Contract Administration

Contract Administration

Interview New Team Members

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Interview New Team Members
Once your project is approved and ready to execute, a project team must be put together. Some of the resources might be full-time, some part-time. You may have a mix of contractors and employees. In many cases, the employee team members are assigned based on availability and best fit. However, in some cases, you need to hire for the positions. These could be employee hires or contractors.
The interview process is important – even more so if the person will be a full-time employee. Here are a few simple rules to remember before your interview.
Understand the job opening. Sometimes people interview a candidate and afterward wonder what position the candidate was being interviewed for. You can best evaluate the candidate if you have a mental picture of what he will be doing.
Understand your role. Different people usually have different roles and expectations in the interview process. For instance, you might be asked to comment on whether the candidate is a good personality fit for the team. You might also be asked to perform a technical interview. Each interviewer should understand whether he has specific interview expectations.
Be prepared. Make sure that you have reviewed the candidate’s resume ahead of time. Jot down some questions that will allow you to gain insight into the person’s background and ability. You may also have additional questions that your company requires you to ask as part of a standard review process.
Clear your mind. Do not go into the interview thinking about the sales promotion that is not going well or the problem you need to fix. While you are in the interview, focus on the discussion at hand.
Ask and listen. Have you been to an interview where the interviewer did all the talking? That is not what you are there for. Instead, ask questions and listen to the responses. Ask follow-up questions when possible to keep a dialog going.
It is good if multiple members of your team are part of the interview process. In this case, there are two main formats. The first is the “revolving door”. You get the candidate in a room and bring in the interviewers one at a time. Similarly the candidate can move from office to office to speak one-on-one with the interviewers. This method gives everyone a chance to gain an independent opinion of the candidate from different perspectives and using different questions, but it does require a longer time commitment from the candidate.
The second format is the “Spanish Inquisition.” You get the interview team in one room with the candidate. This approach lets everyone hear the same story one time and is the most efficient use of the candidate’s time. One drawback is that it can be very intimidating. You need to go out of your way to maintain a friendly and casual atmosphere. Many people’s preference for a group interview is the Inquisition, since everyone hears the same story and it gives some indication of how well the candidate responds under some pressure.
Your company is relying on you to help ensure that qualified candidates are hired. This is an important job and should be taken seriously. Whether you interview one-on-one or in a group, make sure you ask thoughtful questions and listen carefully to the responses. Then, be prepared to provide honest feedback during the interview debriefing process. This increases the value you provide to the interview process and helps your company make good, long-term hires for the future.

Once your project is approved and ready to execute, a project team must be put together. Some of the resources might be full-time, some part-time. You may have a mix of contractors and employees. In many cases, the employee team members are assigned based on availability and best fit. However, in some cases, you need to hire for the positions. These could be employee hires or contractors. …

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Contract Administration

Engage the Client Early in Issues Management

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Engage the Client Early in Issues Management
Issues management tends to go more smoothly when the entire project team is comfortable working through the issues management process from the very start. If issues arise early in a project, be sure to follow your issues management process and get the client engaged in the solution. Issues become more urgent as you get closer to your end-date. Don’t let these be the first issues the client gets involved with. Earlier issues management experience will cause the client to see issues as just temporary hurdles that need to be overcome. If you haven’t engaged the client earlier in the issues management process, the client may cause more harm than good when you absolutely need him at the end, since he is not familiar with the issues management process.

Issues management tends to go more smoothly when the entire project team is comfortable working through the issues management process from the very start. …

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Contract Administration

Contractor woes

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by Jeffrey Badman

Hill International director Jeffrey Badman.The contractor has submitted his extension of time claim, some months have passed but no award or response has been forthcoming from the engineer – an all too familiar scenario experienced by most contractors at one time or another.

So what can the contractor do next? There are some initial practical avenues that can be taken in an attempt to secure an award: …

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Contract Administration

Planning Saves Time

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Efficiency and effectiveness are key to the smooth functioning of an organization and can be achieved if work is properly planned and delegated. Before you start your work, take some time to plan. These plans should be flexible so that you can adapt them to different situations. However, you should ensure that details do not slow down your work. Here are some tips: …

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Contract Administration

Insurance and indemnities

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by Dennis Brand

The insurance clauses or provisions in a contract will often state the employer’s requirements as to the types of insurance and the required minimum amounts. Sometimes the amount of insurance is linked to the limit of liability under the contract – and, while there is no objection to this in principal, the required amount of insurance should not be more. Moreover, one must take care to ensure that the insurance provisions do not allow for liability which is separate or in excess of the overall limited liability under the contract. …

