Hire a Construction Claims Consultant When You’ve Had a Loss at Your Worksite
With a construction site, loss of time and materials and even injury are commonplace which means that your company might need a construction claims consultant to look after your best interests. No one can do anything about the weather stalling or destroying a work site but construction delays due to contractor negligence or even injuries and lost materials can be prevented or resolved. Rarely does a work site run 100% smoothly so you need someone on your side fighting for your rights, ensuring all other parties operate according to their agreements.
Construction claims are commonplace, especially when you are dealing with dozens of individual parties such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters and other contractors necessary to complete a project. A construction claims consultant can represent your interests whether you need to file a claim for compensation against someone else or another party files a claim against your company. Consultants in this arena determine the validity of the claims as well as help you prepare a claim. They can file extensions and research claim options as well as defend your company. Here is a more in-depth look at some of the things these consultants do:
Investigate Delays
A construction claims consultant evaluates the cause of project delays as well as determines responsibility and the financial analysis involved in how much money the delays will cost. The consultant must be familiar with project management in the construction industry as well as scheduling techniques and the nuances of the different vendor trades involved in the project.
Evaluate and Estimate Damages
Consultants also must evaluate and estimate damages involved due to project delays, injuries, mistakes on the job and more. A delay, injury or even lost materials creates a ripple effect in any project which can mean more delays or additional costs and it is the job of the consultant to determine this.
Determine Breakdowns and Strategize Corrective Action
A consultant with construction claims experience must be able to reconstruct why a delay or other problem happened and then create a workable solution to remediate the situation. The consultant must be familiar with the current construction laws including building codes and standards as well as recognize deficiencies in design and materials. They may also provide project management experience to oversee the remediation of a project as well.
Arbitration and Litigation
A consultant with construction claims experience may also provide a professional, unbiased viewpoint should their expertise be needed for arbitration and litigation circumstances. Engineering and architectural firms may benefit from this type of consultant as can governmental agencies, contractors and construction firms. Having someone like a construction claims consultant represent your interests is a smart move, especially if you are not well-versed in the many facets of construction projects.