Executive Summary Construction claims are generated using many tools and many different methodologies. Read here to learn some of the basic to intermediate approaches. What’s a claim? A construction claim is a request made by a Contractor usually asking for time and/or money as it relates to a particular matter […]
Another Contractor Claims Tool: ASCE 71-21 Identifying, Quantifying, and Proving Loss of Productivity
Executive Summary Loss of productivity claims for contractors are common, and always difficult to be successful with against an owner. ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), primarily an Owner’s advocate, has provided contractors with another tool for their toolbox: ASCE Standard 71-21 Identifying, Quantifying, and Proving Loss of Productivity. It […]
Inside the Contractor’s Mind: Bidding, Change Orders, & Claims
Executive Summary Scott Jennings and Patrick Mullen gave a very frank presentation on what runs through the contractor’s mind in his/her creation of a bid, formulation of a change order, and preparation of a claim. Both cost and time. What’s covered in this presentation? This presentation presents reality. Without very […]
Trained or Untrained? Being Claim-Ready
Executive Summary Contractors that deal with tough projects, tough clients, and/or tough contracts need to be in a mindset of always being claim-ready. Here’s the start to being trained and claim-ready. When you say “claim”-ready, you mean? A “claim” in this context is really meant to mean impact, or change […]
Delay Letter: A Template & How to Write One
Executive Summary As a contractor, the notification of delay is critical. Here are the important ingredients to a delay letter. Why do I need one? Say you’re on a project and you are losing time – you are delayed. If it’s your fault, you better catch up. If it’s someone […]
The Leonard Curves: Another Tool in Labor Loss Quantification
Executive Summary Charles Leonard performed a study which resulted in the Leonard Curves. These curves may be a helpful tool to quantify your labor productivity loss due to cumulative impacts on your project. The Deeper Dive Revay and Associates Limited out of Canada wrote a great comparison article between the […]
Bucketing – the Proper Claim Accounting Method
Executive Summary The categorization of costs incurred in a changed condition scenario is critical in dispute resolution. Account for costs by issue and sub-issue by creating buckets of costs. Do it early! Here Come the Extra Costs When you (the contractor) experience a change, whether you have notified the owner […]
Delay Types – Top 4 List
Executive Summary Contractors experience all sorts of delays. This article covers what, arguably, may be the four most common types: inexcusable, excusable, compensable, and concurrent. Where do I Start with a Delay Analysis? Projects can be delayed for multiple reasons and the first question that must be asked to assign […]
Top 6 Ingredients of a Letter
Executive Summary Letters in the construction industry, during the course of a project, usually are reserved for contentious issues or to satisfy notification requirements. Here are six of the most important and common ingredients in these letters. Why do we Write Letters? Emails are commonplace these days, but writing a […]
Day Labeling: Insult Your Client with Simplicity
Executive Summary Construction contracts are almost always measured in some sort of day: a working day or a calendar day. In analysis and project communication, kill the doubt for the reader and always define the type of day in every use of the word “day”. What’s a Work Day? A […]
Anatomy of a Change
Executive Summary Construction changes are generally handled in a similar way in most contracts. As a contractor you can develop good habits and controls to ensure you capture time and cost impacts. Anatomy of a Change Changes occur in a majority of construction contracts. Knowing how to track them and […]
Quantifying the Loss in Labor Productivity: the MCAA Factors
Executive Summary There are very few “court-accepted” ways a contractor can quantify his or her loss as a result of labor productivity, or lack thereof. MCAA’s (Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Inc.) document PD 2 Factors Affecting Labor Productivity is one of the most widely used methods in practice. See […]
The #1 Driver of a Construction Claim
Executive Summary A construction claim is a dispute in the Work as it was contemplated in the original construction documents. However, a large percentage of what drives a claim is not the Contract. It’s the people. It’s personalities. The Spark Losing money. That’s what drives contractors to spar with an […]
Is One RFI One Too Many?
Executive Summary. How many RFIs (requests for information) are too many on a construction project? Is it time, is it possible, to tie the number of RFIs on a job to the cost impact suffered by a contractor? What is an RFI? “RFI” is an acronym standing for Request for […]
The Basics of Advanced Scheduling Terminology
Executive Summary. It’s important as a contractor, or even as an owner’s representative, to know a bit more than the basics of scheduling. Familiarity of some of the terms is helpful regardless of what side of the table you’re on: Contractor or Owner. The terms. When a project starts to […]
Instant Resolution of Contractor Overhead Daily Cost
Executive Summary. Projects often experience delays for which the Contractor is awarded additional time. The determination of the per day reimbursement to the Contractor for this time is fraught with protracted analysis and negotiation. Owners should consider the time related overhead bid item for instant resolution. The Problem. It happens every day – the […]
Avoid Claims with a Pre-Bid Analysis
In a best case scenario, a construction claim will make the contractor financially whole again on the matter. In a worst case scenario, the contractor goes out of business. Most claims conclude somewhere in between with all parties unhappy.
Spearin and Modified Total Cost Method Adopted in Missouri
One of contractors’ most reliable defenses, the Spearin Doctrine, has been upheld in a Missouri Court. Certainly, for Missourians, this is a good thing, and to the extent, others may be able to reference this case or use a similar approach in claims, is a win for the construction industry.
Choosing a Construction Consultant
Once the decision is made to engage a consultant, choosing the firm to assist you can be one of the biggest challenges. Consider asking key questions to flush out the quality and value of the service.
Construction Claims Hierarchy
Construction claims are an unfortunate part of the construction process in today’s world. When you have a claim, know the order of hierarchy in your presentation of the data for maximum remuneration from the client.
Standardized Contracts and ConsensusDocs: a Win-Win
Download PDF Executive Summary: Standardized contracts provide tremendous benefit to the construction industry – they benefit the owner and the contractor. ConsensusDocs is the leading standardized contracts provider utilizing plain speak and fair risk allocation. Consider using them on your next project. [QR1] What’s out there now. We’d all agree that […]
A Cheap Lawyer
Download PDF Executive Summary: Construction projects are becoming more and more litigious. The cost of outside counsel is practically its own line item in a contractor’s estimate these days. Hiring a junior attorney today for pennies may later save you dollars. The problem. I was listening in on a webinar […]
Temperature Effects on Productivity
Download PDF Executive Summary: Effects of weather on labor productivity can be difficult to quantify. Consider efficiency factors generated by the National Electrical Contractor’s Association and presented by Adrian & Adrian in Total Productivity and Quality Management for Construction. This is also discussed in many other publications. Why and when […]