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Contract Administration

Factors to consider when preparing a disruption claim

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by David Merritt

Disruption claims are routinely made during the course of a construction project yet they remain notoriously difficult to prove. One of the main reasons for this is that productivity losses are often extremely difficult to distinguish, as opposed to other money claims which are more directly concerned with the occurrence of a distinct and compensable event, such as an instruction for a variation during the progress of work or a properly notified compensation event.
Most claims for disruption are dealt with retrospectively and the claimant is forced to rely on contemporary records to try and establish a causal nexus for identified losses (cause & effect), which are inadequate for evidencing a loss of productivity claim.
When this happens the claimant is often forced into the situation where it advances a weak global or total cost claim to try and recover its losses. The claimant must first establish that the factor causing the disruption is compensable risk under the contract.
To do this, the contract needs to be reviewed to understand the basis of the agreement as certain productivity issues may have been foreseeable and therefore accounted for within the claimant’s productivity allowances. The contract may also identify if a party expressly accepted certain productivity risks. Common causes of disruption on projects that may lead to a loss of production include site access restrictions, unforeseen site conditions, late or incorrect design, changes in the work, labour availability, remedial/corrective work, testing/inspections, client and third party interference, changes in construction methods and adverse weather.
The primary challenges the claiming party faces in preparing a disruption claim are to identify the root cause of the loss of productivity and quantifying the associated labour and equipment productivity losses. Many methods exist to quantify a disruption claim such as the measured mile; the modified total cost approach; a time and motion study or a comparative work study.
Alternatively research data published by the Mechanical Contractor Association or the National Electrical Contractors Association on the effects of disrupted working may be utilised but care must be exercised because no one size fits all.
Productivity is normally measured as production per unit of effect or output divided by input (ie units/hr) or it may be expressed as input divided by output (ie hrs/unit). A loss of productivity occurs when it takes more labour and equipment to do the same amount of work, thereby increasing project costs. A common error made by a claiming party when preparing a disruption claim is to confuse productivity with efficiency.
Efficiency is a measure of productivity as a ratio or percentage during the affected periods. If target production is 50 units per day and actual production is 25 units per day then given the same input the efficiency of the operation would be 50%. If actual production was equal to the target production efficiency would be 100%. The efficiency formula must take into account the variable input (resources) as well as variable output (production).
For instance it is possible to increase productivity but reduce efficiency. A decrease in efficiency is often associated with one or more secondary factors unrelated to the original excusable event but which are implemented to negate or mitigate the effects of the root cause. These secondary factors include out of sequence working, multiple work fronts, new learning and unlearning curves, fatigue (overtime/shift working), dilution of supervision and stacking of trades in confined spaces.
So when preparing a disruption claim for a loss of productivity it is very important to consider not just immediate effects on the rate of production but also the inefficiencies of some of the secondary factors.

Disruption claims are routinely made during the course of a construction project yet they remain notoriously difficult to prove. One of the main reasons for this is that productivity losses are often extremely difficult to distinguish, as opposed to other money claims which are more directly concerned with the occurrence of a distinct and compensable event, such as an instruction for a variation during the progress of work or a properly notified compensation event.

Most claims for disruption are dealt with retrospectively and the claimant is forced to rely on contemporary records to try and establish a causal nexus for identified losses (cause & effect), which are inadequate for evidencing a loss of productivity claim.

When this happens the claimant is often forced into the situation where it advances a weak global or total cost claim to try and recover its losses. The claimant must first establish that the factor causing the disruption is compensable risk under the contract. …

