Analysis, Action, Resolution | Driver Consult
Call +44 (0) 870 873 7878 for more information.
Call +44 (0) 870 873 7878 for more information.
Over 100 highly trained and qualified consultants deliver Driver Consult expertise to clients engaged in all aspects of construction and engineering, working with them from inception to completion.
The construction of a project involves a number of parties, from the employer through the designers and the main contractor to, potentially, a host of subcontractors and suppliers, each with its own desires and aspirations with regards to the outcome from delivery of its part of the project. Coupled with this, each construction project is subject to numerous variables and inherently carries risk. All too frequently this leads to one or more of the parties failing to achieve the outcome it anticipated at the outset of the project, leading to a claim under one or more of the following:
Acceleration is perhaps one of the most challenging issues related to the progress and completion of construction projects, and as such gives rise to considerable scope for dispute between parties as to the need for such acceleration, the nature and costs of such acceleration and indeed the tangible effectiveness of same. Further and unfortunately, acceleration ‘schemes’ are frequently excluded from popular forms of building and engineering contract.
Driver Consult regularly maximises its clients’ entitlement in relation to the effects of acceleration firstly by providing clarity and certainty of programme forecasting, and secondly by a clear demonstration of the precise nature and extent acceleration, together with a robust ascertainment of costs. Recently Driver Consult successfully advised a major international contracting organisation on the matter of project progress in connection with a landmark high rise project in the North. The advice ultimately gave rise to a successfully negotiated and concluded acceleration scheme between the client contractor and employer.
The intention of the rules for the assessment of damages is, so far as is possible by means of a monetary award, to place a claimant in the same position that it would have been in if it had not suffered from the alleged breach. In certain cases, depending on the form of contract, a claim may be pursued as a common law damages claim as an alternative to one framed under the contract, in which case the claim will be a matter for agreement between the parties, failing which the issue may be resolved in one of a variety of the various forms of dispute resolution.
Driver Consult frequently assesses strategic issues related to claims under contract or ‘extra contractual’ claims, and provides sensible and effective solutions related to the route for claims to be presented and resolved.
Most standard forms of building and engineering contract contain provisions that allow parties to be reimbursed loss and/or expense. The measure of loss and/or expense is ordinarily the same as that of damages at common law, however framing a claim under the contract conveys numerous advantages.
Claims for loss and/or expense made under contract concern situations and events that are identified on a predetermined basis, which therefore assists parties to focus attention on the contractual and financial implications of these issues. There is also the degree of control which can be maintained in cases where claims are made under contract, allowing disputes to be handled ‘internally’ between parties.
However, many standard forms establish stringent pre-requisites to the reimbursement of loss and/or expense, which can and do give rise to considerable exposure. Driver Consult frequently advises and assists its clients to minimise any exposure which would otherwise preclude or curtail rights to the recovery of their entitlement. Success in this regard is maximised in those cases where Driver Consult is commissioned to ascertain loss and/or expense at early stages in projects.
The occurrence of loss of productivity / disruption gives rise to a significant burden of proof on the part of any party claiming a right to reimbursement, not least in relation to the demonstration of the precise disruptive effect(s) and more importantly the true cause(s).
Driver Consult regularly advises clients in both the prosecution and defence of claims for loss and/or expense due to loss of productivity/disruption, and also regularly prepares such claims. In particular, and most effectively, Driver Consult assists its clients at relatively early stages on live projects to implement appropriate systems of record keeping, both in terms of the causative events giving rise to the loss of production/disruption, and the cost consequences of same.
Similarly and where appropriate, Driver Consult regularly assists clients to devise the most effective means of ascertaining the true cost consequences of any loss of productivity/disruption, having regard for project specific variables. Recently Driver Consult successfully managed the preparation, negotiation and settlement of a £9m disruption claim as part of a £15m dispute concerning the construction of a new £65m power plant.
The identification, recording and management of change on construction projects frequently gives rise to considerable demands being placed on the finite resources of a contracting organisation. Further, it is a popular feature of many standard forms of building and engineering contract to require contractors to assess all of the effects of individual changes fully, within extremely short periods of time, with adverse consequences resulting from any failure and/or inaccuracy on the part of the contractor.
Driver Consult regularly provides its contractor clients with the support, particularly in relation to planning and contractual analysis, to enable contractors to comply with their obligations in terms of change management. In the many cases where the provisions are used to the advantage of the contractor, the integrated team led by Driver Consult has produced the necessary information and material not only to limit the contractor’s exposure, but also to eliminate such exposure through settlement of the issues.