5 Reasons to Hire a Construction Claims Consultant
Do you have a claims dispute with your construction contractor? Unsure how to go about it? First, you’ll need to understand what a construction claim is. It is a request for additional time and/or money made by the construction contractor due to a change in the terms of the contract.These requests arise due to changes in design, construction or administration. It is important to know the exact terms of the request and its consequences before signing a claim.
Most construction claims are complicated, so you need the help of a qualified claims consultant to help you make the right decision. The consultant analyzes the situation and works to resolve the dispute. Below we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 Reasons to Hire a Construction Claims Consultant.
1. Experience in Handling Different Claims
Experienced construction claims specialists work on disputes in virtually all areas of construction. They have extensive experience on claims related to extended project costs, damages, unpaid change orders, cost escalation, delay damages and so much more. Irrespective of how simple or complicated your case is, these types of experts can help.
2. Understanding Technical Jargon
Every construction claim is loaded with technical jargon, especially when it is written by lawyers. Some lawyers who draw up these claims prefer to write the documents only in a language that another lawyer can understand. Unfortunately, for people like you and me, wading through this jargon is difficult. A wrong understanding of the claim can cost you more money and time. By hiring a construction claims consultant, you’ll get a clear understanding of the claim.
3. Able to Take Right Course of Action
There are many types of construction claims, so the right course of action varies with the type of the claim and other surrounding factors. To make the right decisions, you need a consultant who is capable of performing detailed analysis of your case. Based on this analysis, he or she will make the appropriate recommendations to save time, money and resources.
4. Stays on Top of Changing Standards
Do you know the recent updates made to important standards? Construction standards are ever-changing to keep pace with the changing business environment. A construction claims consultant stays on top of these changes, so they are in a better position to make the right suggestions for you.
5. Experience in Negotiations
Negotiations are a key aspect of construction disputes—you need the best negotiators to get the best resolution. In a recent federal project, the construction company and the government had a dispute over additional funding. The construction contractor had completed 95 percent of the construction documents, but they could not agree on a fixed contract price. So, they hired an expert to assess the reasonable costs involved in the project. The consultant did a detailed analysis and assisted the parties to reach an amicable result. This goes to show the importance of having an experienced consultant by your side for tough negotiations.
Did we leave off any other reasons to hire a construction claims consultant? Do let us know by leaving a comment! Thinking about hiring a building contractor for a commercial project? Check out these six tips to hiring a contractor.
