Our Services: Arising Claims
Claims/Defence Preparation and Negotiation
Where Richard Burke Partnership has been engaged
to provide Contract Administration services throughout the
course of the project works, situations or events may arise
for which our clients wish to supplement the role of the Contract
Administrator during the course of the project.
In these circumstances, Richard
Burke Partnership can quickly build an appropriate
claims team to pursue or defend major claims, or to help resolve
specific project issues which have developed.
Our considerable experience in this field has shown us that
if not comprehensively dealt with at the right time, claims
escalate into disputes of such magnitude that the cost of
eventually resolving them can represent a large proportion
of the overall project cost. Many of these claims can be disposed
of quickly, however, if they are dealt with at the correct
time and in the right manner.
The timing of claim submissions can be a sensitive issue
and often of strategic commercial significance. Richard
Burke Partnership has considerable skill and experience
in aiding our clients to make submissions at the right time,
so as to preserve relationships and not affect ongoing project
works. What is important, however, is to be fully prepared
and on top of all claims, even if a commercial decision is
taken to defer a submission until a later optimum time.
We can offer considerable advice in this respect.
Whilst it is important to have early control over claims
(outgoing and incoming) this is something that often clashes
with the pressure of putting maximum effort into the ongoing
project. The dilemma is that if key project personnel devote
the required time to manage claims, then the automatic consequence
is that the project suffers further.
On the other hand, if all the effort is devoted to getting
on with the project, the claims inevitably become neglected
and develop into much greater disputes and liabilities; also,
the opportunity and momentum to pursue claims against others,
is often reduced or lost.
The main components of successful claims
(and claim defence documents) are:
- Establishing the best possible contractual grounds and
powerful arguments.
- Establishing the correct interpretation of document terms.
- Clear and persuasive demonstration of technical issues
- Demonstrating clear links between cause and effect.
- Clear demonstration of financial impacts.
- Clear and convincing document presentations.
- Good records to support the submissions.
- Skill in presenting, explaining and negotiating
the submissions.
These services have the following objectives:
- Assess liabilities and entitlements and prepare strategy.
- Implement an agreed strategy to optimise protection and
recovery of the client's legitimate entitlements.
- Defend and minimise exposure to claims and penalties.
- Minimise the cost and time in settling claims.
- Avoid formal dispute proceedings where possible and achieve
economic settlement, where they are unavoidable, whilst
preserving business relationships
and reputation.
- Minimise the distraction effect of the claims process
on the client's project team, to promote good progress.
Richard Burke Partnership
would interface its activities closely with client's project
personnel to ensure that essential project technical knowledge
is channelled into the Contract Administration process, but
without hindering or detracting from the ongoing work of the
client's project staff.
Essential feedback to the project team will be given continuously
by Richard Burke Partnership
to support them in issuing crucial notices and contractual
correspondence, where necessary to protect the client's interests.
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