Services
Expert Engineering & Construction Cost, Damages, & Claims Consultants
Long International applies a phased approach to engineering and construction claims analysis. Our tasks depend on work a client has already performed, availability of project documentation, issues in dispute, and the timing of required work products as defined by arbitration and litigation schedules.
Our personnel are licensed professional engineers, cost and schedule experts, or experienced construction management professionals, who have the design, procurement, and construction experience to analyze issues related to:
Quantum and Damages: Cost-Based Engineering and Construction Claims
Quantum and Damages: Loss of Labor Productivity
Quantum and Damages: Product Deficiency or Defective Project Performance
Schedule Delay and Acceleration
Project Management Performance: Standard of Care
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An Overview of Our Phased Approach
Phase I: Project Orientation, Preliminary Document Review, and Work Plan Development
During Phase I, our expert construction damages consultants first review any pleadings, statements of claim or defense, contractor claims, and owner defenses and counterclaims. We then perform a preliminary review of relevant project documents prepared prior to and during project execution.
Phase II: Document Database Development and Preliminary Analysis
During Phase II, we perform tasks that our client requires as part of an arbitration or litigation schedule. In addition, other potential Phase II tasks include, but are not limited to, developing a document database, analyzing contract(s), reviewing invitations to bid, job instructions, procedures, and proposals, reviewing drawings and specifications, analyzing change orders, identifying, organizing, and reviewing cost data, developing macro analyses for man-hour variance, quantity variance, labor productivity, and cost variance, and evaluating and selecting schedule delay analysis methodology options.
Phase III: Detailed Analysis
After our preliminary analysis of documentation and technical, schedule, and cost issues, we perform detailed analyses that support the opinions we express in our expert reports. The tasks our construction cost experts perform during Phase III are definitive analyses that substantiate preliminary findings. We tailor them to our client’s needs, the actual scope of work and opinions required, and arbitration or litigation deadlines.
Phase IV: Report Preparation
The work products resulting from our detailed analyses may take many forms, including but not limited to claims or requests for equitable contract adjustments, reports supporting the defendant’s positions against claims, PowerPoint presentations, or expert reports. Arbitration or litigation may require one or more expert reports, plus rebuttal reports to critique other experts’ reports, and joint expert reports.
Some arbitrations also require that opposing construction damages experts meet to attempt to narrow the issues and document this effort in reports. For each claim document, presentation, or expert report, our work plan is to: (a) prepare draft claim documents, presentations, or reports; (b) review our draft claim documents, presentations, or reports with the client; and (c) prepare final claim documents, presentations, or reports.
Phase V: Arbitration and Litigation Testimony
If arbitration or litigation requires expert testimony, our work may include preparing for testimony, providing expert testimony at depositions, and providing arbitration and/or litigation expert testimony and support throughout a hearings or trial as required.
Other tasks that our clients may request us to perform during arbitration or court proceedings include but are not limited to: assisting with drafting requests for arbitration, detailed memorials and statements of claim for arbitration, responses, and counterclaims; assisting with settlement negotiations; preparing presentations for use at mediations; assisting with developing document requests and interrogatories from opposing parties and deposition questions for opposing witnesses; preparing witness statements; and preparing graphics for technical issues and/or presentations.
Construction Claims Methodology
Our construction claims methodology incorporates a systematic process involving problem identification, document analysis, development of computerized document databases, contract analysis, entitlement analysis, establishment of cause-effect relationships often requiring CPM schedule analyses, and damages analysis and calculations.