Chapter
337
2005 -- S 0631
Enacted 07/19/05
A N A C T
RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ARBITRATION
Introduced By: Senators Ruggerio, McCaffrey, Felag, Gallo, and Connors
Date Introduced: February 10, 2005
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Section 37-16-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-16 entitled "Public
Works
Arbitration" is hereby amended to read as follows:
37-16-2.
Contract provision for arbitration. -- (a) A provision in a written
contract
executed
on or after January 1, 1962, for the construction, alteration, repair, or
painting of any
public
building, sewer, highway, bridge, water treatment or disposal projects one
party to which
is the
state, a city, a town, or an authority, a board, a public corporation, or any
similar body
created
by statute or ordinance or any committee, agency, or subdivision of any of
them, to settle
by
arbitration any dispute or claim arising out of or concerning the performance
or interpretation
of the
contract shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon grounds
existing in law or
equity
for the revocation of the contract.
(b) (1) Every contract for the construction, alteration, repair, painting, or
demolition of
any
public building, sewer, water treatment or disposal project, highway, or bridge
one party to
which is
the state, a city, a town, or an authority, a board, a public corporation, or
any similar
body
created by statute or ordinance or any committee, agency, or subdivision of any
of them
which
has a contract price of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more and which is
executed on or
after
July 1, 1967, shall contain a provision for arbitration of disputes and claims
arising out of or
concerning
the performance or interpretation of the contract as follows:
(2) "All claims, disputes, and other matters in question arising out of or
relating to this
contract
or the performance or interpretation thereof shall be submitted to arbitration.
Arbitration
shall be
commenced by a demand in writing made by one party to the contract upon the
other
within a
reasonable time after the dispute, claim, or other matter in question arose but
in no event
after
payment in full of the contract price has been made and accepted. The written
demand shall
contain
a statement of the question to be arbitrated and a detailed statement of each
item or matter
in
dispute and the name of the arbitrator appointed by that party. The other party
to the contract
within
ten (10) days of the receipt of the written demand shall appoint an arbitrator
and give
notice
in writing thereof to the party who commenced arbitration. The two (2)
arbitrators
appointed
by the parties shall within ten (10) days of the date of the appointment of the
second
arbitrator
select a third arbitrator who shall be designated as chairperson and who
immediately
shall
give written notice to the parties of his or her appointment. The third
arbitrator shall select a
time,
date, and place for hearing and give each party five (5) days notice in writing
thereof. The
date for
hearing shall not be more than fifteen (15) days after the date of appointment
of the third
arbitrator.
The award shall be made promptly by the arbitrators and, unless otherwise
agreed by
the
parties or specified by law, no later than thirty (30) days from the date of
closing the hearing,
or, if
oral hearings have been waived, from the date of the transmittal of the final
statements and
proofs
to the arbitrators. The award shall be in writing and shall be signed by a
majority of the
arbitrators.
It shall be executed in the manner required by law. The arbitrator shall
provide a
written
explanation of the reasoning for the award. In the event the party of whom
arbitration is
demanded
shall fail to appoint his or her arbitrator within the time specified or the
two (2)
arbitrators
appointed by the parties are unable to agree on an appointment of the third
arbitrator
within
the time specified, either party may petition the presiding justice of the superior
court to
appoint
a single arbitrator who shall hear the parties and make an award as provided
herein. The
petitioner
shall give five (5) days notice in writing to the other party before filing his
or her
petition."
(c) Because this section applies to highways and bridges, arbitration of
claims below the
sum
of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) shall be mandatory and arbitration
of claims for
one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or more shall be undertaken only with the
consent of all
parties
to the arbitration and in the event all the parties do not consent then any
claim against the
state
shall proceed as set forth in section 37-13.1-1.
(c) Any dispute involving claims less than one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000) and
associated
with construction of a highway or bridge as referred to in subsection (b) shall
be
submitted
to arbitration. Any dispute involving claims of one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000)
or more and associated with construction of a highway or bridge as referred to
in
subsection
(b) shall only be arbitrated with the consent of the parties. If the parties
fail to consent
to
arbitration and the state of Rhode Island is a party to the dispute, then the
claim will proceed in
accordance
with section 37-13.1-1.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term "claims" shall not
mean the aggregate
amount
sought under the contract or in the arbitration, but shall refer specifically
to each item or
matter
in dispute for which additional compensation is sought or for each item for
which a credit
is
sought.
(e) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or (b) of this section, if any contract
except for
highway
and bridge contracts provides for an arbitration procedure, and a method of
appointment
of an arbitrator
or arbitrators, that method shall be followed instead of the method provided in
subsection
(b) of this section.
(f) This section shall apply to all written contracts executed on or after
January 1, 1986.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00326
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