Development of proposed framework for tahkim in the Malaysian construction industry

Abstract

This thesis is specifically concerned with the employment of Tahkīm in the Malaysian construction industry. The aim of the research is to determine the opportunities presented in employing the Sharī’ah-compliant Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) medium in the Malaysia construction industry and to develop a proper framework of referring disputes to Tahkīm. The existence of arbitration clause in the major forms of contract has shown that the practise is popular and well accepted. In Islam, a similar approach of resolving dispute named Tahkīm is available. With the emergence of Islamic banking and finance institution, and the effort of Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) to resolve Islamic banking and financing disputes using i-Arbitration Rules; it is important for the researcher to look into this area and discover the possibility for it to be applied in the construction industry. The study was conducted in Malaysia. The secondary data has been collected through an extensive form of literature reviews and content analysis, while the primary data collection was conducted via two tiers of focused semi-structured interview involving seven (7) experts in construction, law and Sharī’ah for the first tier; and ten (10) professionals and contractors for the second tier. The results reveal that the proposed framework is robust, Sharī’ah-compliant and can be employed to be used in the Malaysian construction industry.