Mitigating International Construction Claims Seminar

As global financial markets tighten; enhanced delivery methods, innovative design approaches, improved methodologies, new technologies and globalization provide immense opportunity for mitigating construction costs. Construction projects involve a great deal of time and capital, so effective construction cost management skills are required if projects are to be completed within the established budget requirements. Owners increasingly require that new innovations be integrated into their projects to minimize cost and increase profitability. Each construction project carries inherent opportunities, benefits, risks and pitfalls which can directly impact an owner’s profit.

This four-day program will benefit all project managers and engineers seeking a better understanding of today’s complex construction claims management process. It will examine the roles, responsibilities and perspectives of the parties involved in the construction claims process and provide an overview of construction claims management, identify common contract-related pricing issues and considerations, demonstrate a proper change order management process, and discuss strategies and tactics for identifying, quantifying and presenting claims. Attendees will learn the fundamentals necessary to implement a successful claims management program – one that helps each party reap the benefits and opportunities while minimizing potential claims. Participants will acquire an understanding of proven techniques and methods globally recognized as industry best practices to successfully plan and execute projects. In this program, you will learn how to:

Seminar highlights:

  • Develop & Manage Effective Contracts
  • Create a Proper Change Order Management Control System
  • Identify & Quantify Construction Claims
  • Prepare & Present Construction Claims
  • Implement Effective Scheduling
  • Benchmark & Improve Productivity
  • Leverage Technology for a Competitive Edge

Who should attend?

This four-day seminar is designed for project managers, presidents, vice presidents, owners, engineers, controllers, accountants, contract managers, architects, purchasing professionals, quantity surveyors, facilities managers, contractors, subcontractors, developers, principals, insurance professionals and other construction professionals.

Seminar outline

I. Course Introduction
Review of fundamental construction claims management concepts from the global perspective. From planning to project completion, this session provides an overall view of the course addressing concerns attendees face in the profession.

  • Overview and objectives of the course
  • Contract and risk management
  • Change order management
  • Construction claims management
  • Project scheduling
  • Construction productivity
  • Construction technology

II. Developing & Managing Effective Contracts
Developing effective contracts to appropriately mitigate risk lays the foundation for a successful project. This session focuses on project delivery systems with an emphasis on key contract considerations from a construction consultant’s point of view. Acquire skills to assess impacts of various contract clauses on the overall performance of projects. The management team will benefit from the following:

  • Advantages and disadvantages of common construction contracts
  • Comparing contracts for different project delivery systems
  • How various contracts effect different team members
  • General performance requirements and clauses for consideration
  • Identifying and quantifying contingencies

III. Change Order Management
Change orders can negatively impact a party’s performance on a construction project. While one change order may not result in a delay or disruption, the cumulative impact of changes can result in impacts. This session will focus on the identification and management of changes and capturing the required evidence to establish causation and quantify delays and disruptions resulting from cumulative impacts from changes throughout construction

  • Creating a proper control system
  • Identifying and documenting changes
  • Managing the change order process
  • Negotiating changes
  • Capturing evidence for claims preparation
  • Defining the claims process

IV. Identifying International Construction Claims
A claim can lead to costly disputes affecting your bottom line. Identifying and addressing claims prior to project completion can mitigate potential disputes from arising. Claims prevention and administration techniques will be addressed to enable you to prevent disputes.

  • Identification of construction claims
  • Strategies utilized to mitigate construction claims
  • Negotiating claims
  • Documenting claims to support the legal process

V. Quantifying International Construction Claims
Quantification of construction claims is a diligent effort, as they are often intertwined between various aspects of the project, such as cost estimating, scheduling, sequencing and project management. This session will discuss the quantification and evaluation of construction claims including:

  • Quantifying delays, disruptions and productivity loss
  • Building your case for damages
  • Types of damages
  • Establishing proof of delays & disruptions
  • Damage cause and effect

VI. Claims Preparation & Presentation
This session will cover how to prepare an effective claim and present the claim in a way that will maximize your ability to recover potential losses.

  • Justifying claims
  • Claims resolution
  • Demonstrative aids
  • Construction claim presentation and negotiation

VII. How to Implement Effective Scheduling
Project constraints can lead the construction manager down the wrong path developing an unrealistic or useless schedule. This session discusses both the fundamentals and advanced concepts of scheduling providing recommendations on how and when to implement them.

  • Scheduling basics
  • Development of a realistic baseline schedules
  • Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling
  • Revisions and updates to the schedule
  • Resource loading and reporting

VII. Ways to Benchmark and Improve Productivity
Construction productivity continues to lag behind other industries. Understanding how to monitor and improve productivity on a project is a key skill set that will enable you to effectively execute your project and set you apart from your competitors. This session addresses the means and methods in which any construction professional can use to ensure their projects remain optimally productive.

  • Factors affecting productivity
  • Measuring productivity
  • On-site productivity improvement methods
  • Implementing productivity programs

IX. Leveraging Technology for Mitigating Construction Claims
Effective communication, planning, estimation, scheduling and project analysis can be performed by simple clicks of a mouse with the advent of technology. Understanding technologies available and how to use them will give you a competitive edge.

  • Scheduling and planning tools
  • Risk quantification techniques and tools
  • Cost estimating software
  • 3D, 4D and 5D modeling applications
  • Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Disclaimer: These seminars are intended to be a source of general information on specific topics. The interpretation and application of these seminars’ contents may vary from project to project depending upon, but not limited to the executed contract, the parties’ actions or inactions, or other contemporaneous project documents. While the information in these seminars are intended but not guaranteed to be accurate, no representations or warranties are made, express or implied, that this information is correct, complete, or up-to-date.