Reference no: EM133200087

Geddy Construction (GC) has a written contract with Owner to furnish and erect a 10,000 sq.ft. metal building in Ripley, Oklahoma. The contract between GC and Owner requires all changes to be accomplished by written change order or written change directive and is governed by AIA Document A201-2017, which sets forth a detailed procedure for the submission of claims, mediation and arbitration. GC enters into an oral contract with Subterranean Construction (Sub) to perform sitework and to construct the building pad.  After construction begins, Owner verbally directs GC to increase the size of the building to 15,000 sq.ft.  Owner refuses to sign a written change order or to issue a written change directive.  GC, in turn, verbally directs Sub to construct a larger building pad to accommodate the increased size of the metal building.  To keep the project moving forward, GC and Sub perform the additional work despite Owner's failure to sign a written change order or issue a change directive.  GC timely submits a claim to the Initial Decision Maker for the added cost.  After the claim is denied, GC initiates the contractually-required mediation and arbitration processes.  In the interim, Sub gets tired of waiting for payment and files a separate lawsuit against GC. The project is completed shortly thereafter without further incident and Owner accepts all of the work, despite refusing to pay for the extra cost associated with increasing the size of the building.

Question

Assuming Owner, GC and Sub participate in mediation of the disputes, which of the following is correct:

Group of answer choices

The mediator would decide who was right and who was wrong, and issue an order to the parties directing them what to do to resolve the dispute.

The mediator would try to settle the dispute by utilizing the strengths and weaknesses of each party in an effort to embarrass or pressure them into making a decision they do not want to make.

The mediator would facilitate the negotiations of the parties, utilizing the strengths and weaknesses of each party in an effort to obtain a compromise.

The mediator would refuse to allow Sub to participate since it only had an oral agreement with GC and no separate agreement with Owner.