In business, a dispute is rarely just a „legal matter”. It is usually also frozen money, the risk of losing the relationship with the counterparty with whom we are in dispute, stress on the team and months (or even years) of uncertainty about the legal situation.
In such situations, it is no longer important whether we are right. Often the key question becomes: how to get out of the conflict as quickly and safely as possible.
Mandatory mediation in construction cases - what changes from 1 March 2026?
From 1 March 2026, in cases involving construction disputes, the court is - in principle - to refer the parties to mediation before either the pre-trial hearing or the first hearing, and the obligation to proceed to mediation is to be „secured” by a financial sanction. Mandatory mediation in construction cases therefore does not mean a clause written into every construction contract - it is about the mandatory referral of the parties to mediation already in the course of a court case, at the very beginning of it. In other words, mediation in construction cases becomes from this date a mandatory procedural step before the case is heard at trial.
Why does the legislator rely on construction mediation?
Construction disputes are among the most aggravating: they are multifaceted, often requiring expert opinions and lengthy evidentiary proceedings. This is one of the reasons why mediation is supposed to „intercept”, as it were, some of the cases before they enter the full, costly and extremely time-consuming court procedure. Construction mediation is thus becoming a standard part of the procedure - not just a voluntary tool, but a viable first step on the judicial path.
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Cost comparison: court, arbitration and mediation in construction cases
Assuming that we are dealing with a construction case (a dispute arising out of a construction contract), where the value of the subject matter of the dispute is, let's say, PLN 2 million, the court fees and costs of the attorneys are as follows:
Legal proceedings
As a rule, the proportional fee amounts to 5% of the dispute value, but today it has an upper limit of PLN 100,000. Thus, in a dispute over PLN 2 million, the fee „at the start” may amount to PLN 100,000, although the court may apply an exemption from court costs if the entrepreneur meets the conditions for applying such an exemption, i.e. if he demonstrates, for example, that he had a loss in the previous year. To this fee one should add the costs of an expert, attorney and, in the case of losing, also the costs of the opposing party's attorney - these are limited and amount at wps. 2 million - PLN 10800 net. The total cost of the proceedings fluctuates around PLN 250,000 including the appeal proceedings. On the other hand, the average duration of proceedings at first instance is approximately 3-5 years.
Arbitration
In this institution, the arbitration fee is calculated on the value of the dispute. For the range of PLN 1 000 001 - 4 000 000: PLN 72 000 for the first 1 million + 5% on the excess. For PLN 2 million, this gives an arbitration fee of PLN 122 000 (plus VAT), plus a registration fee of PLN 3 000. The arbitrators' working time does not affect the price, while in Europe the hourly rate of the arbitrator participating in the arbitration is often taken into account. It is worth noting this when determining in a contractual arbitration clause the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal that will resolve a potential dispute arising from the contract. It is worth pointing out that tariffs vary between institutions and the costs may depend, inter alia, on whether the case is handled by a sole arbitrator or by a multi-member composition (in the PCC, 60% of the arbitration fee is provided for with a sole arbitrator). Of course, the parties may also use attorneys in this case. Their remuneration is determined individually, but may also be capped, i.e. limited, in a contractual clause. The average processing time of a case before the arbitration court is 1.5 years.
Mediation in construction cases
In 2026, there was an increase in the rates of mediators and, with an assumed value of the subject of the dispute, the rate is now PLN 8,000 and this is basically the entire cost to be incurred by mediating the case. This amount, depending on how the parties agree, can still be divided between the participants taking part in the mediation, e.g. PLN 4,000 per party. In addition, in court, if a settlement is reached in mediation, the plaintiff is reimbursed 75% of the court fee. The average waiting time from referral to mediation by the court to „dibs” by the court is about 7-10 months.
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What does mediation offer the entrepreneur - apart from cost savings?
- control of the outcome - the parties make the decision, not „someone else”;
- time - often weeks or a few months rather than years;
- Protecting relationships - in the construction industry (and beyond) this can be crucial, as business partners often need to continue to work together;
- flexibility - the settlement may include solutions that the court will not „propose” (e.g. rescheduling, staged settlements, set-offs, additional security).
Mediation is not a „miracle cure” for everything. After all, if the other party is only playing for time or there is a problem with evidence/settlement in the background, mediation without preparation may simply not work. Furthermore, it only makes sense if both parties are willing to talk and communicate with each other and want to work out a solution and end the dispute because they do not have the time and energy to pursue it. They would rather use these resources to develop their business and deal with issues that build and unite rather than divide. Well-conducted mediation often makes it possible to end a conflict more quickly and safely than a classic dispute.
Mediation as a European standard - a cross-border perspective
That Europe is betting on amicable dispute resolution is no coincidence. Already Directive 2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters was intended to promote mediation in civil and commercial matters (especially with a cross-border element) and to build a predictable framework for the use of mediation. In practice, this means that mediation is increasingly seen not as a „soft alternative”, but as a normal business tool - especially where parties operate in different countries, have different negotiating cultures and want to avoid a multi-year dispute.
As an International Law Firm, we see very clearly that a settlement (well thought out and well secured) can give the client more than several years of court proceedings, money is put back into circulation, risks are minimised and the company can focus on work, not conflict.
This is also recognised by our partners in Germany, France and Belgium - there the culture of amicable dispute resolution is strong, especially in economic and cross-border relations. Therefore, the next stage of our development is to be the creation of a cross-border entity to support parties in resolving disputes „across borders” - faster, safer and with greater predictability of costs. But until then, it is also worth paying attention to well-designed contracts, especially with a cross-border element, to not leave things to chance, to good safeguards in transactional contracts, protecting interests in the rather difficult and sometimes unpredictable legal relationships between entrepreneurs from different destinations.
If you would like to discuss this topic, or if you are interested in other issues related to servicing entrepreneurs or considering a permanent subscription service, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to talk to you about how we see the cooperation, how we plan it and what tools we have at our disposal to support your business.
