arbitration estate real

RULES OF REAL ESTATE ARBITRATION INTRODUCTION Regarding what is not provided for by these Rules, and subordinately by the (rules agreed upon by the) parties and further subordinately by the (rules set by the) arbitrators, shall apply what is set out in the VIII Part Book IV of the Civil Proceedings Code. As relates to those issues for which arbitration is governed by specific rules, shall apply the concerning rules that can not be derogated even if unlike the provisions settled by the parties or by these rules. I – COMMENCEMENT OF THE PROCEEDINGS Art. 1 - Arbitration agreement 1. Whereas the parties have agreed upon an arbitration agreement (arbitration clause or submission agreement) which states “arbitration with the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna” or likely, all the disputes to which the arbitration agreement refers, shall be settled by “arbitrato rituale” (institutional arbitration). The institutional arbitration closes with the rendering of a final award liable to have executive effects pursuant to art. 825 of the Civil Proceedings Code. The parties may recur to “arbitrato irrituale” (amicable arbitration), which closes with a decision by the arbitrator (award as well) that has an exclusive contractual effectiveness between the parties, provided their will be clearly stated. 2. Should arise objections to the validity or even the existence itself of the arbitration agreement prior to the appointment of the arbitrator, the Technical Board of the Chamber of Arbitration shall decide on the continuation of the proceedings. 3. Should the objections arise after the appointment of the arbitrator, it is the arbitrator himself who shall decide. 4. Should the reference to arbitration with the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce be lacking or inadequate, the request for arbitration may be accepted whereas all the parties sign a supplement to the agreement or the arbitration clause. N.B. the request for arbitration, any written agreement, the statement of defence, all further statement of proceedings and the award are subject to the in force tax measures. Art. 2 – Request for arbitration 1. A party wishing to start a proceedings of “arbitrato rituale” or “arbitrato irrituale” (institutional or amicable arbitration) shall file a request for arbitration with the Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna 1 . The request for arbitration shall be signed by the party and be supplied in a number of copies up to the number of arbitrators, plus a stamped one for the respondent and a stamped one for the Secretariat. The Secretariat shall forward the request to each respondent by registered mail within five working days from the filling. At the request of the claimant, the Secretariat shall forward the request to the respondent through a bailiff. 2. The request shall contain: a) the name and domicile of the parties; as regards companies: the company name in full, the seat and the name of the legal representative; b) a description of the dispute and claims and, in case, the indication of the economic value of the dispute; c) the appointment of the arbitrator or any necessary direction for his appointment; d) the reference to the agreement or the document containing the arbitration clause; e) the name, address and power of attorney “ad litem” and “ad negotia” to counsel, if already appointed, and, in case, the domicile of choice; ___________________________________________________________________________ 1 from art. 3 onwards, any time the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration is mentioned, it will refer to the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna. f) the evidence, if any; g) any other document the party deems appropriate to enclose. 3. At the moment of the filing of the request for arbitration, the claimant shall make an advance payment on the administrative costs of the Chamber’s administrative services pursuant to the enclosed fees as set out by the art. 25 of these Rules. Art. 3 – Statement of defence. 1. The respondent shall file the statement of defence with the Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration within 15 days from receipt of the request. The statement shall be signed and supplied in a number of copies up to the number of arbitrators plus a stamped one for the claimant and a stamped one for the Secretariat. The Secretariat shall forward its copy of the statement of defence to the claimant by registered mail within 5 working days from the filing. At the request of the defendant, the Secretariat shall forward the statement of defence to the claimant through a bailiff. 2. The statement of defence shall contain: a) the name and domicile of the defendant; as regards companies, the company name, the seat and the name of the legal representative; b) the statement and, in case, the counterclaim with an indication of the economic value of the dispute; c) the appointment of the arbitrator or any necessary direction for his selection; d) the name, address and power of attorney “ad litem” and “ad negotia” to counsel, if already appointed, and, in case, the domicile of choice; e) the evidence, if any; f) any other document the party deems appropriate to enclose. 