§ 9-9-2.Applicability; exclusive method

This section draws the boundary lines around the entire Georgia Arbitration Code. Subsection (a) sets the timing: agreements made before July 1, 1988 for construction-related disputes fall under an older version of the law, while agreements made on or after that date — and disputes arising on or after that date — fall under the part in force today. Subsection (b) singles out construction contracts, construction warranties, and architectural or engineering design agreements for this transition treatment.

Subsection (c) does the heavier work. It states the general rule that any written agreement to arbitrate is enforceable under this part, and that this part is the exclusive route for enforcing it — a court cannot reach for some other statute or common-law theory to compel or resist arbitration once this part applies. Then it lists ten categories of agreements the part does not reach at all: medical malpractice arbitration, covered by a separate article; collective bargaining agreements; insurance contracts; subjects already governed by another arbitration statute; small consumer loans of $25,000 or less; consumer goods purchases; consumer transactions under the Fair Business Practices Act; residential real estate contracts unless the arbitration clause is separately initialed; employment contracts unless likewise initialed; and pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate future personal injury or wrongful death tort claims.

The initialing requirements in paragraphs (8) and (9) matter in practice. A boilerplate arbitration clause buried in a home-purchase contract or an employment application does not bind the parties under this part unless every signatory initials that specific clause — a small formality that protects people who might otherwise sign away their right to sue without noticing.