Is a plaintiff entitled to claim costs from an arbitrator when the arbitrator has made an error of judgment?

Unquestionably, it is preferable for the issue of costs to be resolved by the arbitrator when he or she renders the decision on the merits. "If the purpose of judicial arbitration is to avoid traditional litigation, then that avoidance should be as complete as possible, with the arbitrator deciding all disputed issues including the amount of costs to be awarded, which will then be subject to judicial determination only upon a request for trial de novo." (Dickens v. Lee, supra, 230 Cal.App.3d at p. 989, 281 Cal.Rptr. 783.) Nevertheless, absent any statutory or judicial authority requiring the determination of costs to be made at the time of the arbitration award, a prevailing party is not precluded from claiming those costs by the procedure employed in similar circumstances after a civil judgment. We therefore decline defendant's oblique request that a prevailing party be punished for the oversight of the arbitrator.