3. At the moment of the filing of the statement of defence, the respondent shall make an advance payment on the administrative costs fixed for the Chamber’s administrative services in the same measure as the amount paid by the claimant, as set out by the art. 25 of this Arbitration Rules. 4. Whereas the respondent does not file a statement of defence, the arbitration shall proceed in its absence. II – THE ARBITRAL BODY Art. 4 – Appointment of arbitrators 1.The arbitration proceedings governed by these Arbitration Rules shall be decided by a sole arbitrator or a panel of three or more arbitrators, always of an uneven number. In the absence of an agreement by the parties upon the number of arbitrators, the arbitral body shall be composed of a sole arbitrator appointed by the Technical Board, which may alternatively refer the dispute to a panel of three arbitrators if it deems it more appropriate because of the peculiarity of the dispute. 2. Sole arbitrator. Unless otherwise agreed, the sole arbitrator shall be appointed by the Technical Board of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration. Whereas the parties have agreed upon common appointment of the sole arbitrator, the appointment shall be done within 15 days from the filing of the statement of defence. In absence of a common agreement by the parties, the sole arbitrator shall be appointed by the Technical Board itself. 3. Arbitral panel. Unless otherwise agreed, the arbitral panel shall be appointed as follows: a) each party shall appoint an arbitrator in the request for arbitration and in the reply, respectively. Should a party fail to do so, the arbitrator shall be appointed by the Technical Board; b) the third arbitrator, who will act as chairman of the arbitral panel, shall be appointed by common agreement of the two arbitrators appointed by the parties. The appointment of the chairman of the panel shall be done within 15 days from the receipt of the notice by the Secretariat by registered mail. Should the two arbitrators fail to do so within the time limit , the third arbitrator shall be appointed by the Technical Board. 4. Making an exception to what set out in the previous commas, should law not allow the appointment be made by the parties, under pain of invalidity, the appointment of arbitrators shall be made by the Technical Board. 5. The Technical Board shall appoint the sole arbitrator, the third arbitrator or, in case, the arbitrator not appointed by the party or the whole arbitral panel within 20 days from the receipt of the statement of defence or, in absence, of the expiring of the time limit allowed to the respondent for his statement of defence. Art. 5 – Multi – party arbitration 1. Even making an exception to the provisions set out by the parties in the arbitral agreement, should the arbitration proceedings involve more than two parties and should they not get to an agreement as to the appointment of a sole arbitrator, the Technical Board of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration shall directly appoint a panel of three or more arbitrators at its discretion, one of whom acting as chairman. Still, should the parties get spontaneously together into two groups and appoint an arbitrator each accepting a panel of three, the Technical Board shall only appoint the third arbitrator acting as chairman. Art. 6 – Independence of arbitrators 1. Arbitrators shall be impartial and independent as regards the parties and they are bound to respect the ethical code here enclosed. Art. 7 – Acceptance by arbitrators 1. Once the arbitrator or arbitrators appointed, the Secretariat shall give notice of the appointment to the parties and to the arbitrators themselves by registered mail. 2. All the arbitrators appointed either by the parties, by the arbitrators or by the Technical Board are allowed a time limit of 15 days from the receipt of the appointment notification to confirm acceptance to the Secretariat and to submit a statement of impartiality and independence where to disclose any fact or circumstance which might be of such a nature as to call into question their independence in the eyes of the parties. 3. The Chamber of Arbitration shall subordinate the confirmation of the appointment of the arbitrator to the submission of the statement of independence and to the existence of the requisites pursuant to art. 6 of these Rules.. 4. Should the arbitrator fail to answer or answer in a negative way within the time limit of 15 days, the Technical Board shall appoint a new arbitrator who shall observe the same procedure as set out by paragraph 1 and 2 of this article. 5. The Secretariat shall immediately give notice of the appointment, the acceptance and the statement of independence submitted by arbitrators to the parties and to the arbitrators themselves, if any. Either the parties and the arbitrators may produce written comments, if any, within 5 days from the receipt of the documents. 6. In course of proceedings, each arbitrator shall give notice to the Technical Board of every supervening circumstance which may be cause of incompatibility to the carrying out of his task via registered mail, fax or certified e-mail. Art. 8 – Challenge of arbitrators 1. Each party may challenge arbitrators for any reason able to cast doubts on their independence and impartiality. 