Josh Levy
The construction industry is built on bold ideas. We imagine buildings that don’t yet exist, create extraordinary feats of engineering, and bring together a complex network of stakeholders to execute them with precision, despite tight budgets, labor shortages, and changing schedules. Yet for all our ambition, an outdated belief continues to hold us back: that disputes are just part of the business.
It’s time to challenge that mindset. An industry plagued with claims, litigation and fractured relationships is not inevitable. We believe that the future can and should be defined by zero disputes and stronger relationships. This vision is not just aspirational; it is possible and necessary.
A lesson in safety culture
Construction did not always have a strong safety culture. It took decades of intentional change reinforced by leadership, policy and front-line commitment for safety to become a core industry value. Today, safety is built into every pre-task meeting, obsessively tracked, and publicly celebrated. While we haven’t reached zero incidents, this audacious goal has led to massive improvements in both results and culture.
Imagine if we brought that same energy to decision-making, risk communication and project alignment. What if we treated disputes like we treat injuries: as red flags, not as inevitable?
The real cost of disputes
Once a construction dispute arises, the parties involved may find themselves wondering what the best course of action is. Disputes can be lengthy, damaging to a contractor’s reputation or damaging to the relationship between the contractor and the client.
Claims can cost both parties and end up disrupting the entire project. In my previous life as a construction attorney, I saw firsthand how disputes waste time, erode trust, and divert resources from construction. These were operational failures that left everyone worse off.
This lived experience is backed up by Arcadis’ 2025 Global Construction Dispute Report, which found the average value of a construction dispute in the US to be $60.1 million. Additionally, the average duration of a dispute in North America is about 12.5 months, which represents a significant amount of time that could seriously slow down project progress and funding.
Those numbers alone should stop us in our tracks, but what’s more concerning is the root cause: Arcadis cites that one of the most common contributors to disputes is “the inability to understand and/or meet the contractual obligations” of project stakeholders. Not malice. not fraud no Just a misunderstanding and a lack of clear decision-making frameworks when the pressure is high. This is where change must begin.
Today, most dispute resolution procedures are an afterthought for contractors who focus on scope and price. However, it only takes one bad experience to take dispute resolution more seriously.
Proactive risk management
When we first set out to tackle these issues, our focus at Document Crunch was simple: help people understand what their contracts actually say. However, we quickly realized that awareness alone is not enough.
In construction, things will go sideways. Weather, inflation, pandemics, supply chain shocks, these variables are often beyond anyone’s control. The real difference lies in how teams respond. That’s where the breakdown often occurs, not in the event itself, but in the cascade of decisions, assumptions, and communications that follow.
If the industry is to move toward less litigation, we must move beyond reactive problem solving and toward proactive risk management. That means teams need real-time clarity, shared understanding, and a way to stay aligned throughout the project lifecycle, not just at the beginning.
Our vision is zero disputes, because every conflict avoided means stronger relationships, time savings and cost control. As with security, targeting zero sets the standard. It pushes us to put the right tools, knowledge and behaviors in place from day one. While disputes may still occur, we treat each one as avoidable and are committed to building a culture where zero is simply how we do business.
The construction sector has demonstrated its ability to evolve. It has embraced digital workflows, modularization and security protocols that once seemed radical. Now is the time to take the next step: embed alignment as a core value and treat clarity as a primary indicator of success.
Just as the idea of wearing metal helmets was unthinkable in the early 20th century, the notion of “zero disputes” might seem far-fetched today. However, hard hats eventually became standard. Security protocols evolve and what once felt radical became second nature.
The way forward begins with the collective belief that better results are possible when we plan for alignment, communicate clearly, and hold ourselves accountable for not only what gets built, but how we build it together.
Josh Levy is co-founder and CEO of Document Crunch, an AI-powered construction document review company, and an ENR 2024 News Maker.
