CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS | SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Holloway Consulting was retained by the School District as their construction expert witness to analyze the school’s design and construction information and provide testimony in this arbitration.
This dispute arose out of a school construction fixed price agreement between by the School District and the Contractor. The Contract Documents were enumerated as AIA Document A101, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor where the basis of payment is a Stipulated Sum; AIA Document A201, 1987 Edition, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction; and Supplementary Conditions. The project specifications and drawings were represented in Contract Exhibits, and the Contract incorporated Addenda. The original Contract amount was $9,984,420, which represented the sum of the Contractor’s base bid of $9,086,000, plus $898,420 in additive bid alternates. The agreement was subsequently modified by change orders and directives.
CONTRACTOR’S CLAIM
The Contractor sued the School District seeking payment for numerous unapproved change order requests. In addition, the Contractor alleged that the contractual substantial completion was delayed by a total of 163 calendar days of School District-caused delay.
EXPERT REPORT | EXPERT WITNESS TESTIMONY
Holloway Consulting’s expert report and expert witness testimony addressed the design and construction issues in dispute, such as foundation backfill, site grading, winter conditions/construction and soils testing.
CONTRACTOR’S BID ERRORS
The Contractor should have studied the soils report in conjunction with the plans and specifications and concluded that the topography of the site, combined with the nature of the underlying clayey and silty soils, would require the contractor to devote constant attention to soils and grading issues throughout construction. The Contractor’s bid errors occurred because it did not follow the recommendations contained in the soils report including, but not limited to:
a) Failing to prepare an all-weather access road at the outset of the project and proper staging and storage areas,
b) Failing to grade and slope the site away from the building,
c) Failing to prevent moisture intrusion into soils, and,
d) Failing to generally maintain site drainage during construction.
CONTRACTOR’S ESTIMATE AND BID PROPOSAL
The Contractor’s base bid of $9,086,000 was $1,200,000 lower than the high bid, and $514,000 lower than the second lowest bid. Examples of factors contributing to the Contractor’s bid errors include:
a) The Contractor’s failure to price the entire scope of work,
b) The Contractor’s failure to price and plan the work around joist deliveries,
c) The Contractor’s failure to include soils corrections activities in their baseline schedule, and,
d) The Contractor’s failure to include all costs necessary to meet the contractual substantial completion date.
The Contractor bid errors were one of the underlying causes of the Contractor’s problems in this dispute.
ARBITER’S DECISION
Relying on Holloway Consulting’s expert report and expert witness testimony, the arbiter denied all of the Contractor’s change order claims. In addition, the arbiter ruled the Contractor was responsible for the 163-days of day to the substantial completion date. And, to the extent the Contractor actually undertook any construction schedule acceleration, it did so or should have done so, in an effort to overcome its own numerous non-excusable bid errors, scheduling errors and delays.
The Contractor’s pattern of mismanagement, deception, misrepresentation, and general refusal to accept responsibility for its problems was the most troubling aspect of the project and the arbitration.
Read other posts on our Construction Expert Witness cases.
Holloway Consulting
Construction Expert Witnesses
12081 W. Alameda Pkwy., #450
Lakewood, CO 80228-2701
Denver Phone: (303) 984-1941
International Toll Free: (888) 545-0666
Fax: (303) 716-0432
Email: steve.holloway@disputesinconstruction.com
Blog: disputesinconstruction.com
Web: hcgexperts.com
Selected Pages at hcgexperts.com, 12-20-11
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