2. The request for challenge shall be reasoned and shall be submitted to the Arbitration Council within 15 days from the forwarding of the notice of acceptance and the statement of independence and impartiality by the arbitrator or of the supervening knowledge of circumstances relevant to challenge, also against the arbitrator appointed by the challenger himself. 3. The Secretariat shall forward the challenge to the arbitrator, who may file with the Secretariat written comments within 15 days from the receipt of the notice of the challenge. 4. The Arbitral Council shall definitively decide on the admissibility of the challenge through a motivated act. Until the communication to the arbitrators of the decision of the Arbitration Council, the arbitration proceedings shall be suspended, as well as the time limit for the filing of the award with the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration. Art. 9 – Replacement of arbitrators 1. Upon death, incompetence, renunciation, inaction or delay, challenge or request from all the parties, the arbitrator shall be replaced. The replacement shall follow the same procedure as the appointment. Likewise, replacement may occur on the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration’s own initiative whereas it decides that the arbitrator is prevented, de jure or de facto, from fulfilling his function or that he is not fulfilling his functions in accordance with these Rules or within the prescribed time limits. 2. In case of inaction or delay, the Secretariat shall urge the arbitrator into action. Should the arbitrator not accomplish his tasks even after the urging, the Technical Board shall hear him and then provide for the replacement following the same procedure as for the appointment. 3. The Technical Board shall determine the fees, if any, due to the replaced arbitrator taking into account the work done up to the replacement. 4. The newly – appointed arbitrator may request the renewal of the acts of the arbitration proceedings. The Arbitral Panel shall decide on this request. Should the whole renewal of the acts be accepted, the new time limit for the filing of the award shall start from the date of the issue of the ordinance. TITOLO III – THE ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS Art. 10 – Seat of the arbitration The seat of the arbitration shall be in the offices of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration . The Arbitral body (the sole arbitrator or the arbitral panel) may decide that hearings or single procedural acts take place in a location other than the seat, giving grounds for such a decision. Art. 11 – Forwarding of acts to the arbitrator The Secretariat shall forward to the arbitral body a copy of the request for arbitration and a copy of the statement of defence of the respondent together with all the enclosed documents after receiving the acceptance by the arbitrator and after the parties have made the advance payment of the administrative fees. Art. 12 – Procedural rules 1. The arbitral proceedings shall be governed by these Rules of Arbitration. In case of silence of these Rules, shall apply the rules agreed upon by the parties or, in absence, by the arbitrators, always in accordance with the principle of debate. 2. As soon as possible , the arbitral body shall make an attempt of conciliation, to be repeated any time it deems it advisable during the proceedings. Should the attempt succeed, it shall be formalized in minutes. Should the attempt of conciliation fail, the arbitral body shall set a time limit within which the parties can submit statements and memories in reply, if any. 3. Testimonial evidence shall be taken orally or, whereas not possible, in writing. The minutes may also be recorded by phono or video appliances. In case of admission of verbal testimonial evidence, the interested party shall ensure the presence of the witness in the day and seat scheduled for examination. The absence of the witness implies the impossibility of a further examination, unless the arbitral body allows it upon request of the interested party. The request shall be submitted, at the latest, on the date of the scheduled examination. 4. The arbitral body may appoint one or more experts, may request information to public authorities and legal support to the judiciary. He may gather pieces of evidence on his own initiative or at the request of one of the parties. 5. Anyway, the arbitrator may decree only on the grounds of the documents if the parties, during the proceedings, request so or agree in writing. 6. Once the evidence-taking is over, the arbitral body shall request the parties to submit written statements containing the final formulation of claims as well as following replies. It shall also schedule the date of the hearing for the oral discussion, should a party or both of them request it. Art. 13 – Hearings and minutes 1. The date of the hearings shall be scheduled by the arbitral body and they shall be forwarded to the parties by the Secretariat with adequate notice. 2. The parties may appear at the hearings either in person or through duly empowered representatives or they may be assisted by counsel with power of attorney. Should a party not appear at the hearing with a justified reason, the arbitral body shall proceed with the hearing after having ascertained whether the party was duly summoned. 