In the early 1980s, I was an arbitrator on a large trade dispute in China. One weekend while visiting the countryside outside of Beijing I took the opportunity to visit the ancient Ming Tombs. This is the general name given to the mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the necropolis of each of the many emperors. Because of its long history, the site has a high cultural and historic value. The layout and arrangement of all 13 mausoleums are very similar but vary in size as well as in the complexity of their structures. They are all in exemplary condition and, as the story goes, bricks were embedded with the signature of the brick maker and if any brick collapsed during the life of the brick maker, he would be found and beheaded. I was certain that the tombs were in as fine condition that day as they were when constructed. Needless to say this always struck me as one effective way to prevent shoddy construction. Over the years I have thought back to that visit and reflected on the various ways in which construction projects turn from one’s dream into reality and I have always marvelled at the fact that most construction projects, no matter how small, have a tendency to result in litigation. Litigation which in many instances ruins the project as well as the members of the construction team, and which tends to arise from small misunderstandings that grow out of proportion, many times inflamed by the very people hired to help resolve the process. In the 1980s, the process of dispute boards first developed on international projects and over the last 30 years it has been growing exponentially worldwide. As of today over US $250 billion worth of construction and other projects worldwide have successfully utilised dispute boards to prevent delay, avoid and/or resolve disputes as they arise and prevent little misunderstandings from turning into major disputes with the resultant litigation. The original purpose of this book was to introduce a text which could be used to further dispute boards internationally and to aid those who worked on and with them. In the early days of dispute boards, most dispute board members came from the ranks of arbitrators or adjudicators and utilised their own procedures and methods. Others who wanted to serve on dispute boards either learnt on the job or by attending what few courses there were on the subject. It is from this background that the idea for a book dealing specifically with dispute boards, the processes involved, the forms used and other details came into being. The intent is to show both the active practitioner as well as the novice what the dispute board process is all about; how it functions; what it takes; and to provide ‘real-world’ examples of the forms, reports, recommendations and decisions that occur on a day-to-day basis on dispute boards worldwide; however, any names used in examples and samples in this book are fictitious while the underlying facts are from real situations. I hope that the reader can make use of the information and that it enables the dispute board ‘revolution’ to spread, not just in the area of construction but into new fields and processes which can be rapidly adapted to its use.