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Test Post from http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com

Test Post from http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com

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Adjudication of an EoT

New Post has been published on http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com/adjudication-of-an-eot/

Adjudication of an EoT

When the negotiation process collapses the most common form of tribunal is an Adjudication. In fact in the construction industry the law requires that you have to take your dispute to an adjudication.

A single adjudicator is appointed by an independent body such as RICS or RIBA and they have 28 calendar days to review the evidence in the form of expert reports and legal pleadings.

Although my fee is paid by my client my duty is to the adjudicator in assisting him/her to reach a just decision. I have to remain independent and not act as an advocate.

It is rare that an adjudicator appointed on an Extension of Time case has a full understanding of delay analysis techniques – he may have read a book or two but has only a superficial understanding of the methods put before him.

He will not like being bamboozled by technical wizardry framed in charts and graphs.

He likes facts simply set down in words and dates and the occasional simple chart that shows cause and effect.

The process is simple:

1.      The complaining party puts in its referral for an adjudication.

2.      The defending party is then given a set number of days to put in its defense in the form of a reply

3.      The complainer then has a few more days to respond with a rejoinder.

4.      The defender then is allowed to submit a sur rejoinder and that is when the process usually ends although a final exchange is sometimes permitted if the adjudicator needs some points clarifying.

5.      Sometimes the adjudicator will call a meeting to question the experts face to face.

6.      Then the award is issued.

The award is final and even if it is hopelessly wrong it cannot be changed unless the adjudicator is biased or wrong in law.

It is rough justice sometimes and can be intense and nerve racking during the process – but I love it.

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Forensic Delay Analysis

New Post has been published on http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com/forensic-delay-analysis/

Forensic Delay Analysis

Construction Projects are often finished later than the agreed contracted period.

When this happens a lot of money is at stake and it is my job to investigate the evidence and ascertain what happened to cause the delay.

This is the “Forensic” bit in sifting the evidence and finding out who did what, where and when.

Delay analysts like to shroud their “Dark Arts” in mystery laden jargon and technical synonyms but in reality it is a very simple process.

At the start of the Contract the builder will have set out how and when he will be doing the work in the form of a Construction Programme.

The programme at the end of the job will be somewhat different and usually much longer.

All I have to do is explain the cause and effect of the differences and this is done by examining what documentation is available in the records.

I also rely on my 50 years experience of the construction process to know what is possible and what is not.

I also need to know about construction law and contract formation to decide on the process to be followed and what will stand up as evidence in court and what will be disallowed.

In the end I have to describe what “on the balance of probability” caused the delays and finally “who owes what to who”.

Most often the matter is settled by negotiation between the parties but occasionally the dispute is settled by a tribunal and my task then shifts to that of Expert Witness.

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Projected As Built

New Post has been published on http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com/projected-as-built/

Projected As Built

1 Basic Outline 1.1 Old Tricks 1.1.1 There is nothing new about the Projected As Built method of delay analysis – it is how we did it using graph paper and crayons before programming software came along. 1.1.2 It is time to teach new planners old tricks. 1.1.3 In fact you do not need to be a planner to use this method – even a QS can do it.. 1.2 Passive Comparison 1.2.1 The Projected As Built method: 1.2.1.1 Compares the planned intention with what actually happened. 1.2.1.2 Explains the cause of the difference between the As Planned and As Built tasks 1.2.1.3 Projects the Work to Complete to demonstrate the delay effect 1.2.1.4 Enables Common Sense to interpret the results. 1.3 What is Needed 1.3.1 A basic construction program. 1.3.2 A proven list of events. 1.3.3 A basic As Built schedule showing start and finsh of programme tasks. 1.4 What is NOT Needed. 1.4.1 Logic or critical path in the programme – if it is there then ignore it. 2 Facts and Common Sense 2.1 The 5 facts to assemble 2.1.1 Fact 1 – The Contract Duration 2.1.2 Fact 2 – The location in the programme of the delayed task 2.1.3 Fact 3 – The duration of the work to complete plus any total float attached to the task 2.1.4 Fact 4 – The dates and duration of the As Built task 2.1.5 Fact 5 – The dates and duration of the Delaying Event 2.2 Common Sense Interpretation 2.2.1 There will be more than I possible interpretation of the result which will require common sense derived from experience – this article explores 5 possible cases. 2.2.1.1 Case 1 – Employer’s Delay 2.2.1.2 Case 2 – Contractor’s As Built Delay 2.2.1.3 Case 3 – Contractor Uses Float 2.2.1.4 Case 4 – Employer Uses Float 2.2.1.5 Case 5 – Both Use Float And this is the summary: 1 Conclusion 1.1 Advantages. 1.1.1 The main advantages of the method of delay analysis are: 1.1.1.1 It is based entirely on demonstrable facts which are difficult to challenge. 1.1.1.2 Events can be demonstrated in any order to show individual and/or cumulative effect. 1.1.1.3 It can be used for work in progress or forensic analysis. 1.1.1.4 Issues such as concurrency and float usage are clearly demonstrated. 1.1.1.5 It is valid for any form of contract and jurisdiction. 1.1.1.6 It is so simple that even a judge can understand it. 1.2 Disadvantages 1.2.1 There is only one disadvantage that I have discovered. 1.2.1.1 Established delay analysts do not like it and will attempt to rubbish the presentation. (actually that is another advantage)

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Disrupted Works

New Post has been published on http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com/disrupted-works/

Disrupted Works

I have developed a method of measuring disruption by comparing the As Planned labour down time with the As Built actual labour disruption.

I call it the Measured Gaps Method.

You need to start a detailed level 4 baseline programme that has been resource loaded and modeled.

If there are no resources then these can be added provided it is done properly and skillfully.

From the resourced As Planned baseline generate a histogram showing the planned resource deployment. This will show peaks and troughs and some gaps when no labour is deployed at all.

This will be the measure of the down time inherent in the tender price. Estimators rarely seek this information to start with so it will be a loss to start with but it is your measurement base.

This can be leveled as an average per working day.

Now you need the detailed As Built data which you use to generate the As Built programme.

The As Built programme will have the same resource allowance as the original. Do not include VO’s or Delay Events you only want the simple As Built dates.

Now generate the labour histogram and you will see a different set of peaks and troughs and gaps.

Again this can be expressed as an average per working day.

The difference between the planned average and the as built average is the calculation of the labour disruption over the tender allowance.

This can be converted to money by using the Contract day rates.

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Construction Delay

New Post has been published on http://www.expertdelayanalysis.com/construction-delay/

Construction Delay

Construction Delay Delay to construction work is a common feature in the industry and nobody has yet worked out a way to avoid it. A definition of delay is when the planned / contract completion date is earlier than the actual completion date. The reasons for this are manifold but the most common ones are:

Planning Errors The quality of construction planning is generally dire because the people putting together the schedule do not understand the construction process.

Optimistic Tendering The MD says “That’s too long we will never get the job with that duration – lop 3 months off” so the planner does.

Changes Most contracts have a mechanism for changes in the design or specification. Changes cause delay. There should also be a mechanism for changing the contract completion date which is invariably ignored.

Contractor Mistakes These are routine in the complexity of a construction project and the contractor invariably tries to cover them up causing more delay.

Third Parties Planning Authorities decisions – English Heritage – Statutory Authorities all have the entitlement and the ability to delay the works. Which they exercise gleefully.

Construction Delay This will delay the works but contractors are reluctant to make a claim because there is no money attached.