Generally retaliate by imposing penalties in construction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Austin tx, Texas, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) June 25, 2011 --

Most contractors are not legal experts and find themselves all too often in a situation where a delay has occurred whereby they did not have the necessary paperwork or records in place to make such a recovery. This leads to frustration and desperation where the contractor starts claiming for everything without proper analysis and in the end tables an unmanageable global claim which leaves a sour taste for all the parties involved. Client's generally retaliate by imposing penalties and delaying payments. The Engineers on the other hand become biased as these claims are seen as a personal attack on their abilities and actions. All of these end up in most cases where a Lawyer or a Claim Consultant's involvement is sought at great expense and to the detriment of the Project.

Obviously in some instances the route of legal intervention is unavoidable due to either party not complying with their obligations under the Contract. However the above scenario sketches the common situation many contractor face in the industry. The process of claiming or identifying delays or loss need not be such a confrontational event. In fact the very purpose of this process is actually to protect both contracting parties and obtain resolution. For the client / Engineer to understand a delay impact prior to its occurrence, will allow him the opportunity to act or rectify and secondly obtain knowledge of the event and the consequences involved. This will ease the tension and pave the way for negotiation where an amicable solution in terms of time and money is found. This is clearly a win-win solution.

In order to achieve this however the Contractor needs to be in control of its administrative responsibilities, understand his contractual obligations and prescription clauses. One way to make sure this risk is managed is by utilizing pre-configured document templates that guide the user to record the correct information and prompts when the next notice or warning are to be submitted. Templates save time and provide a low cost solution to managing risks. Most importantly it will ensure that information is received by the other party on time and in the correct format to allow action to be taken. Remember the more time given the more opportunity there is to resolve.

That said, it is not so easy to create templates for delays or claims if you are not affluent with Contracts and the processes involved. Therefore the best solution would be to seek legal assistance in drafting these for you or use existing document templates developed by other Contractors. There are a few websites that provide such a solution namely Template Store which provides 46no. Word and Excel document templates for various contractual management scenarios. For a relatively inexpensive solution you can start managing and controlling your risk immediately. This templates package covers all aspects from notices, claims, cost recording and processes involved of keeping records for delays.