Course Catalogue.

After attending this webinar:
Webinar attendees will have a better understanding of how owners, designers and owner representatives can structure project documents to provide for resolution of claims on projects and avoid legal disputes at the end.  Attendees will get concrete ideas on how to craft an appropriate Scheduling specification; a Change Order payment specification; an Escrow Bid Document system; a Dispute Resolution Ladder system; a Delegation of Authority; a Project Trending System; etc.  These ideas and more are intended to provide mechanisms to handle and resolve construction claims on the site. Attendees will -

• Learn the value of planning how to avoid disputes from the beginning of the project.
• Understand the “ins and outs” of a comprehensive Scheduling specification.
• Become knowledgeable about the value and use of a thoroughly drafted Payment for Changes clause.
• Learn some new ways to mitigate delay damages and avoid the need for difficult cost negotiations and audits in the event of owner caused delay.
• Gain insight into ways to resolve claims on the projects and avoid the need to close out projects in a courtroom or arbitration hearing room.

Description
Construction projects are a fertile breeding ground for claims - unless everything on the project proceeds exactly as planned.  To avoid all claims there must be no changes, no delays, no shortage of qualified craft labor, no late delivery of equipment and materials, no bad weather, etc.  It is highly unlikely that anyone has ever built this project in history. 

Even the pyramids in Egypt had changes, delays and construction problems.  However, claims (requests for additional time or money under the provisions of the contract) do not have to result in disputes.  Disputes arise when contractors and owners cannot resolve claims by negotiation and turn unresolved issues over to attorneys to resolve them in the legal arena.  This webinar is designed to show owners and their representatives how disputes can be avoided at the end of the project through upfront dispute resolution planning during the design, bid and construction phases of a project. 

The webinar discusses four types of reviews that should be applied to contract documents; the need for a comprehensive scheduling specification and payment for changes article; how to reduce claims based on large numbers of RFIs; how to pre-purchase owner caused delay and lock in daily delay costs at the time of bidding; how to predict the weather for the project; and other techniques designed to precludes disputes at the end of the project by resolving issues without going to arbitration or litigation. 

Course Outline

• Introduction
• Purpose of webinar
• Claims mitigation during the design and bid phases
• Claims mitigation during the construction phase
• Claims mitigation during the construction phase
• How to avoid disputes - owner’s perspective
• Conclusion