Why Construction Claims Occur and How to Prevent Them

Construction has always been a risky business; however, today's construction marketplace contains risk elements that relate to responsibilities and performance issues defined by the contract as well as outside factors that impinge on the performance of the field work. These risks can cause substantial increase in time and cost of contract performance if not adequately mitigated. Thus, claims for increased time of performance and increased direct and indirect costs may be inevitable on complex engineering and construction projects. This text identifies the most common reasons why construction claims occur and what owners and contractors can and should do to prevent them.

Topics discussed include the following:

       Situations causing costly claims

       Why construction disputes occur and how to promote early and amicable settlements

       Assessment of problems associated with poor project management performance

       Typical problems leading to delays, cost overruns, and claims on process plant and offshore oil & gas projects

       Claims prevention-early mitigation steps

       Project reviews

       Site investigation

       Claims mitigation during construction

       Cost control for the project manager

       Effective change order management

       Keys to successful major project execution

       Project team motivators and demotivators

       Claims can be mitigated if the owner coordinates and cooperates on multi-prime construction projects

       Commercial awareness training for EPC projects

       Contractor's risk analysis to reduce the risk of claims

       Owner and contractor guidelines to prevent claims

       Construction claims analysis checklist