If you and the opposing party wish to submit your disputes to the privately administered justice of SGOA (Stichting Geschillenoplossing Automatisering, or ‘foundation for the resolution of ICT disputes’), you must make a valid joint arbitration agreement. The law stipulates that you should agree on arbitration in writing. You can make such an agreement when the dispute arises but it is also possible to opt for arbitration in advance, i.e. in your ICT contract or in your general terms and conditions. To help you do this, we have provided you here with some model provisions concerning arbitration.

The following model clauses only contain a basic arbitration provision that you can include in your ICT contracts. In the provision, you and the other party to the contract agree to submit any contractual disputes to arbitration by SGOA. As a result, the regular courts are essentially not competent. The clause refers to the ‘vendor’ and the ‘client’, but of course it is possible for you to replace these words with ‘contractor’ and ‘client’. You can also use the names of your company and the other party to the contract.