Christopher Petrucci

Chris is a leading advocate before the courts and in arbitration hearings. He is recognized by Lexpert as one of Canada’s leading litigators, one of Canada’s leading infrastructure lawyers and as a repeatedly recommended litigator in Alberta. Chris is ranked in Chambers (construction) and is also a fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers in recognition of his expertise in construction law disputes.

Chris has extensive experience before all levels of court in Alberta, including as trial counsel and represents clients in courts across the country. He also has a substantial arbitration practice across Canada and internationally. Chris represents clients in significant, complex domestic and international arbitrations under multiple procedural regimes, such as UNCITRAL, the International Court of Commerce (ICC), the International Bar Association (IBA) and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). He also represents clients in adjudications under recently enacted prompt payment legislation.

With respect to construction disputes in particular, Chris has litigated and arbitrated claims involving bids, cost overruns, cost estimates, delay and disruption, productivity loss, warranties, defects, change orders, design and plant failures across various types of construction projects, including pipelines, oilsands facilities, oil and gas processing plants, power plants, renewable energy facilities, mineral processing facilities, manufacturing plants, fibre optic networks, agricultural facilities, commercial and residential buildings and various infrastructure projects such as highways and sea ports. Such disputes arose under various contracting models such as design-build, EPC, EPCM, P3, FIDIC, CCDC, hybrid and bespoke agreements.

Select examples of Chris' recent representation as lead counsel include the following:

• A consortium of international real estate development companies based in Canada in the successful dismissal of a contractor's claim due to litigation delay in connection with the construction of a mixed-use skyscraper (2026 ABCA 210).
• An international food processing company based in Europe in a domestic ICC arbitration against its EPCM contractor for construction claims of over $180million that involved issues of delay, productivity loss, cost estimates and cost overruns.
• An international construction contractor based in Canada in a successful trial involving pursuit of damages and defending claims of delay and cost overruns with respect to the construction of a pipe processing plant. (2025 ABKB 542).
• An international energy company based in Canada in litigation against engineers and suppliers in respect of the design and construction of a minerals processing plant.
• An international energy company in an international commercial ICC arbitration involving complex contractual disputes in the technology services industry with claims exceeding $180 million.
• A national real estate developer in an adjudication under prompt payment legislation in defence of claims exceeding $10mm, involving issues of delay and change orders.
• An international energy company in an international UNCITRAL arbitration in the pursuit of claims exceeding $300 million and the defense of counterclaims exceeding $100 million for delay and loss of productivity and cost overruns against its engineering, procurement and construction contractor associated with the design and construction of a billion dollar heavy oil extraction facility.
• An international telecommunications contractor based in Canada in a domestic arbitration regarding the installation and connection of a large fibre optic network in Northern Canada.

Chris is an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association Construction Law Section - Alberta South and regularly speaks and writes on a variety of energy and construction litigation topics. He is often requested to comment on updates on related legal developments, contractual interpretation of industry agreements, legal privilege, preparation of delay and cost overrun claims, procurement and tendering law, audit disputes, builders' liens, cross-examination of witnesses and alternative dispute resolution.