FIDIC glossary · Disputes
DAAB
Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board
In short
Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board — a standing body to avoid and resolve disputes; its decisions are binding with immediate effect.
What is a DAAB?
The DAAB (Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board) is a standing board for avoiding and resolving disputes, appointed for the whole duration of the project. In the 2017 editions it replaced the DAB, and the change is not only in the name: "avoidance" comes first on purpose.
A board of one or three members is constituted at the start, visits the site regularly, and already understands the context by the time a dispute arises. The parties can approach it informally — for assistance or an informal opinion — without starting a formal procedure. That is the avoidance function: most disagreements die where they have not yet become disputes.
If a dispute is formally referred, the DAAB decides within 84 days. The decision is binding with immediate effect, whether or not the parties agree with it. A dissatisfied party gives a Notice of Dissatisfaction within 28 days and preserves the right to arbitrate later — but it must comply and pay now.
The most common failure in practice is providing for a DAAB in the Contract Data and never constituting it. A board appointed once the dispute has arisen loses its main advantage: it does not know the project.
Where it sits in the contract
Related terms
Need this read against your own contract?
This explains how the mechanism works in the standard form. How it works in your contract, after the Particular Conditions, is a separate question.
Talk to an expert →A reference explanation of the FIDIC standard conditions. Not legal advice, and not a reproduction of the FIDIC books.