Personal bio
My background in construction engineering and project management gives me a distinct advantage over many other professionals in understanding the nub of construction problems. My experiences over the last 23 years in acting either as a decision-maker or as a party representative in bringing or defending claims enables me to perfect the art of the narrative in such a way as to persuade a decision-maker to accept my version of events together with the necessary legal. authorities relied on.
My ongoing extensive CPD reading of case law and prominent legal books gives me a completely rounded grasp of substantive problems in disputes which enables me to apply totally impartial but fair decisions/awards.
I have more than 35 years experience in the construction & allied industries, in civil engineering and in building.
I started my career with Taylor Woodrow in the North of England on multi-million pound contracts as site engineer in the early seventies. I then quickly progressed to senior engineer with Pochin Contractors of Middlewich on major contracts including the new Metropolitan University in Manchester City Centre. During these years I gained valuable experience in leading a team of engineers as well as much hands-on experience in concrete technology, programming and landscape management. My career with Pochin was interspersed with overseas experience in construction engineering in South Africa working on the SASOL-2 multi-billion pound oil-from-coal project. My duties included reinforcement and pre-cast concrete design and production in servicing this massive construction project which, at the time, was the largest construction project in the southern hemisphere.
In the late eighties I became involved with the start of Manchester's ambitious city centre re-development, negotiating contract terms and conditions. In the nineties I was contracted to HBOS plc Commercial Development Division as UK Special Projects Manager procuring and co-ordinating contractors and managing the interface between client and developer.
I have been sole principal of Pye Associates since 2001 and now often represent contractors as claims consultant in both arbitration and adjudication proceedings. My extensive practical experience both in heavy building, landscaping and civil engineering projects gives me a distinct advantage in understanding the problems faced by developers and contractors, not just in analysing delays but also in presenting them in an easy-to-understand format that is persuasive in hearing settings. I was appointed to the main panel of arbitrators with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2004 and with the main panel of adjudicators in 2006. Since then I have worked closely in areas of construction law and claims avoidance as well as drafting bespoke terms and conditions up and down the chain of contracts as well as suppliers to the industry not caught by statutory provisions of construction legislation.
I have been appointed as arbitrator on a number of domestic disputes since 2004 as well as arbitrator in an international dispute between an English company and a Saudi Arabian company.
I have made numerous presentations to construction professional audiences of civil and structural engineers, surveyors and lawyers as well as Masters graduates at universities such as Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester.I have had many appointments as adjudicator in domestic, commercial and industrial related construction and manufacturing disputes throughout the UK including a major, multi-million pound industrial dispute concerning the new £4.2bn Thames Tideway Tunnel.
In 2015 I gained an International Diploma in Commercial Arbitration from the CIArb's flagship Oxford residential course.
Academically, I will be presenting a webinar in December 2025 on the new Arbitration Act 2025 which will be broadcast and recorded live on the internet.