Construction Change Experts

Almost all construction projects encounter change. Whether it’s a change to the scope of work, a revision to the specifications, or an impact to the means and methods of performing the work, changes can significantly impact a project’s cost and schedule. In most cases, the change is handled by the parties within the framework of the contract change order procedures. However, in some instances, the parties are unable to resolve the issues and a dispute develops which may be resolved through mediation, arbitration, or litigation.

Due to the often complex nature of construction disputes, including the wide variation in the types of disputes that can arise on construction projects, experts are often used in mediation, arbitration, and litigation. Interface Consulting has extensive knowledge concerning construction and engineering issues and experience acting as experts in construction-related mediation, arbitration, and litigation.

Interface Consulting has a proven method for reviewing, analyzing, and quantifying change order-related disputes, which includes a thorough review of the contract documents to understand the parties’ responsibilities, scope of work, change order provisions, and any other contractual provisions relevant to the dispute. In addition to our review of the contract documents, including the project specifications and drawings, our experts also perform a comprehensive review of the facts including, but not limited to the following:

• Analyze contract change-related provisions
• Review contemporaneous project documentation, including correspondence, meeting minutes, progress reports, requests for information (RFIs), change requests, change orders, project schedules, etc.
• Conduct site inspections as necessary
• Interview key project personnel
• Quantify change-related costs and damages
• Analyze change related time impacts and schedule delays
• Evaluate the cumulative impact of changes
• Our focus in this independent evaluation is to do the following:
• Identify changes to the scope of work or to the means and methods of performing the work
• Determine whether adequate notice was provided in accordance with the contract
• Evaluate the project change orders to determine whether the change was handled in accordance with the contractual change order procedures
• Quantify the costs associated with legitimate, outstanding change(s)
• Establish whether the change(s) had any additional impacts on the project including critical path schedule delays or resulted in inefficiencies which were not captured or settled in the change order

Interface Consulting’s construction experts routinely work on assignments involving change. Our consultants understand the complexities involved in many construction disputes involving change management and know how to illustrate these issues in a simple and persuasive format. In addition, our knowledge and experience allow us to provide effective and credible testimony based on solid contractual and factual information.