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Contract Administration

Proactive ‘green’ approach urged

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Proactive ‘green’ approach urged
by Amy Ward
Developers in the UAE are well advised to voluntarily seek certification for the sustainability of their buildings to mitigate any potential increases in design and construction costs before the emirates make the sustainable building guidelines mandatory, writes AMY WARD*.
With the 2009 World Future Energy Summit having been held in Abu Dhabi last month (January), the focus has once again turned to environmental sustainability in the UAE.
In 2007, the World Wide Fund (WWF) Living Planet Report stated that the UAE had the world’s largest carbon footprint per resident. Whether or not this provided the catalyst, the UAE has since then committed to initiatives that encourage low-carbon living such as the Masdar City development in Abu Dhabi.
In recent times, both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have taken steps to support green building principles and their implementation in the construction industry.
Abu Dhabi introduced its ‘Estidama’ sustainable building guidelines in May 2008. Estidama, meaning ‘sustainability’ in Arabic, provides guidelines for sustainable design and operation and maintenance of all types of buildings and communities in the emirate. It is intended that Estidama will become the basis for mandatory guidelines to be introduced in Abu Dhabi in the future, in addition to being introduced in the other emirates.
The Estidama programme was launched by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council to underpin Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 and a sustainable community, by promoting economic growth whilst enhancing the overall quality of life and protecting environmental resources.
Three sets of guidelines were produced as a result of the programme including the new building guidelines, existing building guidelines and community design guidelines. Whilst at this stage these are discretionary guidelines, the Urban Planning Council has indicated that it plans to introduce mandatory regulations in the future.
The new buildings assessment method assesses 10 different criteria for which credits can be awarded. These include water, energy use, indoor environment quality, ecology, management, transport, pollution, materials, waste management and land use.
The Estidama assessment method, however, differs from other international assessment standards in that it has been tailored specifically to the UAE’s socio-economic and environmental conditions in mind. For example, water and energy conservation are considered to be the most important elements of the Estidama green building principles and make up 50 per cent of the total credits that a building can be awarded. Upon accreditation, buildings are rated using a pearl rating system according to the credits they have been awarded under the 10 criteria.
In Dubai, compliance with internationally-recognised green building standards has been on the rise over the past two years. The Emirates Green Building Council was established in 2006 and decided to use the US-based Leed system (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) as a basis for its green building guidelines. As a result, in 2007, the Emirates Leed scheme was released. The UAE, currently, has a small number of Leed-accredited facilities, with more likely to be introduced in the future.
The Leed Green Building Rating System was established in the US in 1994 and provides standards for environmentally-sustainable construction. It identifies six major areas where new commercial buildings (or those with significant renovations) can obtain credits in order to be a Leed-certified building. The areas include sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environment quality and innovation and design process. A building can be ‘certified’ or, if it obtains a higher number of credits, can obtain a silver, gold or platinum rating.
Dubai currently has two Leed-certified buildings – the headquarters of the building automation specialist Pacific Controls, based in Techno Park, which is platinum rated; and the district cooling plant at Wafi City Shopping Centre, which is gold rated – one of only two utility buildings worldwide to achieve a gold rating.
The US is not the only country to have internationally-recognised standards for environmentally-sustainable construction. In the UK, BRE (Building Research Establishment) created the Environmental Assessment Method (Breeam), a voluntary measurement rating for green buildings. Launched in 1990, it is the world’s longest-standing environmental assessment method for buildings.
Breeam now assesses new non-domestic buildings against nine categories including management; health and well-being; energy; transport; water; material and waste; land use and ecology; and pollution. BRE launched an adapted version of Breeam guidelines in the UAE in October which took into account climate difference, water desalination and differences in ecology as well as recognising the number of sea or marine reclamation projects under construction. In developing the adapted guidelines, BRE worked with a local ecologist to look at the impact of building reclaimed islands.
Significance
Until mandatory regulations are introduced, there are advantages and disadvantages for those in the construction industry who voluntarily choose to become accredited under one of the international systems or the UAE’s own Estidama system.
Once certification is pursued under an accreditation or certification system, there may be an increase in the initial design and construction costs. This could be firstly because sustainable construction principles may not be well understood by the design professionals undertaking the project and, as a result, further time may be required on research or additional liaison between the design team, construction team and client. Secondly, there may be a lack of available manufactured building components that meet the standards required under the green building certification systems. Thirdly, there are likely to be additional costs associated with pursuing certification for the project itself and subsequent liaison with the accreditation body.
However, there are many advantages associated with green buildings, which include a tendency to use key resources more efficiently, when compared with more conventional buildings; and healthier work and living environments, which contribute to higher productivity and improved employee health and comfort.
Higher initial costs may also be mitigated over time if operational costs are lower, which typically is the case with a green building-certified project. In addition, as further developments come onto the market, differentiation may become more important as developers try to attract buyers. Sustainability may be one of the key differentiating factors for future projects in the UAE.
Developers in the UAE, especially in Abu Dhabi, may be well placed to consider voluntarily certification under Estidama in order to prepare for, and mitigate, any potential increases in design and construction costs should the Urban Planning Council introduce the guidelines as mandatory requirements.
Aside from contributing to the reduction of the UAE’s carbon footprint, and as the global community (and in particular the UAE) becomes more environmentally aware, green buildings may become one of the key features for investors in a property market. This may be an advantage in itself in persuading developers to start voluntarily seeking certification under Estidama or any of the other internationally-recognised green building certification systems.
Gulf Construction

by Amy Ward

Developers in the UAE are well advised to voluntarily seek certification for the sustainability of their buildings to mitigate any potential increases in design and construction costs before the emirates make the sustainable building guidelines mandatory.

With the 2009 World Future Energy Summit having been held in Abu Dhabi last month (January), the focus has once again turned to environmental sustainability in the UAE. …

Proactive ‘green’ approach urgedRead More »

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