Flexible continuing capability.
Useful where the parties want one professional familiar with the project and able to activate different agreed roles over time.
APPOINTMENT / PROJECT NEUTRAL SYSTEM
Give a long project independent capability before every issue becomes a claim.
A Project Neutral System is the operating architecture for standing or early Neutral capability across a live project. It can use a Standing Neutral, Dispute Board, early Neutral Evaluation, facilitation or another contractually supported function. The system defines appointment timing, project familiarisation, routine information, issue awareness, formal activation or referral, outputs, fees, conflicts, replacement and how the Neutral remains independent from project management, engineer, contract administrator and legal advisers.
PROJECT FLOW
Appoint.
Learn project.
See issue early.
Choose function.
Act.
Record.
Continue.
ROUTINE PROJECT INFO
CONTEXT
EARLY ISSUE
AWARENESS
FORMAL ACTIVATION
ROLE / REFERRAL
OUTPUT
MANDATE-CONTROLLED
PROJECT NEUTRAL ARCHITECTURE
The project should know whether it is creating continuity, contractual decision authority or both.
Contractual standing or project-specific Board.
Use where the underlying contract defines constitution, referral process and the legal or contractual effect of the Board's output.
Independent view on one emerging issue.
Can help parties or project decision-makers test positions without automatically converting the issue into formal determination.
Interface and stakeholder process.
Useful where multiple teams, contractors, authorities or consortium members need structured movement rather than a decision.
Defined expert question.
Use only where the contract or valid later agreement creates the authority and effect required for Expert Determination.
Keep project authority visible.
The Neutral does not become project manager, engineer, certifier, supervisor or legal adviser simply because they stay informed.
THE PROJECT SHOULD KNOW THE NEUTRAL BEFORE THE NEUTRAL NEEDS TO KNOW THE DISPUTE
Routine familiarity can reduce ramp-up time and procedural friction when an issue arrives.
That familiarity should remain proportionate and should never create an unspoken obligation to supervise project performance or discover every risk.
PROJECT SYSTEM DESIGNER
Choose the project architecture and generate an operating model.
Project issue register
| Issue | Stage | Neutral function | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample interface issue | Early awareness | Not activated | Monitor |
PROJECT SYSTEM TESTS
Standing project capability should reduce conflict friction without creating new authority confusion.
The Neutral begins commenting routinely on project management decisions.
Return to the mandate. Familiarity should not become informal supervision or project advice unless a separate professional role has been deliberately created.
Every early issue notice is treated as a formal contractual referral.
Separate awareness from formal activation where the contract permits. Early visibility loses value if it automatically escalates every concern.
The parties use one professional for mediation and later binding determination without review.
Pause for consent, confidentiality and conflicts analysis. Sequential project roles can create serious fairness questions.
The project assumes a Dispute Board output is enforceable because the website says "decision".
Contract and governing law control effect. Align the protocol with the real project clause and applicable rules.
PROJECT SYSTEM MINIMUM
Six elements should be designed before the first issue is activated.
ARCHITECTURE
Standing Neutral, Dispute Board or another route is clear.
FAMILIARITY
Routine information is proportionate.
AWARENESS
Early issue visibility is distinguished from referral.
ACTIVATION
The requested function is explicit.
AUTHORITY
Project roles remain visible.
CONFLICTS / REPLACEMENT
Continuing independence has a route.
PROFESSIONAL DISCOVERY
Current public professional records
Only currently published professional records are shown.
