Case Studies
The Challenge
During the construction of a 42 story luxury high-rise building in LA, a loss event caused substantial damage and delayed construction for months. A builder’s risk and delay start up insurance claim were filed. Agreement could not be reached on the extent of the impact the delay event had on the construction and the ultimate completion of the building. A federal court case followed to resolve the dispute.
Our service
The loss event during construction had several repercussions and influenced all trades and numerous subcontractors. Many activities had to be re-scheduled and accelerated to try and minimize the impact. Our main objective was to provide an expert report with a detailed analysis of the delay and the impact on the project. We carefully assessed relevant information to inform our choice of the most appropriate delay analysis methodology. The fact that an insurance claim was involved provided a layer of complexity. Three of the common delay analysis methods were utilized and the results were portrayed in a simplified and accessible manner.
The outcome
The method of delay analysis became a matter of contention during the case. The delay analysis method employed by the opposing expert differed substantially from ours. A request for summary judgment was put before the court and the judge ruled in favor of our method of analysis. Our thorough analysis supported by industry best practice was of tremendous benefit to our client’s case.
HELPING A CONTRACTOR TO FORMULATE SUCCESSFUL DELAY CLAIMS
A large number of delays were experience during the construction of educational facilities. The claims submitted by the our client, a general contractor, for additional time had a poor success record. The contractual completion date was fast approaching and our client was faced with the reputational and financial risk of late completion. See how our unique claim formulation saved the day.
The Challenge
Our client, a general contractor responsible for the construction of school buildings approached us to assist with delay claims. A large number of delays were experience during construction but the claims submitted by the contractor for additional time had a poor success record. The contractual completion date was fast approaching and our client was faced with the reputational and financial risk of late completion.
Our service
Our starting point was to analyze all the delay claims submitted to date. The main finding of the analysis process was that the progress was indeed impacted by excusable delays. However, the delay claims that were submitted attempted to capture the impact of the delays but did not succeed in this objective.
We utilized our tried and tested delay claim formulation method to re-formulate the claims. The application of the method showed that in the majority of the claims the actual impact on the completion date was under estimated and not properly motivated. We developed a comprehensive claim report for each claim clearly showing the impact and motivating for additional time.
The outcome
Based on the strength of our report the owner’s representative agreed to re-assessed the previous submitted claims. After scrutinizing our report the owner agreed to the additional time substantiated by our report. The contractual completion date was extended saving our client from paying substantial amounts in damages.
FAIR AND TRANSPARENT OUTCOME FOR A VERY COMPLEX DELAY CLAIM
A mix used development consisting of office, hotel and retail components experienced a severe delay as a result of unforeseen conditions that necessitated structural design changes. The impact of the delay was far reaching and extremely difficult to accurate quantify. Our client, the owner’s representative, was mindful that the delay might end in a dispute as the outcome would have a detrimental financial impact. Our ground breaking claim assessment model was able to deliver an outcome that satisfied all parties involved. n either the owner or general contractor.
The Challenge
A mix used development consisting of office, hotel and retail components experienced a severe delay as a result of unforeseen ground conditions that necessitated structural design changes. The impact of the delay was far reaching and extremely difficult to accurate quantify. Our client, the owner’s representative, was mindful that the delay might end in a dispute as the outcome would have a detrimental financial impact on either the owner or general contractor.
Our service
Our brief was to analyze the cause and effect of the delay. We started by reviewing the construction contract, construction programme and associated documents. The next step was to carefully assess all information relating to the delay. After we were familiar with the circumstances of the delay we arranged a clarification meeting with the general contractor and our client. After the meeting we had sufficient information to feed into our unique delay analysis model. By means of the model we were able to quantify the impact of the delay and to address all the contractual requirements related to the claim. The findings were summarised in a detailed report and presented to our client.
The outcome
The process of how our unique delay assessment model was applied was explained in a report. Our assessment model we were able to explain the impact of the delay in a simplistic manner. Both our client and the general contractor were satisfied that our assessment model was able to quantify the impact fairly and transparently and accepted our recommendations. The risk of a costly dispute resolution process was avoided.
