No, but we recommend all delegates have a basic understanding of English and English reading.
DRS Training Courses
Dispute Resolution Programme for Advisers and Party Representatives
Thu 22 May 2025 – Thu 17 Jul 2025 • 13:00 - 16:00 CUT • 13 Hours Formal CPD
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From £325 + VAT
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Gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to act as a dispute adviser and party representative. This structured learning programme equips professionals with the expertise required to advise clients and represent parties effectively across various dispute resolution processes.
Delivered through three modules, this programme provides a practical understanding of dispute resolution procedures, the role and responsibilities of an adviser and a party representative, preparing you for real-world practice.
What is the role of an adviser or party representative?
A dispute adviser provides strategic guidance to clients involved in disputes, ensuring they understand their rights, obligations, and the dispute resolution processes available.
A party representative takes a more active role by managing and advocating for their client’s case, from initial advice through to presenting their position in formal dispute resolution settings.
This programme prepares professionals to act in both capacities, ensuring they can navigate disputes effectively and support their clients throughout the resolution process.
The RICS Dispute Resolution Programme for Advisers and Party Representatives is designed for professionals who advise or represent clients in disputes within the built environment.
This course is suitable for professionals working in a variety of sectors including:
- Construction and engineering
- Valuation
- Legal and consultancy services
- Contract and project management
- Rural and environmental
- Real estate and property management
Common professional backgrounds include:
- Chartered Surveyors
- Quantity Surveyors
- Construction and Commercial Managers
- Claims Consultants
- Legal professionals with a focus on dispute resolution
Our faculty consists of experienced construction and valuation specialists who will tailor the programme to meet the specific needs of each delegate group.
This programme is also valuable for experienced practitioners looking to offer advisory or party representation services.
Why choose RICS as your training provider?
The RICS Dispute Resolution Programme for Advisers and Party Representatives is a qualification that equips professionals with the skills to advise clients and manage disputes effectively.
Completing this programme allows you to:
- Develop specialist skills in dispute resolution.
- Gain practical, real-world expertise delivered by experienced dispute resolution professionals.
- Develop your ability to advise and represent clients in a range of dispute resolution processes.
- Progress towards RICS Accredited Dispute Adviser and Party Representative status by completing all three modules.
RICS training is built on industry-leading standards, ensuring you gain knowledge and skills aligned with professional best practices.
The programme is delivered in three modules, covering:
Module 1: Introduction to Dispute Resolution and Advisory Roles (5 weeks – 13 CPD hours)
- Overview of dispute resolution methods – adjudication, arbitration, mediation, and litigation
- The role of advisers and party representatives in different dispute resolution processes
- Judicial rules and professional standards – including evidence, procedure, and conflicts of interest
- RICS Professional Statement and Guidance on dispute resolution
Module 2: Early-Stage Dispute Resolution and Case Preparation (10 weeks – 20 CPD hours)
- Advising clients from the early stages of a dispute
- Strategies for dispute avoidance, management, and resolution
- Client preparation for formal dispute resolution procedures
- Scenario-based group exercises with live feedback
Module 3: Party Representation and Case Management (10 weeks – 28 CPD hours)
- Acting as a professional representative or case manager in formal dispute resolution settings
- Managing case administration, timetabling, and procedure
- Introduction to advocacy in dispute resolution
- Final assessment: Written submission and viva-style interview discussion
The programme is a structured, online learning experience designed for practical engagement.
Participants will engage in:
- Live interactive webinars, covering key dispute resolution principles and case studies.
- Pre-recorded lectures
- Scenario-based group exercises with feedback from experienced practitioners.
- Written assignments and assessments to evaluate knowledge and application.
To help you plan effectively, you’ll need to allocate time for:
- Course reading/materials – reviewing key dispute resolution principles and legal frameworks.
- Case preparation exercises – applying knowledge to dispute scenarios collaborating with your course peers.
- Final assessment preparation – written submission and viva-style interview.
What do you receive after completing the course?
Completing the RICS Dispute Resolution Programme for Advisers and Party Representatives demonstrates your expertise in advising and representing parties in dispute resolution.
Here’s what you gain:
- Module Completion Certificate - following a multiple choice test in Module 1.
- RICS Completion Certificate – after completing Modules 2 and 3, recognising your achievement in the full programme.
- Pathway to Accreditation – successful completion of all three modules allows you to progress towards RICS Accredited Dispute Adviser and Party Representative status. Note: You may need to complete a short professionalism module before achieving this status.
Please be aware that to retain Accredited status, you will need to go through reassessment every 5 years. A fee will apply for this reassessment.
The assessment process ensures participants develop the practical skills and theoretical knowledge required to advise and represent clients effectively.
What to Expect
- Module 1: Multiple-choice test covering key dispute resolution principles.
- Module 2: Participation in scenario-based group exercises.
- Module 3: Written assignment and viva-style interview discussion.
To successfully complete the full programme, participants must pass all module assessments.
Resitting assessments
If you’re unsuccessful in an assessment, you can resit with the next cohort. Resits will incur a fee to be determined.
This robust assessment process ensures you develop the necessary competencies and meet RICS’s high professional standards.