3. Minutes shall be taken of each hearing and they shall be signed by all the people appearing. The Secretariat forwards a copy of the minutes and gives notice of any procedural act to the parties. Art. 14 – Provisional Orders 1. Any request for provisional orders to the competent authority shall not be prejudicial to the commencement or the continuation of the arbitration proceedings, neither shall be taken as a waiver to the arbitral body. 2. The party which, either before the commencement or in course of the arbitration proceedings, gets a provisional order from the judiciary, shall give notice of the same to the Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration. The Secretariat shall give prompt notice to the arbitrator. Art. 15 – Connected disputes 1. Should one party submit to the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration a request for arbitration concerning claims connected to others already being the object of a pending arbitration proceedings between the same parties and governed by there Rules, the Technical Board, upon the request of one of the parties and taking into account the peculiarity of the disputes and the enforceable procedural law, may order that the disputes be consolidated in order that a sole award be rendered. 2. The arbitral body, if appointed with more than one pending proceedings, may order that they be consolidated if it deems them objectively connected. Art. 16 – New requests 1. The arbitral body shall decide on the merits of new requests submitted by the parties during the proceedings, in the presence of one of the following conditions and, in any case, with respect to the debate among parties: a. the party against which the request is proposed declares to accept the arbitration proceedings or does not raise exception of inadmissibility as a preliminary to any defence on the merits; b. the new request is objectively connected to one of those pending in the proceedings. Art. 17 – Settlement in course of proceeding 1. Should the parts come to a settlement before the appointment of the arbitral body, they shall give notice to the Secretariat for the dismissal of the proceedings. 2. Should the settlement between the parties occur after the acceptance on the part of all arbitrators, they shall draw up the minutes, duly signed by the parties, through which they are relieved of the obligation to render an award. 3. Should the settlement be partial, the proceedings continue in order to settle the issues of the dispute which are not included in the partial settlement. TITOLO IV – THE ARBITRAL AWARD Art. 18 – Deliberation and signature of the award 1. The award shall be deliberated, in personal or videotelephone conference, by the sole arbitrator or the arbitral panel by majority vote. It shall be in written form, pursuant to art. 823 of the Civil Proceedings Code, and filed in as many stamped originals as the number of the parties plus one stamped original for the Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration. 2. The members of the arbitral body may sign the award at different times. Each signature shall indicate its place and date. 3. The award has mandatory effect for the parties from the date of the last signature. Art. 19 – Time limit and procedure for the filing of the final award 1. The award shall be filed with the Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration within 180 days from the first hearing of the arbitral proceedings. 2. The award shall be filed in as many originals as the number of the parties plus one original for the Chamber of Arbitration. All the originals shall be filed in stamped paper. 3. The Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration shall give notice of the filing to the parties, inviting them to retire their original upon full payment of the administrative costs due to the Chamber of Commerce together with the proceedings expenses. Art. 20 – Contents of the award 1 . The award shall refer to all the issues of the dispute, stating reasons for each of them. 2. The award shall be in writing and shall point out: a. the parties and their counsel; b. the arbitration agreement; c. the “rituale” or “irrituale” nature of the award, where Italian law applies to the proceedings; d. the seat of the arbitration; e. the claims filed by the parties; f. the reasons for the decision; g. the dispositive part; h. the decision on the legal expenses sustained by the parties; i. the allocation of the costs of the proceedings, with reference to the competence of the Technical Board as for their assessment and payment, save what provided for by art. 15 (1); j. the date, place and modalities of deliberation as well as the date and place of the subscription. 3. Whereas the award is signed by the majority of the arbitral body, it shall state that the arbitrators who did not sign could not or did not wish to. Art. 21 – Partial award 1. The sole arbitrator or the arbitral panel may render a partial award whereas it settles only one or some of the issues of the dispute or when they shall solve one or more preliminary questions which are decisive for the settlement of the dispute. 2. The provisions on the award as set out by these Rules shall apply to the partial award. Art. 22 – Correction of the award 1. The award may be corrected in the cases and within the time limits provided for in the rules applicable to the proceedings. 