Negotiation is a private process, intended to encourage parties to discuss issues, such as disputes, with the aim of achieving a mutual commercial arrangement which ultimately enables a settlement to be agreed.

A key benefit of negotiation is that it can take place before or during a formal dispute resolution process, such as arbitration or litigation.

Parties to a construction or engineering contract often include provisions which require executives or nominated representatives to meet and attempt to amicably negotiate a settlement, which can often be a condition precedent to commencing the next step in the dispute resolution process such as expert determination, arbitration or litigation.