Article 5. Arbitration Agreement  

    (710 ILCS 30/5-5)
    Sec. 5-5. Definition and form of arbitration agreement.
    (a) "Arbitration agreement" is an agreement by the parties to submit to arbitration all or certain disputes that have arisen or that may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not. An arbitration agreement may be in the form of an arbitration clause in a contract or in the form of a separate agreement.
    (b) The arbitration agreement shall be in writing. An agreement is in writing if it is contained in a document signed by the parties or in an exchange of letters, telex, telegrams, or other means of telecommunication that provides a record of the agreement or in an exchange of statements of claim and defense in which the existence of an agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by another. The reference in a contract to a document containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration agreement, provided that the contract is in writing and the reference is such as to make that clause part of the contract.
(Source: P.A. 90-631, eff. 7-24-98.)

    (710 ILCS 30/5-10)
    Sec. 5-10. Arbitration agreement and substantive claim before court.
    (a) A court before which an action is brought in a matter that is the subject of an arbitration agreement shall, if a party so requests not later than when submitting his or her first statement on the substance of the dispute, refer the parties to arbitration unless it finds that the agreement is null and void, inoperative, or incapable of being performed.
    (b) When an action referred to in subsection (a) of this Section has been brought, arbitral proceedings may nevertheless be commenced or continued, and an award may be made, while the issue is pending before the court.
(Source: P.A. 90-631, eff. 7-24-98.)

    (710 ILCS 30/5-15)
    Sec. 5-15. Arbitration agreement and interim measures by court. It is not incompatible with an arbitration agreement for a party to request, before or during arbitral proceedings, from a court an interim measure of protection and for a court to grant the measure.
(Source: P.A. 90-631, eff. 7-24-98.)