Experience Matters

The project centered on the installation of a 230 kV transmission line: 24 miles underground and 3.5 miles overhead, through an extremely diverse and environmentally sensitive and challenged series of districts. The major infrastructure subcontractor alleged major delay and disruption impacts caused by the main contractor. Engaged to provide claim support services to the main contractor against the subcontractor’s claims. Prepared a defense position paper involving a CPM analysis, disruption analysis, and contract entitlement to rebut the subcontractor’s expert report, which ultimately resulted in mediation proceedings and a series of settlement negotiations. Also provided claims avoidance training and lessons learned reviews to the main contractor construction team to facilitate improved management of future similar projects.

Reviewed an owner’s contract for the engineering, procurement, and construction of a chemical plant. Recommended changes to project management, scheduling, and project controls provisions to improve the owner’s visibility into the progress reporting on the project. Provided a Claims Prevention Seminar.

Assisted an owner in the defense of a $12 million claim on a project involving the design, delivery and construction of a new cement production line from ore receiving to finish mill and product loadout. The EPC contractor claimed increased costs due to alleged owner-caused delays and disruption arising from late delivery of proprietary design information, materials, and equipment; and impacts to labor productivity due to numerous changes to the work and contractor’s alleged acceleration to overcome delays.

On behalf of an owner, performed analyses and prepared expert reports regarding schedule delays and increased costs associated with an EPC contractor’s $138 million claim on a gas plant expansion project. The work involved correction of the contractor’s baseline schedule and schedule updates, assessment of impacts allegedly due to change orders, welding defects, late delivery of drawings by the owner, and contractor performance problems. Prepared time impact and As-Built But-For Schedule Analyses to address time extension entitlement, compensable delay, and loss of productivity. Developed a chronological database and assisted the law firm with witness statements and document disclosure requests. Completed a comparative assessment between the project’s radiography records for the rejected pipe joint welds, and the results that were developed from the owner’s radiography expert’s interpretation of the films. Evaluated the opposing experts’ schedule delay and damages analyses and assessment of responsibilities for project management performance problems. Performed extensive schedule quality assurance review studies of the contractor’s contemporaneous EPC project schedules to ensure that these schedules could be used for delay analysis. Identified and documented numerous problems with open-end activities, overuse of constraints, missing original scope, incorrect as-built dates, missing as-built dates, and missing logic links. The dispute was resolved prior to arbitration.

Furnished CPM scheduling services for an electrical subcontractor on the $66 million McCormick Place Convention Center expansion project in Chicago. Worked with the subcontractor’s field staff to develop and monitor a resource-loaded completion schedule that tracked the remaining electrical activities. Updated schedules with job cost and certified payroll information. Correctly calculated the critical path on the electrical work and analyzed impacts from other contractors. Performed productivity studies and provided resource and cost projections used for cash flow and cost-to-complete purposes. Assisted the onsite project management team in the successful closeout of the project.

On behalf of interested underwriters, performed cost and data analysis and prepared an expert report for an insurance adjuster. The claim related to a fire loss that was the result of a line failure that caused an oil-based thinning agent to leak at a bitumen upgrader settling basin. The loss occurred for one of the largest operators in the Canadian oil sands industry and its joint venture companies. The facility is an embankment dam that was, by volume of construction material, the largest earth structure in the world in 2001.

Provided damages analysis to rebut an erection contractor’s $1.6 million claim against a steel fabricator on the Kemper Arena. Analysis was used in a rebuttal report and in cross-examination of the opposing expert.

Reviewed change orders, schedule delays, and pending disputes between a major U.S. chemical company and its mechanical contractor on a methanol plant in Texas. Advised the client as to its exposure regarding the technical issues involved in these issues for purpose of settlement negotiations.

On behalf of an owner, analyzed a South African contractor’s $45 million delay and disruption claim involving the engineering, fabrication, and erection of two oil production facilities for a major U.S. oil company. Visited the facility offshore Angola during hook-up and commissioning to evaluate the contractor’s performance. Advised the client on the merits of the contractor’s claim to facilitate settlement.

On behalf of an owner, performed a detailed schedule quality assurance review of the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up activities of a central processing facility (CPF). The CPF consisted of utilities, inlet separation, two oil trains, associated gas compressors, natural gas liquids and injection gas units. Identified logic problems and overuse of constraints, which made the indicated critical and near-critical paths questionable.