One of the key challenges that face organizations involved in delivering capital projects when preparing or defending construction claims is how to ensure that their submission or response is complete and well supported to avoid the delays associated with incomplete or unsubstantiated claim submissions.
One of the proven best practices is to create construction claims analysis checklists that are specific for each claim type. In an article titled “Construction Claims Analysis Checklists” published by “Richard J. Long, PE, and Rod Carter, CCP, PSP”, the authors provided examples of the proposed checklists for Claim Analysis Related to Schedule Delays and claims Analysis Related to Quantities, Manhours, and Costs. Each one of those two checklists provided details of items that need to be covered in the claim preparation of defending those two types of construction claims. Of course, there could be many other checklists to cover the different categories of construction claims.
Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, organizations can create those checklists to verify that all items needed to be covered in preparing or defending a claim had been done in a complete and proper format. PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create those checklists which can be modified to reflect the requirements for each claim category based on their experience and knowledge.
Using the attachment tab, all relevant documents which presumably are available in the PMWeb document management repository must be attached to the checklist form. In addition, all PMWeb records referred to in the checklist need to be also linked to the form. The same will apply to email communications which again presumably were imported into the PMWeb email repository.
It is highly recommended to assign a workflow for the Claim Analysis Checklist as some of the checklist items could be assigned to different project team members such as planners, site engineers, quantity surveyors, legal, etc. In addition, there could be a need for a formal process to review and approve the checklist completion which will be detailed in the workflow process.
About the Author
Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with more than 35-year service record providing project management and controls services to over 100 projects with a total value of over the US $5 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment and Shopping Malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, and Telecommunication and Information Technology projects. He is thoroughly experienced in complete project management including project management control systems, computerized project control software, claims analysis/prevention, risk analysis/management (contingency planning), design, supervision, training, and business development.
Bassam is a frequent speaker on topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management, and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 35 years, he has lectured at more than 350 events and courses at different locations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and South America. He has written more than 250 articles on project management and project management information systems that were featured in international and regional magazines and newspapers. He is a co-founder of the Project Management Institute- Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC) and has served on its board of directors for more than 6 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP), and Earned Value Professional (EVP) from the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) and Green Project Management (GPM).
Bassam holds a Masters in Engineering Administration (Construction Management) with Faculty Commendation, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, Bachelor in Civil Engineering – Kuwait University, Kuwait and has attended many executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA and London Business School, London, UK.