From the Co-Chairs – Construction Law International – July 2026

There are weekends that feel transactional, and then there are those rare gatherings that remind you why a profession can also be a community. The International Construction Projects Committee (ICP) Working Weekend, held this past March against the quietly cinematic backdrop of Genoa and Portofino, was very much the latter.

It was far from a standard conference in a conventional business hotel. Instead, around sixty practitioners (lawyers, experts and arbitrators) came together in a UNESCO World Heritage Site palace where everyone was encouraged to join the conversation on contemporary construction law issues. Ideas could be tested, challenged and refined in real time. The tone was open, engaged and refreshingly honest.

The format itself reflected a recognition that the future of construction disputes will not be shaped in silos. Discussions moved fluidly from legal frameworks to project realities, from dispute avoidance to the growing role of expert evidence. There was a shared understanding that progress will cross disciplinary lines, accelerated by rapidly changing AI technology.

Of course, no such weekend would be complete without its social dimension. Evenings overlooking the Ligurian coast, informal dinners and unstructured moments between sessions proved just as valuable as the formal programme. Longstanding relationships were strengthened, and new younger voices were welcomed. In many ways, the greatest success of the weekend lay in these quieter exchanges.

In May, our ICP participated in the SEERIL Biennial Conference in Brussels. There, the ICP Council members played a key role in planning and presenting educational programmes. Other SEERIL committees are discovering that much of their practice involves issues of design and construction that have much in common with the ICP.

Looking ahead, the ICP is now turning its attention to the IBA Annual Conference in Copenhagen this October, a flagship event where the Committee will deliver a series of six panels tackling some of the most pressing issues in construction law today. The programme reflects both continuity and evolution: from insuring risk on construction projects and cross-border risk management, to long-term liability for defects and disputes in energy infrastructure. Notably, the agenda also embraces forward-looking themes, including innovation in construction lawyering and the drive to make expert evidence more efficient, cost-effective and tribunal-focused.

It is, in many respects, a natural progression. The conversations that began in Genoa will now take centre stage in a global forum. The expectation is not only to inform, but to shape thinking, bringing together perspectives that reflect the complexity and ambition of modern construction practice.

For those who were in Genoa, Copenhagen represents the next chapter. For those who were not, it offers an opportunity to step into a community that is increasingly defining the direction of the field.

And if the spirit of the Working Weekend is anything to go by, Copenhagen will be worth the journey.

Aarta Alkarimi and Douglas Oles
Co-Chairs, IBA International Construction Projects Committee