Posts Tagged ‘Construction Claims’

Tucker Elliott attends 2011 Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) Annual Conference

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Port of Seattle and Mount Rainier

Tucker  just returned from the 2011 annual conference for the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) in Seattle, Washington. Attendees came from a variety of countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Turkey. 

Dispute resolution boards (sometimes called dispute review boards or just DRBs) provide large projects with a means for resolving disputes during the life of the project rather than waiting until the end of the project, when problems are more pronounced and the parties’ positions are more entrenched.

Research shows that the success rates for resolving disputes and avoiding litigation in this way are phenomenal compared to more traditional methods.  In essence, using a DRB provides significant reduction in cost and schedule overruns and in many cases helps a project come in under budget and ahead of schedule. DRBs are similar to having a standing arbitration panel, except that they are much cheaper and more timely, because they are used during the project instead of after the project is completed.

If you would like to know more about DRB’s, please feel free to call or email Tucker. He is trained by the DRBF in this process, and can assist you if you believe that you are in need of a dispute review board member.

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Avoiding Construction Claims 101

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Communication
There are many reasons construction disputes develop during projects, and almost as many reasons why those disputes can elevate into a construction claim situation. Regardless of how the dispute initially developed, the inability to resolve it amicably and without litigation can almost always be traced back to poor communication by at least one of the parties, and often all of the parties, involved. Too often we either don’t communicate at all, or ineffectively at best. We think a matter is not important enough to take a moment and explain it or we assume the information conveyed is received and understood as intended. Often it is not.

Here are a few communication methods that could help avoid a construction claim:

Be Proactive: Don’t wait for problems to arise in order to develop a way to resolve them.

Establish Ground Rules: Hold regular meetings and an open forum for increased communication between all the parties involved with the project.

Align expectations: Make sure everyone is on the page and knows what is expected and required.

Clearly Communicate: Convey what the project is, why it is important and how the project will move forward. This leads to a buy in of participants and increased understanding.

Address Uncertainties: Be direct, clear and concise with questions about issues and reservations.

Address Issues: Resolve issues and discrepancies as they arise before they impact the project.

Be Receptive: Listen to all the parties involved and leave your pride at the door. Consider alternative points of view.

  • For the full article Avoiding Construction Claims by Tom Williams, please visit this link.
  • For more articles about Construction Management, please visit this link.

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