Construction Contracts: Law and Management - Essay Example

It has been observed that the pace of works with regards to the construction of a hard standing, weighbridge, off-loading facilities and a small customs office has not been progressing satisfactorily. As such, the client is concerned that the project will not be completed by the stipulated deadline. The client has therefore requested that the progress of the project be evaluated so that possible solutions may be conceived and evolved that will help in identifying the areas that may be accelerated in order to hasten the pace of construction. The client, as such, has requested to identify the strategies using which the pace of construction may be accelerated and has additionally asked to identify and describe all the potential pitfalls involved. The analysis of the current parameters associated with the project has outlined a number of parameters that are considered crucial if nay kind of progress is to be made with regards to completing the project within the specified schedule. In fact, a number of factors such as the quality, cost and safety standards will play a interdependent role in determining if the project can be completed within the schedule. A preliminary analysis of the project timeline has suggested that the design of the project took a longer time than was originally planned and this was attributed to the delay in fine tuning the design to all legal standards as also the latency induced in obtaining permissions from the requisite governmental agencies. Since the design phase was complete thereupon, the time lost due to the design phase cannot be recovered. Therefore, the need of the hour is to concentrate on accelerating the speed with which the construction phase has been progressing until now. The early analysis has also highlighted the fact that until now, the customer has been dealing directly with all the contractors and this has hampered the progress of the project. The reasons for this is simply due to the reason that there is a gap of communication between the client and the contractors in discussing the finer details of the project from time to time. As such, the client is preliminarily advised to appoint an intermediary who will be responsible for handling all the customer requirements with the client. This will also enable smoother communication as such an intermediary is supposed to function as a suitable interface between the two parties. The second major deficiency that was uncovered as part of the preliminary investigation was the simple fact that the client had not committed to a ‘hard cash’ form of contract. This has meant that the client has no control over individual phases of the project with regards to the finances. As such, it is advised that the client refurbish the existing contracts into partial contracts that will outline the budget for each component of the project and stipulate the individual time-frames as well. Secondly, there have been concerns with delays in certain phases of the construction specifically in the electrical, plumbing and internal furnishing of the building. The reasons for this have been identified as being caused due to a number of factors. All these three individual phases have been outsourced to sub-contractors and it has been found that the level of communication and feedback between the main contractor and the sub-contractor has not been effective. The reasons for this has been the difference in location of work of the main contractors and the sub-contractors wherein the contractors has been performing on-site work while the electricians and plumbers have been fabricating the required building components at off-site locations. In this situation, it is advised that the client urge the contractor to enhance the level of communication as it will help in conveying the impeding deadlines associated with the sub-contracts. Unless steps are taken in this direction, the contractor will not have any concrete control over the completion of these sub-contracts on time. Another area of the construction that has been identified to be progressing behind schedule has been the outside tiling and glass works for the building. Upon enquiry, the reason for the inherent delays has been attributed to the delay in proceeding tiles and glass of good quality due to shortage of the relevant material. However, the concerned goods have started arriving, but he work is yet to start on this phase. The contractor is thereby directed to employ additional manpower and equipment to ensure that this particular phase is completed within the stipulated phase. The client needs to be warned of the imminent danger of violation of environment and safety standards if there is excessive force and compulsion on their part as any such occurrence would put pressure on the contractor to proceed with completion with whatever is available. This would not only hamper the quality of the whole complex as a whole, but would additionally compromise the safety standards of the surroundings. The contractor is therefore encouraged to identify the potential deficiencies within the various individual phases, search for ways and means by which these can be effectively filled in the shortest possible time and make efforts to complete every part of the project by employing additional resources as and when necessary. The deficiencies in the current pace of the project outline a serious problem in the supply chain of the contractor and this is evident in the construction of the off –loading facilities. Apart from significant delays in procurement of key components, certain parts of the facility had to be removed after there was an objection from the local administration as it was perceived that they were not following the stipulated guidelines. This needs to be verified and it is advised to the client to press the contractor for compensation for the delays caused as the selection of improper material could definitely have been avoided. The client is advised to reframe the contract with the main contractor wherein there are clearly specified standards and agreements in place with regards to the materials and components being used. One of the ways in which the client can maintain a grip over the schedule of the project and the associated finances has already been mentioned before. By appointing a qualified and an experienced intermediary, the client can ensure that the intermediary is well versed with the progress of every individual aspect of the project. Apart from this, the client is also advised to specify sub-deadlines. What this means is that apart from the actual deadline, the client also specifies some intermediary deadlines where in the contractor is supposed to have completed the corresponding phases as agreed upon between the two parties failing which, the contractor will be bound to pay a certain fine, which again depends upon what the individual parties mutually agree upon. The primary advantage with such a sub-deadline system is that there will be a considerable thrust on the contractor at all time during the construction phase to press ahead with the effective completion of all phases at all times of development. REFERENCES 1) J. R. Murdoch, Will Hughes (2000), Construction Contracts: Law and Management. London: Barnes & Noble. 2) Michael Patrick OReilly (1999), Civil Engineering Construction Contracts. New York: Thomas Telford. 3) Keith Collier (2000), Construction Contracts. London: Prentice Hall. 4) P. D. V. Marsh (2000), Contracting for Engineering and Construction Projects. London: Gower Publishing. Read More