2. The request for correction shall be filed with the Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration, which shall forward it to the members of the arbitral body for their decision . Art. 23 – Suspension and extension of the time limits for the filing of the award 1. All the time limits of the proceedings are suspended from 1st to 31st August of every year. 2. The time limit for the filing of the award is suspended whereas a request for challenge is submitted until the forwarding of the decision of the Arbitral Council to the arbitral body, and whereas the arbitrator must be replaced. 3. The time limit shall be suspended by the Secretariat when the parties do not make, fully or in part, the advance payments on administrative costs, as set out by art. 25 of these Rules. 4. Besides the cases expressly provided for by these Rules, the time limit shall be likewise suspended by the Secretariat before a justified reason. 5. Should complex circumstances intervene, the time limit for the rendering of the award may be extended, for the first time, as a matter of urgency by the Secretariat on request of the Arbitral panel up to a maximum of 180 days; such extension must be confirmed by the Technical Board. 6. The Technical Board may exceptionally decide further extensions upon motivated request on the part of the arbitral body. TITOLO V – COSTS OF THE PROCEEDINGS Art. 24 – Value of dispute 1. In order to determine the costs of the proceedings, the value of the dispute shall be the sum of the value of the claims filed by all the parties. The values expressed in foreign currency shall be turned into euros. 2. Should the value of the dispute be initially undetermined, it shall be classed in the second bracket of the enclosed fees scale. 3. Should the value of the dispute remain undeterminable at the end of the arbitral procedure, the Technical Board shall determine it upon request of the arbitral body taking into account the complexity of the dispute. 4. In the cases provided for by the 1st and 2nd commas of this article, the Secretariat shall determine the value of the dispute on the basis of the preliminary acts and of any further indication given by the parties and the arbitral body. 5. All the parties shall be required to contribute jointly to the payment of the costs of the proceedings. ART. 25 – Payment of the costs of the proceedings 1. The costs of the proceedings shall be deliberated by the Technical Board and shall include: a) fees and costs of arbitrators; b) administrative costs. Costs for technical advice which may be required during the proceedings are not included. Such costs shall be directly determined by the arbitral body. 2. The Secretariat, at the time of the filing of the request for arbitration, requests the payment of an advance on administrative costs in accordance with the enclosed fees scale 3. The Secretariat requests the payment of the same amount to the respondent at the time of the filing of the statement of defence, pursuant to art. 3. 4. Should a party not make a requested payment, the Secretariat may request the other party to make a substitute payment. In such an occurrence, the amount of the substitute payment will be mentioned in the final award as a credit of the fulfilling party. 5. Within five days from the filing of the statement of defence, the Secretariat shall request to the parties the payment of a fund for the coverage of the administrative costs equal to the 30% of the enclosed fees, to be equally shared by both parties, apart from the final allocation of the expenses decided by the arbitrators. This payment shall be condition for the continuation of the proceedings. 6. Should the value of the dispute be initially indeterminate or indeterminable, the Secretariat shall request to all parties the payment of an amount equal to the 30% of the second bracket of the enclosed fees scale. 7. Should no payment be made within the time limit of 20 days of the receipt of the request for the fund by the Secretariat, the proceedings shall be considered abandoned. Should the advance payment not be made in full within the same time limit, the Secretariat shall give notice of the nonpayment to the parties. In this case the defaulting party shall provide for the integration of the payment within the further time limit of 10 days from the receipt of the notice. 8. Should the further time limit of 10 days elapse in vain, the proceedings shall be considered abandoned. In case of abandon of the proceedings, all the parties are jointly obliged to pay the amount determined by the Technical Board as cost for the services provided by the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration and in no case they can claim the refund of the paid amount. 9. During the proceedings the Secretariat shall request further advance payments up to the 80% of the enclosed fees scale. The payments shall be shared among all the parties, apart from the final allocation of the expenses deliberated by the arbitrators. Should no further advance payment be made within the time limit of 30 days from the receipt of the request, the proceedings shall be suspended. 10. Elapsed the time limit of 2 months from the notice of the suspension of the proceedings without any payment from the parties, the Technical Board shall deliberate the cancellation of the proceedings. 