The Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996) s.6(1) defines arbitration agreements and section 6(2) deals with incorporation of arbitration agreements by reference: (1) In this Part an ‘‘arbitration agreement’’ means an agreement to submit to arbitration present or future disputes (whether they are contractual or not). (2) The reference in an agreement to a written form of arbitration clause or to a document containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration agreement if the reference is such as to make that clause part of the agreement. It would appear, at first sight, that referring to a written agreement containing an arbitration clause is sufficient for there to be an ‘‘arbitration agreement’’. However, the law is never that simple. Case law suggests that, in most circumstances, a general reference to a contract will not incorporate the arbitration provisions within that contract. If a party wishes to incorporate the arbitration provisions then it will need to refer expressly to those provisions.