Conditions for referral

The agreement may appear in the original contract (arbitration clause) or be signed after the dispute arose (submission agreement). It must be in writing, but an exchange of emails or a sale document incorporating a house's general conditions suffices if they clearly mention arbitration.

The reference to the TAO Rules must be explicit. A clause that merely mentions "arbitration in Paris" without designating an institution is not sufficient; the tribunal may nevertheless complete it if the parties consent.

Any natural or legal person with capacity to contract may be a party. Minors and protected adults must be represented. States may be parties where they have consented, by treaty or declaration, or where the arbitration arises from a commercial contract to which they are parties.

Several parties may be joined in one procedure if the claims arise from the same transaction and the agreement allows. A third party may intervene with the agreement of all the parties.

Property-related disputes are arbitrable: price, warranties, appraisals, restitutions between private persons, liability. Criminal, tax or personal-status questions are not. The tribunal checks this condition of its own motion.

The limitation period depends on the applicable law; by default, the Rules adopt five years from discovery of the damage. Certification appeals must be brought within sixty days of the review decision.

When a certification decision is contested, the claimant must first request a review from the Certification department, within thirty days. If the refusal is confirmed, the claimant may refer the case to the TAO within the following sixty days. The tribunal's jurisdiction then results from the certification rules accepted when the file was lodged.

The tribunal does not re-examine the work itself: it checks the regularity of the procedure, the reasoning of the decision and, where appropriate, orders a second appraisal entrusted to independent experts.