In the construction industry, it seems that the norm is to wait until there’s a major problem before contacting Claim Management Consultants. By this time, everything costs way more than it should, people are upset, and the schedule is off the rails. But imagine the possibilities if we turn this around:
What if bringing on a Claim Management Consultant was considered a good strategic move at the start of your project? Not exclusively a last-ditch effort when things go south? Now, let’s dive into how Claim Experts, right at the project’s initiation, could help minimize time and finances and avoid stress in the future.
What Do Claim Management Consultants Do?
Claim Management Consultants focus on spotting, diagnosing, preparing, and resolving construction claims. These specialists don’t just manage the fire. They are trained to identify sources of ignition and put them out before they catch fire.
Besides interpreting contracts, they prepare defensible claims and often strategically sidestep them. Their work includes, but is not limited to, documentation and delay analysis, cost impact evaluation, and development of dispute resolution strategies. In short, no, they don’t only solve problems, they prevent them.
- Contracts Are Tricky
Even at the construction deal stage, there are ticking traps worth millions, extreme finery, clever wording, and intricate catches deeper than seabeds. With contracts, one single skipped consideration during the tender clause could effortlessly turn into a multi-million-dollar argument.
Claim Management Consultants go through contracts and assess them with the highest level of scrutiny. They check if:
- All Responsibilities have been allocated and explicitly detailed.
- Risk is distributed in an equitable manner.
- Provisions dealing with Time and cost are feasible and, to some extent, easy to follow.
Engaging them from the start can save you a lot of trouble because vague contracts lead to nuanced language, which leads to conflict.
- Clearly Defined Document For Claims Prevention
Civil engineering disputes do not surface randomly. The majority of construction disputes develop silently without being noticed due to factors like scope drama, lack of tracking, and divide-and-conquer teams.
Claim Management Consultants partner with your company to assist your team in:
- Executing strong documentation strategies and practices.
- Implementing an “early warning system” for potential delays and cost overruns.
- Establishing a transparent change process order.
In achieving that, they help shift your project from “reactive mode” to proactive risk management.
- Delay? Cost Overrun? Now You’re Covered
Even with the best policies in place, delays and variations always happen at one point or another. When that happens, you would not want to protect your interests without burning bridges.
A consultant can:
- Credibly quantify delays using some version of a delay analysis.
- Connect time impacts to nonwork entitlement provisions of the contract.
- Develop a comprehensive, well-documented claim “supported” and crafted with the right tone and language.
Getting them on board from the start means they know all the details of your project, so there is zero time wasted due to scrambling for context.
- Improvising Your Negotiation Strategy
Not all disputes go to court. The majority are settled through negotiation. However, successful negotiation necessitates information and clarity beforehand, as well as perfect timing. Claim Management Consultants tend to bring a balanced approach to negotiations.
Their knowledge has allowed people to reach settlements quicker, which relieves stress and helps preserve professional relationships. If the consultants are already involved in your project, they are able to intervene without hesitation.
- Saving Money over Long Periods of Time
It is evident that legal fees, along with costs for new work from delayed projects, will rapidly accumulate. These costs can be avoided with the right set of experts in place from the very start.
Appointing consultants may be seen as an unnecessary expense, but it ensures:
- No disputes.
- Winning the entitled benefits.
- Fulfillment of all obligations.
- For the progress to be maintained.
More often than not, the return on investment is unquestionable.
To conclude, though selecting a consultant before ground zero may seem like an odd approach, they do implement complex moves early on that reduce risk in the actual field. These professionals provide more than just claim defense.
They deliver serenity during each step of a project, from tendering contracts to execution, all the way to project completion. This time, when you’re putting together your construction team, be sure to have a reserved slot for your Claim Management Consultant. You’ll be glad at a later point.