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Florham Park, United States
Jeffrey Lorell
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationReal Estate and Property DisputesConstructionEngineering and Infrastructure Disputes
Published record: Jeff Lorell has devoted his professional career to the litigation and resolution of sophisticated, complex, civil cases and alternate dispute resolution proceedings. Mr. Lorell is a Certified Professional Mediator by…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Kuwait City, Kuwait
Emad Hendawy
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationevaluationBanking and Finance
Published record: Literature and research: the effectiveness of international humanitarian law in armed conflict to protect civilians in 2013. The role of the court in the Egyptian Commercial Arbitration Act 2014. legal…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Lisbon, Portugal
Jose Alves-Pereira
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationBanking and Finance
Published record: International arbitrator, mediator and special advisor of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) the international division of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). International arbitrator of the ICC ( International…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Paris, France
Ana Gerdau de Borja
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationAviationBanking and FinanceEducation
Published record: Ana Gerdau de Borja Mercereau is a lawyer specializing in international arbitration, mediation and dispute boards. Admitted to the Brazilian Bar in 2006 and to the Portuguese Bar in 2008,…
PROJECT ROUTES
Move from system design into the project-specific instrument.
PROJECT
Independent capability should be designed into long relationships before strain hardens.
CONTEXT
Project familiarity makes later intervention faster and more grounded.
AUTHORITY
The project contract still decides who may direct, certify, determine and enforce.
PROJECT NEUTRAL ARCHITECTURE
Project continuity is useful only when familiarisation, activation and authority remain distinct.
A repeatable appointment architecture is useful only if it clarifies internal administration without absorbing the professional function itself.
PROJECT
What must keep moving?
Programme, procurement, construction, commissioning, technology delivery or operations may require decisions long before final contractual liability is resolved.
ARCHITECTURE
What kind of independent capability is intended?
Standing Neutral, Dispute Board, one-off evaluation, determination, facilitation or mediation carry different continuity and authority.
ACTIVATION
How does an issue become live?
Early awareness, informal discussion and formal referral should be distinguishable so routine familiarity does not become accidental decision authority.
BOUNDARY
What remains with project roles?
Project management, engineering, certification, supervision and contract administration should remain with the authorised project actors.
ACTIVATION PATH
Create the independent route before the live issue forces everyone to improvise.
The strongest appointment systems make role, authority, information and review points explicit before a live matter tests them.
OPERATING PATH
Create early independent capability without turning every issue into a formal dispute.
The project system should preserve continuity and speed while remaining precise about when a Neutral is merely familiar, actively engaged or formally determining a question.
01
Choose the project architecture before the first crisis
Decide whether the project needs Standing Neutral capability, a contractual Dispute Board, one-off expert routes or a combination.
02
Write familiarisation and information rules
Define what the professional receives during quiet periods and what does not count as a formal referral.
03
Create a clear activation mechanism
Each live issue should identify the question, role, authority, evidence, timing and intended output.
04
Protect role separation
Mediation, evaluation and binding determination should not be mixed merely because the same professional knows the project.
05
Keep project authority visible
Engineer, certifier, project manager, employer and contractor should retain their own contractual and technical responsibilities.
06
Record issue closure and learning
Preserve the process trail and useful non-confidential learning without turning the Neutral into a continuing project manager.
PROJECT AUTHORITY BOUNDARY
A Neutral should not silently become project manager, engineer, certifier or decision-maker.
The system should govern access, records and process while protecting professional independence and retained institutional authority.
THE SYSTEM CAN GOVERN
Continuity, early issue handling and defined activation.
- Standing Neutral familiarisation.
- Neutral Evaluation of emerging issues.
- Expert Determination where validly created.
- Facilitation or mediation of project strain.
- Clear issue activation and closure records.
THE SYSTEM MUST NOT CONTROL
Project, engineering or contractual authority.
- Not project management.
- Not engineer or certifier unless separately appointed.
- Not automatic contractual decision authority.
- Not a guarantee that a website-described output is enforceable.
- Not free to combine advisory and determinative roles without review.
PROFESSIONAL DISCOVERY
Project context can narrow discovery; contractual authority must still be verified.
Dispute Board experience should not be inferred from general project, mediation or Neutral standing. The exact project role and contractual authority must be verified.
PROJECT SYSTEM PRINCIPLE