A few years ago, I had the pleasure of speaking about the Conflict Avoidance Pledge to an audience of government and industry representatives. There were around 40-50 people in the room. I spoke for 20 minutes using only three slides, one of which included the wording of the Pledge. Then I took questions.
The first question came from a delegate in the back of the room, who was Director of a large UK based infrastructure group. He asked: “why should I sign the Pledge”. In the briefest moment, before I could begin to think on and formulate an answer, another delegate quickly retorted: “why wouldn’t you”?
When you sign the Pledge, you are saying that you, and the business or organisation you represent, are committed to proactively avoiding conflict and initiating early resolution of emerging disputes.
Being a Pledge signatory indicates that you are a good business or organisation to work with, or for. It is not just a good marketing message it is a statement that you are genuinely committed to avoiding expensive and time-consuming disputes.
Signing the Pledge is not a “magic bullet”. It is inevitable that people and businesses will sometimes disagree with other people and businesses. The construction industry has a long track record of disagreements between employers and suppliers. Disputes devour profit and constitute a major reason why projects end up costing far more than they were originally priced. In fact, the financial cost of disputes in the construction industry is measured in £billions.
So, signing the Pledge does not mean that you cannot, or will not, disagree with another party. It simply demonstrates that you will try to avoid getting embroiled in needless conflict. It also means that, when differences of opinion do arise, you will work collaboratively to resolve those differences and try to prevent matters descending into inordinately slow and costly litigation, arbitration or similar process.
And my answer now to anyone who asks: “why should I sign the Pledge,” is an echo. “Why wouldn’t you”?
Martin Burns
Head of ADR Research and Development, RICS
26 August 2025