TRAINING.

Overview

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

• Have a better understanding of the issues, risks, and challenges concerning the use of RFIs on construction projects.
• Understand how the RFI process can be abused and used as the basis of claims.
• Be exposed to ways to mitigate the adverse impact of RFIs through contractual mechanisms.
• Understand a method for controlling the risks posed by RFIs and a system for managing the RFI process.
• Learn about the value of an electronic RFI tracking and monitoring system.
• Gain information on the best management practices concerning RFIs and the RFI process.

Description
This webinar discusses the genesis of RFIs and the impact of RFIs on construction projects. It draws upon data provided by ACONEX and other studies to assess how RFIs and the RFI processes impact construction projects.

This webinar identifies the potential weaponization of the RFI process and examines how some contractors may misuse RFIs to increase profitability, a practice that has become somewhat institutionalized in recent times. The webinar uses a project case study to illustrate how the process can be abused and examines the legal arguments for cumulative impact as a result of a large quantity of RFIs. The webinar explains how owners inadvertently contribute to the abuse of RFIs by failing to adopt practices that may contractually safeguard against the potential negative impacts of the RFI process.

The webinar sets forth a framework for reducing the impact of RFIs that consists of three principal recommendations: the incorporation of critical definitions and an RFI control specification; electronic RFI tracking and monitoring RFIs; and best management practices concerning RFIs that owners and contractors can adopt and implement for managing the RFI process.

Who Should Attend

• Attorneys dealing with construction delays and cumulative impact claims.
• Owners and owner representatives managing capital improvement projects.
• Contractor executives, project managers, project sponsors and project control personnel.
• Construction managers and design professionals providing services during construction.

Please note: You can check other time zones here.

Syllabus

Course Outline

• Purpose of Research
• Generis of RFIs
• Impact of RFIs on Projects
• Cost & Time Impacts
• Abuse of the RFI Process
• RFIs In Action - A Case Study
• Legal Decisions Concerning RFIs
• Owners - Part of the Problem
• Incorporate an RFI Clause
• RFI Review System
• Electronic Tracking System
• Forward Thinking Index™
• RFI Best Management Practices
• Means of Preventing RFIs

Instructor

Jim is the Senior Advisor to the recently formed Ankura Construction Forum™.

The Forum strives to be the construction industry’s resource for thought leadership and best practices on global avoidance and resolution of construction project disputes. Jim was the founder and Executive Director of the Navigant Construction Forum™. Formerly he was the Executive Director of Corporate Claims Management Group, Fluor Corporation, one of the world’s largest EPCM contractors. Before this, Jim was Vice President of PinnacleOne, Executive Director of the PinnacleOne Institute, and Senior Construction Claims Consultant for CH2M HILL, Inc.

For 46 years, he has worked on private and public projects throughout the U.S. and in 28 countries abroad. Jim has worked for contractors and owners on over 5,000 claims in his career. He is a Fellow of AACE International, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the International Guild of Project Controls. He is a recognized and published expert in the mitigation, analysis and resolution of defense of construction claims and disputes in the construction claims field.

Jim is a Certified Construction Manager (CCM), a Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC), and a Project Management Professional (PMP).