In construction disputes, mediation is often the turning point between prolonged, costly litigation and a positive resolution that preserves business relationships and limits risk. But walking into mediation without preparation is like showing up to a job site without plans, materials, or tools. Your success in mediation almost always depends on how you prepare beforehand.
There are three areas in particular that can make or break a client’s ability to reach a favorable outcome: having the right documents at hand, ensuring that your team is aligned, and defining—ahead of time—what success will look like.
1. Key documents in hand
Mediation isn’t trial, but evidence is still important. Contracts, change orders, payment applications, project schedules, and correspondence often form the backbone of any negotiation. Mediators use evidence as leverage against the side with the weaker evidence, and having these materials organized and accessible allows both the mediator and the opposing party to see the dispute in context and understand its practical dimensions. When the parties come prepared with evidence that pertains to the critical issues that are helpful to your case, it builds credibility with the mediator and leverages the other side into a more favorable outcome for your side.
2. Stakeholder alignment avoids surprises
Construction projects often involve multiple players—owners, general contractors, subcontractors, insurers, and more. Before mediation, it is essential that you confirm who needs to be “at the table” (literally or virtually) and that everyone is on the same page about strategy, including the internal members of your team and your counsel. Things like a last-minute disagreement between a contractor and its surety, or an absent decision-maker whose approval is required, can easily derail negotiations. Do the hard work beforehand to ensure that you don’t have to deal with internal disagreements on the day of mediation while you are trying to negotiate with the other side through the mediator. The mediation day is hard enough without internal disagreements taking valuable time and causing unnecessary anxiety.
3. Outcomes must be defined—not just numbers
While financial settlement is usually the headline issue, clients should also think broadly about their goals. Do they need a fast resolution to free up cash flow? Would a payment schedule or credit toward future work be more valuable than a lump sum? Are there reputational or relationship concerns to preserve? By clarifying priorities in advance, clients empower their counsel and mediator to craft solutions that go beyond just the final number. Success involves more than just money.
The takeaway
There is no getting around it—success in mediation depends on preparation. Having the right evidence at the right time, aligning stakeholders, and clarifying desired outcomes all yield the best chance of resolving disputes efficiently and effectively. Mediation is most productive when it isn’t ad hoc, but rather a carefully planned negotiation where construction professionals come together ready to build the framework for resolution.