11. Copies of the expense records shall be forwarded to the Secretariat in order to assess the occurrence of the payments. 12. At the end of the proceedings, the Technical Board shall determine the final amount of the Chamber’s administrative costs and the final amount of the fees for the sole arbitrator and the arbitral panel, taking into account the complexity of the dispute, the rapidity of the proceedings and the work done by the arbitral body. 13. Should the arbitration proceedings come to an end before the rendering of the award, the Technical Board shall determine the costs of the proceedings referring to the work performed. Art. 26 – Chamber’s administrative costs 1. The Chamber’s administrative costs, as provided for by the enclosed scale, are the amounts which are due to the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration for its secretarial services and are determined by the Technical Board on the grounds of the economical value of the dispute. Art. 27 – Fees and costs of arbitrators 1. Fees and costs of the arbitral body shall be determined by the Technical Board on the grounds of the enclosed scale. In determining the fees, the Technical Board shall take into account, on the basis of the economic value of the dispute, the complexity of the dispute, the rapidity of the proceedings and the work performed by the arbitral body. 2. In case of Arbitral panel, the Technical Board fix the percentage difference regarding the fees for the chairman of the panel compared to those of the other arbitrators. 3. The reimbursement of the expenses of arbitrators shall be proved by relevant expense records. In the absence of any production, the expenses shall be deemed to be included in the fees. 4. During the proceedings, the arbitral body may request an advance payment of the fees and costs up to a maximum amount of 50% of the lowest enclosed fee. TITOLO VI – RULES REGARDING ARBITRATION “RITUALE” Art. 28 – Rules of law and ex aequo et bono 1. Should the arbitration clause for arbitration “rituale” (institutional arbitration) not indicate whether the arbitral body shall decide in accordance with the rules of law or ex aequo et bono, the arbitral body shall decide in accordance with the rules, save during the first hearing the arbitral body itself decides for the ex aequo et bono solution in accordance with the parties. Art. 29 –Obligation to confidentiality 1. The Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration, the arbitrators and the expert witnesses are bound to keep confidential any piece of information concerning the proceedings. 2. The award may be published only with the prior written consent of the parties to the Chamber of Arbitration. Art. 30 – Safekeeping of documents 1. The Secretariat shall keep files for a period of 5 years. TITOLO VII – RULES REGARDING ARBITRATION “IRRITUALE” Art. 31 – Rules of law and ex aequo et bono 1. In the arbitration “irrituale” (amicable arbitration), the arbitral body is dispensed from proceedings formalities except those provided for by these Rules and, with respect to the principle of debate, it deliberates in accordance with the rules of law through written decision. The parties may nevertheless request a decision ex aequo et bono. TITOLO VIII – RULES REGARDING ARBITRATION Art. 32 – Proceedings 1. Arbitrators are dispensed from proceedings formalities other than those provided for by these Rules, which applies as consistent. Unless different agreement of the parties, they deliberate ex aequo et bono taking into account the impartial determination criteria of values provided for by custom and trade usages. 2. Arbitration is submitted to the rules provided for by artt. 18, 19 and 20. Art. 33 – Management Arbitration 1. Should parties have not provided, in the deed of incorporation, articles of association or subsequent pacts, for the number of the third arbitrators to whom to submit the decision on disputes among administrators as to the management of the company, it is a sole arbitrator appointed by the Technical Board who shall decide. 2. Should there be no provision as to the procedure of appointment, the sole arbitrator or the arbitrators shall be appointed by the Technical Board. 3. Whereas the parties have agreed that each of them shall appoint an arbitrator or that the arbitrator shall be appointed by common agreement but they fail to do so, the arbitrator shall be appointed by the Technical Board. Art. 5 (5) of these Rules shall apply. 4. The arbitrator or the arbitrators may also give mandatory indications on issues connected to those submitted, as long as they are related to the company management. The arbitral decision is not open to appeal before other arbitrators. It is exclusively appealable pursuant to art. 1349 ( 2) of the Civil Code. TITLE IX – RULES REGARDING CONTRACT SURVEY Art. 34 – Proceedings 1. The Chamber of Arbitration shall appoint experts upon request, in order to make chekings and investigations upon concerted warrant of the parties. 2. Experts shall be appointed by the parties or, upon their proxy, by the Technical Board of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration. They may request to the parties an advance payment for fees and costs. 3. The expert report shall be filed in original with the Secretariat of the Real Estate Chamber of Arbitration, which shall forward an authenticated copy to the parties.