David R Parratt KC FCIArb
David R Parratt is a King’s Counsel who specialises in the conduct of complex, high-value, international commercial litigation and arbitration. He is qualified in both Scotland and England & Wales. He has extensive experience in handling disputes arising from long-term commercial relationships and construction projects across a range of industries, including energy and natural resources, and other infrastructure, manufacturing, ship-building and aviation. He has been Counsel on cases involving projects and other assets in the United Kingdom, Asia, Canada and the Middle East often requiring expert evidence. He has also been appointed as an arbitrator in institutional and ad hoc arbitrations. David frequently appears in London High Court cases in high value commercial actions. He has a lot of adjudication experience. He is CEDR mediation accredited and is involved in commercial mediations. David is also an Honorary Professor in the University of Aberdeen, where he teaches international arbitration and dispute resolution generally.
Philip Meade FRICS
Philip qualified as a rural chartered surveyor in 1992 and became a Fellow of the RICS in 2016. He has appeared as advocate in over 250 rural arbitrations, Agricultural land tribunals and public inquiries. He was appointed to the panel of Rural Arbitrators by the President of the RICS in 2009 and the CAAV panel in 2020 and worked closely with the CAAV in helping develop their new Dispute Resolution service. He is one of only about 25 rural arbitrators on the panel in England and Wales. He is the author of the current RICS Guidance Note on Rural Arbitration and the RICS Professional Statement on Conflicts of Interest for Dispute Resolvers He is also one of the three committee members that run Rural Arbrix and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He speaks regularly to farming groups as well as speaking at RICS and CAAV conferences He has appeared as an expert witness in the High Court and Lands Tribunal (now Upper Tier Tribunal) and has advised private clients, corporate clients and Government on dispute resolution issues, including being invited to 10 Downing Street in November 2015 to advise on dispute resolution in the planning sector.
Shy Jackson
Shy is a partner at the London office of BCLP, an international law firm. His practice covers advising on construction and engineering projects in the UK and abroad and acting for clients across a range of contentious matters. His experience covers adjudication, arbitration and court proceedings as well as various forms of ADR and mediation. Shy is a current member of the NEC Contract Board, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors. Shy has written extensively on various construction law related issues and often speaks at industry events, as well as delivering training for the RICS. He is also a Visiting Fellow (Construction Law) at King's College Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution.
Jonathan Pawlowski
Jonathan is a solicitor and partner at Howard Kennedy LLP and specialises in issues relating to or arising from the construction, engineering, and infrastructure industries. This includes traditional construction claims such as extensions of time, loss and expense, structural defects, and ground works, and extends to professional negligence claims concerning construction industry specialists and issues over insurance cover. Jonathan has obtained Higher Rights of Audience in all Courts of England and Wales and has conducted litigation in the Technology & Construction Court, the Court of Appeal, and several Arbitrations. He has also been involved in many Mediations. Jonathan has vast experience of Adjudications, including drafting Notices of Adjudication, Referrals, and Responses. He has also appeared as advocate in numerous hearings before Adjudicators which have involved cross-examination of witnesses and opening and closing submissions. In addition, Jonathan sits regularly as an Adjudicator, and is a member of the RICS Panel of Construction Adjudicators. Jonathan also practices non-contentious construction law advising on building contracts, professional appointments, and the security provided by construction documents for institutional lenders. This includes drafting, amending, and negotiating all forms of construction contracts to include main contracts, sub-contracts, collateral warranties, third party rights, bonds and guarantees and bespoke construction contracts and terms and conditions of business. Jonathan is a member and past Chair of the Society of Construction Law, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and member of the Technology and Construction Solicitors Association, the Adjudication Society, the Society of Construction Arbitrators, the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, and Arbrix.
Paul Moorcroft
Paul stepped down as a partner at Eversheds Sutherland in 2023. During his 20 years at Eversheds he undertook a number of different roles; he was part of the litigation practice group's senior management team and was head of the UK's largest real estate disputes team for over a decade. In later years he was also given charge of the firm's construction team and then subsequently he became the head of the firm's global consumer sector. Paul has specialised in all types of complex property related disputes for over 30 years. He is still reasonably active as a legal practitioner and he has a particular interest and expertise of dilapidations and rent review cases. He has been recognised as a leading individual in both the main legal directories (Legal 500 and Chambers) for over 15 years and he is still ranked as a top property disputes lawyer in the West Midlands. In recent times those legal directories have quoted Paul as being "a leading light in real estate litigation", "a great litigator with a fair and friendly manner" and as "exercising excellent judgement in a quiet and pleasant way". He is also a qualified CEDR mediator, and was the first solicitor appointed to the Arbrix committee (the UK's leading rent review experts).
“A good overview of dispute resolution methods and procedures and related legal method. Laid firm foundations for more detailed training in DR advisory and party representation roles.”
Wendy Coggan
Director, Coggan Associates
“ thought the overall content was really interesting, and the lecturers engaging and able to give good insights into the practicalities of working in the dispute resolution environment with excellent examples of real life cases they had been involved in.”
Anonymous
Module |
RICS Member |
Non-RICS Member |
|---|---|---|
Module 1 Starts TBC |
£ 325 +VAT |
£ 350 +VAT |
Module 2 Starts TBC |
£ 525 +VAT |
£ 575 +VAT |
Module 3 Starts TBC |
£ 795 +VAT |
£ 825 +VAT |
For your business
Equip your team with specialist dispute resolution skills. Our RICS Dispute Resolution Programme for Advisers and Party Representatives provides structured training tailored to professionals advising and representing clients in disputes.
Group Discounts
Book three or more places on the same module and receive a 5% discount.
Contact Us
To discuss training options for your employees or to take advantage of group discounts, contact our dedicated training support team:
Email: drstraining@rics.org
Call: +44 (0) 2476868584
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