All posts in Change Orders

Process is the answer, now what’s the question?

Have you ever had to deal with:

  • Marking up a set of drawings, only to find out that really basic information is missing time after time; North arrows, references, sheet titles not matching the index page?
  • Each employee re-inventing the wheel or doing it their own way when it comes to contract administration forms? Everyone having their own special template or spreadsheet tracking system?
  • Looking for information on the office server, only to find out that it was saved locally on a personal computer and that the employee is not around when you need it?

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Can’t agree?

The renovation of a heritage building started with preparations to demolish some walls to accommodate a new room layout. Unfortunately, during the preparations the general contractor discovered that the building structure had deteriorated to the point where there would be serious structural problems if  the walls were removed.

This discovery would result in additional construction costs, and delay the project completion date. The architect with the consultant team drafted a Proposed Change Order. The general contractor provided a very expensive quote for the  work of the change, and a notice in writing of a delay claim.  The owner responded that he could not accept any change in the schedule and that the proposed change order quote was crazy and bordered on extortion!

What would you do, if you had a dispute that looked like it could not be resolved? There are 2 possible strategies that you could use. Read More…

Black sheep – change directive

Black Sheep

It’s a pretty good chance that your construction project is going to encounter changes, and that you are familiar with the change order (CO) process, but on the odd occasion a change directive (CD) may be required. Do you know the difference? Test your knowledge – which of the following statements below are true?

A Change Directive…

  1. Is issued by the owner
  2. Does not need the contractor‘s agreement to proceed
  3. Price can be determined by the consultant in event of a disagreement
  4. All of the above

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Quick guide to cash allowances

Cash Allowance 1

You are designing a renovation to an airport departures terminal, and a constant problem in the design process has been the excessive amount of time required to obtain approvals and finalize details from the many stakeholders in the project (including airport authorities, security agencies, airlines and many others). You are behind schedule, the tender deadline is nearing and the design for the ticketing counters is still in progress. It doesn’t look like you are going to obtain review and approval to proceed in time to make the deadline. What do you do? Postpone the tender? This is a case where a cash allowance may come to your rescue. Read More…