Manage Construction Claims With These Simple Tips

Summary: Staying ahead of the project can ultimately help your team avoid unnecessary delays.

For every construction project, there will be unavoidable obstacles that will block your path to success. Whether it’s on the contractor’s end, the architect’s, or even the owner’s, it’s important that you ensure each party is collaborating and documenting every aspect of the construction site’s progress. Here are some tips to help you get started.

Leave a Paper Trail

Whatever role that you play within the construction project, it’s important that you document every facet of what you performed. Whether it’s a simple change in the design or a short meeting with another party, you want to always remain prepared to back up your end in the case that a claim arises. Remember, when there is a dispute, the construction claim analysis team will look at each party to determine who’s at fault and what could’ve been done to prevent this from occurring.

And, to make matters worse, claims can take a significant amount of time especially if they reach court. This means more delays on the project that may extend beyond the deadline. With today’s advanced construction sites, this means more claims are being brought to the forefront due to the massive amounts of workers involved. A simple injury could result in the entire construction site being shut down for a certain amount of days.

Communication is Key

While completing the job should always be one of the top priorities, it should also be noted that communicating with each party will get you there. Without each party staying consistent in communication, there are bound to be mistakes. And what ensues is what you’re probably thinking – a claim being drafted.

Lyle Charles, a construction specialist with decades of experience, recommends that if you are going through a series of miscommunication that you speak with a construction claim analyst to ensure that this problem gets resolved immediately. As stated before, the more time that passes, the more issues will arise when the deadline looms nearer.

Don’t mistake taking precautionary measures for having a perfect construction site where everything goes as planned. In this day and age, it’s nearly impossible for a project to be completed without some sort of claim being brought up. Sometimes it’s nobody’s fault like if the weather turned for the worst and workers are unable to continue in these dangerous conditions. Claims can be drafted for things that are out of each party’s control. Accidents happen, weather changes occur, and delays will eventually start to rear its ugly face. It’s all about managing these incidents and planning ahead.