advisory support in Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB) and Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Board (DAAB) contexts, including assistance with referrals, responses, supporting material, contractual framing and presentation of technical issues suited to dispute avoidance and adjudication processes under FIDIC.
FIDIC Dispute Advisory
Specialist support on disputes arising under the FIDIC suite — Red Book, Yellow Book and Silver Book — including entitlement, Sub-Clause 20 claims procedures, Engineer determinations, DAAB/DAB issues and the interaction between contract administration and formal dispute processes.
Claims and Response Preparation
Preparation and review of claims, referral documents, responses, rebuttal materials and other dispute submissions, ensuring that technical, contractual and evidential points are presented in a coherent and properly supported manner.
Expert Coordination
Coordination of delay, quantum and technical expert inputs to ensure consistency between underlying analysis, contractual theory and overall dispute strategy — particularly important where multiple expert disciplines are engaged across complex international proceedings.
Hearing and Strategy Support
Assistance with hearing preparation, issue mapping, cross-reference of evidential materials, witness and expert coordination and broader strategy support in technically dense construction disputes.
How we support
formal dispute proceedings
Initial dispute assessment
We begin by reviewing the contract, the project background, the key disputed events and the procedural context to identify the principal issues, likely strengths and areas of evidential vulnerability.
Issue structuring and record review
We organise the dispute into clear issue streams, supported by targeted review of correspondence, programmes, cost records, instructions and contemporaneous documents relevant to the claims or defences.
Integration of technical and contractual positions
Delay, quantum and contractual issues are rarely self-contained. We ensure that the analytical work, contractual theory and factual narrative support one another rather than developing in isolation.
Submission, referral and hearing support
We assist with the preparation of claims, referrals, responses and hearing materials in a form appropriate to the forum — with attention to clarity, sequence, evidential support and procedural practicality.
Early board engagement with emphasis on avoiding escalation where appropriate.
Structured preparation of referral materials, evidence and issue framing for DAB and DAAB proceedings.
Review of the opposing position and preparation of disciplined, well-structured responses.
Referrals, responses and expert coordination within the compressed timeframes adjudication demands.
Procedure alone does not resolve disputes. Structured substance does.
In construction disputes, parties often have large volumes of project material but insufficient structure in the way the issues are developed and presented. Our role is to help convert technical complexity into a disciplined dispute position.
That means aligning facts, entitlement, time, cost and forum strategy in a way that supports negotiation, board proceedings, adjudication or arbitration without losing sight of the realities of project delivery.
Having sat as both arbitrator and DAB member, Metehan understands what decision-makers need — and structures dispute support accordingly.
Appointed as arbitrator,
adjudicator and board member
Metehan Caglar Sonbahar accepts appointments as arbitrator, adjudicator and dispute board member in construction and engineering disputes, bringing the same analytical rigour and contractual discipline to neutral roles as to advisory work.
Sole Arbitrator
Metehan accepts appointments as sole arbitrator in construction and engineering disputes. His dual qualification in civil engineering and construction law, combined with extensive project and claims experience, provides the technical and legal foundation for well-reasoned determinations in technically complex matters.
Dispute Board Appointments
Appointed as DAB member under FIDIC 1999 (Red, Yellow and Silver Books) and DAAB member under FIDIC 2017 Red Book, across major international infrastructure projects.
Adjudicator — Public Contracts
Metehan accepts adjudicator appointments in disputes arising under public contracts, bringing understanding of procurement frameworks, public contract administration and the specific entitlement and valuation issues that arise in public sector construction projects.
“Having sat as arbitrator, adjudicator and dispute board member, I understand what decision-makers need — and that understanding directly informs both our neutral appointments and our dispute support advisory work.”
Experience as a neutral enriches our advisory practice. Understanding how arbitrators and board members approach evidence, assess credibility and reason through technical issues makes our dispute support work more focused and more useful to the parties and legal teams we assist.
Need support on an arbitration or dispute board matter?
Contact Equitas to discuss the dispute, the procedural context and the technical or contractual support required for your case.