Dealing with claims and disputes is rarely anyone's favorite task. Firms like HKA assist construction professionals in navigating these project conflicts. As a leading consultancy firm, HKA helps clients in areas like risk mitigation, dispute resolution, and litigation.
In today's episode of the Digital Builder podcast, I'm joined by two guests from HKA—Sarah Keyte, the company's Technical Director, and Cliff Moser, Executive Consultant. Sarah and Cliff discuss all things claims and disputes and how technology, contracts, and meticulous record-keeping can prevent them.
We discuss:
Most people who work in design and construction have encountered claims and disputes. The nature of their work often involves complex projects with multiple stakeholders, so there's a likelihood of miscommunication or unforeseen issues.
As Sarah points out, "Absolutely everyone in the construction industry will see claims and disputes, but we in the BIM community don't like to talk about it because we spend so much time trying to prevent it."
According to her, common causes of project conflicts include design changes, shifts in scope, workmanship defects, or a combination of these factors.
And while the BIM community focuses heavily on prevention, Sarah highlights the value of technology in dispute resolution, saying, "Models make really good evidence and the trail of breadcrumbs of who did what, when, and why. With Autodesk Construction Cloud and other common data environments, the trail of breadcrumbs and the golden thread is there."
When it comes to tools they use to manage claims and disputes, Cliff says their primary focus is on ensuring thorough documentation and communication.
"The tools we use ensure that we capture all the information while the project is being put together."
He says they also identify the contract requirements—for example, if a BIM model is part of the requirements or just a reference. From there, they would examine how project teams communicate and capture that information.
"We look at everything, including PDFs, meeting minutes, RFIs, and inspection reports. I've used all of that in my role at HKA when investigating projects."
Sarah adds that the choice of tools often depends on the evidence available.
"The tools depend entirely on the evidence you are given. So, if you're given models, Navisworks is typically a great way to investigate them. And then, if you have access to common data environments, then we use it to explore how files work."
Because claims and disputes are so disruptive and costly, it's best to avoid them altogether. One way to do this is to choose a project delivery method that minimizes risk.
For Cliff, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) can significantly reduce disputes by encouraging shared responsibility and collaboration.
"Traditional design-bid-build is very adversarial because it pits the contractor against the designer. They now have design-build, which is better, but you still cut the architect out of the particular process."
Cliff continues, "With IPD, the group comes together as a professional organization where everyone agrees on a risk-reward concept rather than being at each other's throats. At the end of the day, if they've finished the project on time and within budget, they get the calculated rewards. But also with the risk aspect, they all agree to the changes, which helps mitigate risk for all parties."
Sarah takes a slightly different view and brings up the importance of the project setup and risk allocation. In her experience, contracts like PPC 2000 partnering agreements or alliance contracts in the UK include clauses that encourage collaboration, enforce time bars, and promote quick communication.
She also points out that these behaviors depend heavily on how the project is structured. A critical factor is whether the design is complete and if the risk is assigned to parties capable of managing it effectively.
"It all depends on how you set up your project," she says.
For Sarah and Cliff, the most frustrating challenges in claims management stem from poor documentation and lack of records.
"Even if someone has a good claim, if they don't have the proper records, there is nothing you can do to help them. You can't make those records. They need to be factual, contemporaneous, and hopefully, digitized records," remarks Sarah.
Meanwhile, Cliff highlights the chaos caused by disorganized documentation, such as inconsistent naming conventions and irrelevant files.
According to him, well-maintained documentation not only supports claims but also provides a clear narrative of events, so it's easier to resolve disputes.
"When you have that documentation, you have to back it up with the work that was done during that time before and after. You need to memorialize it because things may fail at some point, and you need to plan for them."
Digital Builder is hosted by me, Eric Thomas. Remember, new episodes of Digital Builder go live every week.